Part 2: Implementing this Architecture - MAIA's Coaching Engine

The previous post described Maia's appraoch to situated entrepreneurial coaching through a continuous coaching cycle, as well as its basis in the literature. How do we actually implement that in practice?

About 90%+ of the time, the cue is Maia's tip of the week*. This used to be human-curated and fixed by sector, but now our coaching engine derives a customized tip for each user, the next idea/best practice with the highest marginal impact on their business. This is derived based on the user's own priorities and history as reflected in their entrepreneurial profile**, Maia's 8-dimension diagnostic of their business***, the country-sector specific knowledge bases we've built with local experts, and also considers emerging and seasonal themes via search. These tips are expressed via a set of WhatsApp template shells with a few different approaches.

Interaction with the tool following the cue quickly takes the user towards the action plan, which is calibrated to the businesses' level of development and priorities, both as expressed in the conversation and in the profile. Along with the plan, Maia provides every asset it can to make taking the next step as easy as possible, such as templates, images, checklists, if-then scenarios, etc.

The guided reflection and reward stage is implemented through a second weekly message. Unlike the cue, which brings in new information and ideas, this follow-up message looks backwards, encouraging and rewarding action and reflecting on results to overcome obstacles and find new opportunities. Again, implemented though a series of WhatsApp template shells.

Interaction with the tool on this follow-up message leads directly to adjusting plans and taking corrective action when things worked poorly, and building habbits when things worked well. It naturally leads to a new cue, to start the cycle again.

* The other 10% are inbound user questions. Current cadence is fixed weekly, our roadmap is to move to adapting the cadence to user preferences

** A structured profile of each user, including key business characteristics and goals. Will be discussed in a future post.

*** This is synthesized based on diagnostic tools and training programs from a variety of organizations like the ILO, the IFC, the FAO, and consulting companies. Will also discuss in a future post.