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Forbes
31-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How An AI-Powered Avatar Can Make You A Better Human
It almost always starts out with something minor: the housemate who never takes out the trash; the spouse who flings their coat on the sofa rather than hanging it up; the boss who interrupts you in every meeting. But rather than confronting the problem head on, we let it fester, until it inevitably erupts. Suddenly, you're kicking someone out, filing for divorce or resigning, all because you were afraid to have that one hard conversation. But AI-powered virtual human avatars that let people practice hard conversations at scale can serve as a solution before things get out of hard conversations, especially in the workplace, is common. As many as 70% of employees avoid difficult conversations with their bosses, colleagues or direct reports, and 53% handle 'toxic' situations by ignoring them, according to research from professional coaching app Bravely. Just 29% of U.K. workers who reported experiencing conflict on the job in the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's Good Work Index for 2024 raised the issue with a manager or HR, and a mere 17% spoke directly to the other person involved — clear evidence that the majority chose silence over a tough people to have those hard conversations at home and in the workplace has been scattered at best. MBA programs do offer courses in communication skills, but most managers don't have those degrees, and there's certainly not any sort of standard training to be able to talk to your partner, friends and family. But with the rise of embodied conversational AI and virtual reality, people now have the option to practice these conversations with realistic-looking avatars, leading them to feel more comfortable when they actually have to get down to brass tacks with a real which was acquired by the learning management system Cornerstone, offers users both pre-programmed and customizable immersive conversational experiences. In a study of its training content conducted by PWC, Talespin found that users were four times more focused, 275% more confident in their skills, 3.75 times more emotionally connected and four times faster to train. The company has worked with Amazon, Coles Supermarkets and Meta, among other partners.U.K.-based platform Virti (disclosure: I worked for Virti on several projects last year but am no longer working with the company) partnered with Amazon in 2024 to help solve issues around training for managers in its warehouses. Many of those managers had no formal training and were young and inexperienced; they went from working with peers to having to manage them. It was difficult to get them all in a room and have them practice as much as they needed, so Amazon turned to using VR and AI-powered results were compelling. Most (92%) of the managers trained said they felt more confident in their conversations about difficult topics, and the ease with which they could create new and custom training and practice at scale made a big difference. The idea was not to give the new managers a script; it was to allow them to sit with discomfort, bounce back when the 'person' they were speaking to was argumentative or dismissive and make mistakes in a safe like Virti allow users to create content on their own, using prompts and selecting from a pool of avatars. Any person with an account can create virtual humans and converse with them, although a manager should ideally have oversight to make sure they're not creating anything that would violate company policies. Taking a look at the conversations being created can also help managers pinpoint if there are systemic issues that need to be addressed on a larger healthcare space is another market where good communication is critical. Connexions launched in July 2025 to solve this exact problem and is currently running pilots at Harvard Medical School and McGill. It aims to train doctors and provide conversational resources for patients, which could solve several issues. For instance, many overweight and obese people find that their doctors default to focusing on their weight as the root of their illness rather than the demonstrated symptoms; an avatar has no idea what an individual looks like in a headset and won't make snap judgements based on their immersive avatars also allow for endless customization, unlike static videos or in-person practice. A new manager might have to deal with someone who has some English skills but is not fluent; a well-prompted AI could do that, while a human might struggle. Tweak a prompt a bit and an avatar can go from reticent to verbose; that's a much trickier pivot for a human to AI advances, we will likely see a new emphasis on soft skills like empathy, management and clear communication — things that can't be done by a machine. AI can help users practice and brainstorm, but it cannot replace a real conversation. Using this technology can make people more comfortable broaching hard topics, leading to deeper conversations and connections with their team members, or even their friends and family. The real edge going forward will be training minds for discomfort, not training roles for routine.
Business Times
24-07-2025
- Health
- Business Times
They built a startup while battling cancer
NOT ALL STARTUPS ARE BORN in boardrooms. Some begin in hospital beds, where a future founder is hooked to an IV drip, staring down the last days of her life, rehearsing her final goodbyes to her loved ones. Melissa Ng was just 31 when doctors diagnosed her with leukaemia. What had seemed like mere fatigue and burnout – symptoms not unfamiliar to any founder – turned out to be something far more terrifying. 'It felt like the ground fell away,' she recalls. 'I remember thinking, this is it. This is the end.' Following the diagnosis was a blur of chemotherapy, blood transfusions and isolation. But amid the fear, Ng's focus shifted outward. 'I didn't want to die,' she says, 'because I couldn't bear to disappoint the people trying to keep me alive. These doctors, these nurses, these people who loved me.' One of those people was Rackley Nolan – her New Zealander boyfriend at the time, and eventually, her co-founder and husband. While she fought for her life, he stood beside her, cooking, caring, figuring out day by day how to cope in Singapore, a country where he had no family, no base and no road map. Their modest wedding took place in 2019, in a small ceremony by the sea, just after her first round of chemotherapy. A few months later, as Singapore commenced restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the couple quietly began building the startup that had been, until then, just an idea. That company would become Bravely ( a mental health platform not built to disrupt, but to support – shaped not by hustle, but by healing. