House ran into trouble with his new supervisor, he didn't seek out HR or book a session with a mentor. Instead, he consulted an AI version of himself. House had twice offered his expertise to his new boss, only to be dismissed both times.
Feeling disengaged and sidelined, he turned to eMark, an AI coach built on Coachvox, a platform that enables consultants and executives to create custom AI models trained on their own content, methods, and experience. "The eMark conversations feel eerily real and help me narrow down a broader problem to a more specific issue which I find really helpful," House told Newsweek. Workplace loneliness remains an issue for many in the U.S.
According to a 2026 report by global research firm Gallup, 19 percent of U.S. employees reported feeling lonely for much of their workday in 2025. At the same time, employees are increasingly turning to AI for advice and support. Workdays 2026 Human Connection Workplace Index, based on 2,150 workers who actively use AI at large enterprises across seven countries, found that 76 percent had used AI for advice and 37 percent for companionship.
Meanwhile, 43 percent said losing human connection was their main worry about AI in the workplace. These findings show that software is beginning to occupy the same space once reserved for human dialogue, even as employees remain wary of the trade-off. Jim Canfield, an executive coach and co-developer of Colleague, another AI coaching platform that was rolled out in May 2026, said he built the product after more than 10,000 hours working with CEOs and leadership teams.
Speaking to Newsweek, he said he repeatedly saw capable people facing difficult decisions and conversations without someone they felt comfortable approaching. "That is the business problem that interested me: not simply ‘loneliness,’ but what happens when people don't have someone they trust enough to ask a difficult question, seek candid feedback or talk through a situation before they act.” Colleague is designed to provide an always available place for users to work through those problems. Canfield added that it is intended to offer perspective and challenge someone's thinking while preparing them for the human conversations that follow.
But he is not claiming that the product has solved workplace loneliness. "We have not yet conducted a controlled study demonstrating that Colleague itself reduces loneliness, so I don't want to make that claim prematurely," Canfield said. "As we introduce Colleague within companies, measuring outcomes such as engagement, usage, perceived support and potentially retention will be an important part of determining its effectiveness." Independent research supports the idea that chatbots can help people process emotions.
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