1. About This Tool
The VDI Coaching Mentor is an AI-powered learning and development tool provided by the Vertical Development Institute (VDI). It is designed to support coaches in developing their skills through practice sessions with AI clients and structured feedback on coaching transcripts.
This tool is not a replacement for professional coach training, mentoring, or supervision. All AI-generated feedback should be used as a reflective aid, not as an authoritative assessment. ICF competency assessments are AI-generated approximations and do not constitute formal ICF credentialing evaluation.
2. De-identification of Transcripts
Important: Before uploading or pasting any coaching transcript, you must remove all identifying information. This is your professional and ethical responsibility as a coach.
You must remove or replace:
- Client names — use pseudonyms (e.g. "Client A", "Alex")
- Organisation or company names — use generic descriptions (e.g. "the company", "a financial services firm")
- Identifying personal details — specific job titles, locations, dates, or descriptions that could identify the individual
- Contact information — phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses
- Sensitive information — health details, financial information, or other sensitive personal data
VDI accepts no liability for any personally identifiable information included in uploaded transcripts. You are responsible for ensuring appropriate de-identification before sharing any content with this tool.
3. How Your Data is Handled
VDI is committed to responsible data handling in accordance with Australian privacy law and the ICF Code of Ethics:
- Uploaded transcripts are not stored. Files are processed in memory and deleted immediately after text extraction. No copies of transcript files are retained on our servers.
- Conversation history is stored securely in your account to allow you to return to previous sessions. You can download transcripts of your own conversations with the AI mentor if you wish to retain them for yourself. You can delete any conversation from the app at any time using the sidebar.
- VDI does not have access to any conversations you have in your own account.
- AI processing is performed via Anthropic's Claude API under an enterprise agreement. Your conversations are not used to train AI models.
- No client data is shared with third parties beyond the AI processing described above.
- If you decide to close your account, all your conversation history will be automatically deleted.
- When your access expires, you will no longer be able to access your conversation history.
4. Your Responsibilities
By using this tool, you agree to:
- De-identify all coaching transcripts before uploading or pasting them (as described in Section 2)
- Not upload content that violates confidentiality agreements with your clients and gain prior permission from clients before using transcripts for mentoring purposes
- Use this tool solely for professional coaching development purposes
- Not attempt to extract personal advice, therapy, or clinical guidance
- Not share your access credentials with others
- Comply with the ICF Code of Ethics and all applicable professional standards
5. AI Limitations
The AI in this tool may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete feedback. You should:
- Apply your professional judgement when interpreting AI-generated feedback
- Not rely solely on this tool for coaching competency evaluation
- Use feedback as one input among many in your professional development
6. Limitation of Liability
This tool is provided on an "as is" basis. VDI makes no warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of AI-generated feedback. VDI is not liable for any decisions made or actions taken based on feedback provided by this tool.
VDI reserves the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the service at any time without notice.
7. Privacy and Regulatory Compliance
VDI's information security practices comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles, and the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme. For questions about data handling, contact us.