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 2 pm Lifestyle Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself. Sign Up Sign Up From ski slope to startup Ng and Nolan met in Wanaka, New Zealand, in 2017. She was skiing; he was snowboarding. She was a digital nomad who'd spent the better part of a decade running a design studio remotely, launching apps for clients such as Visa and Samsung. He had just finished a master's degree in geology and was working with his cousin on environmental research. 'There was chemistry from the start,' Nolan recalls. 'She was unlike anyone I'd met. Stylish, incredibly sharp, and just living this digital nomadic life that was so foreign to me. I was blown away.' Rackley Nolan wears a polo shirt, blazer and trousers by COS. Melissa Ng wears a dress by COS. PHOTO: DARREN GABRIEL LEOW They had a fling – which would have stayed that way if not for a twist of bureaucratic fate. In 2018, Nolan attempted to enter the US for a six-month solo hike, but was denied entry due to visa issues. He was given a choice: fly back to New Zealand, or return to his last port of entry – Singapore, where he had a transit. He chose Singapore, so he could reconnect with Ng. That's when they started officially dating, living together in a small apartment, cooking meals and exchanging ideas. Ng, already running her UX studio Melewi, was battling depression and anxiety – a result, she says, of childhood trauma and undiagnosed ADHD. Therapy helped, but it wasn't enough. 'I said to Rackley one day, 'Wouldn't it be amazing if there was an app that could help me between therapy sessions?'' she remembers. 'Just something small and steady that felt like support. Not like another mindfulness app. Just real support.' At the time, it was nothing more than a daydream. But the idea stayed. 'I couldn't shake it,' Ng says. 'Out of all the random things we thought of, that one stuck.' Life, interrupted Just as Bravely began to take form, Ng's health collapsed. She was diagnosed with leukaemia at the end of 2019 while they were back in New Zealand for another winter season. 'She was getting really tired,' Nolan says. 'We went to the doctor, and after a bunch of tests – and one dismissal – they finally diagnosed her. She was admitted straight away.' Ng received a stem cell transplant in April 2020 – the same week Singapore's 'circuit breaker' kicked in. Nolan, who had no family or support network in the country, found himself navigating hospital visits, supply runs and late-night anxieties all by himself. 'It was scary,' he says. 'I didn't know anyone here yet. No friends, no family. I just had to figure it out.' For Ng, the illness became a crucible – burning away distractions and doubt. 'It changed me. I suddenly knew exactly what I wanted to do,' she says. 'And Bravely wasn't just an idea anymore. It became a mission.' Building Bravely Ng and Nolan had launched the company in 2019, before her diagnosis, but only began seriously building its first product after her recovery. She served as CEO and head of product, drawing on her years in UX design. Nolan, who jokes about being a geologist-turned-startup-operator, handled sales, onboarding and operations. 'I do a lot of customer FaceTime,' he says. 'And a bit of code, too. But mostly I'm listening. What are the pain points? What's wasting therapists' time?' Their initial product was a consumer-facing mental health app based on Ng's personal experiences. It offered tools that bridged the gap between therapy sessions – mood tracking, habit correlations and reflective prompts. People liked it. But nobody wanted to pay for it. Melissa Ng wears a top and culottes by COS, and heels by Tod's. Rackley Nolan wears a T-shirt, jacket and trousers by COS, and sneakers by Tod's. PHOTO: DARREN GABRIEL LEOW Therapists, on the other hand, took notice. 'At first, they'd share it with their clients,' Nolan says. 'But then they started opening up about their own problems. The software they were using – or cobbling together from spreadsheets, PayNow, Google Docs – was a mess.' Ng saw the opportunity hiding in plain sight. 'Instead of the consumer, why don't we build for therapists first? They're underserved, burnt out, and drowning in admin.' In 2022, three years and a cancer diagnosis since Bravely's inception, they pivoted to a B2B model. Today, Bravely is a clinical management platform for mental health practitioners. It handles everything from session notes and appointment scheduling to billing and patient privacy controls. More importantly, it's designed with the nuance mental health work requires. 'Most EHRs are built for doctors,' Ng says, referring to electronic health records. 'They have fields for X-rays or lab tests – but nothing for emotions or trauma. And therapists need a different kind of privacy. A supervisor shouldn't be able to read a note that was never meant for them.' The startup is now used by clinics across Singapore, with teams ranging from solo therapists to practices with 25 staff. Word-of-mouth referrals – the trust currency of the mental health community – have helped it grow. And Bravely isn't stopping there. 'We're working on the client-side app next,' Ng says. 'Something that lets patients work with their therapist even between sessions. Small, steady tools that feel like a friend.' Love is a long game Ng and Nolan aren't the kind of people who make grand gestures and big declarations. Ask them what it's like being married co-founders, and all you get is a calm, practised understanding of who handles what. 'She's product and vision,' Nolan says. 'I'm ops and relationships. And we stay in our lanes.' But beneath that clarity is a deeper truth: Bravely was never just a startup. It was how they learnt to survive together – first through illness, then through the unpredictable grind of building a company from scratch. The long nights, the hospital silence, the version-one misfires – these shaped how they work, how they argue, and how they hold the centre when everything around them shifts. 'We're not trying to be the next big thing,' Ng says. 'We're trying to build something useful. Something that helps.' Nolan agrees. 'Therapists are these incredible, kind, intelligent people. They're always giving. If we can give something back to them – tools that save time, reduce burnout – that's worth it.' That kind of ambition doesn't come with unicorn valuations or headlines. But it shows up where it matters – in the trust of therapists, in the clients who feel seen, and in a partnership that learnt, early on, what caring for another person really means.
