Human coaching for AI/data/tech professionals

Build a next chapter where meaningful work, wealth, family, health, and calm belong together.

For capable people who already perform — but want work, ambition, health, family, and calm to fit into one life. Free 30-min orientation call to start.

Book a free orientation call
13 yrs coaching 17 yrs in AI ACC certified PhD · MSc

“The results still feel almost improbable to me. I spent a year abroad and came back with experience I couldn’t have bought.”

David Ešner — AI Vertical Team Lead, Keboola
Karel Macek, Coach

Karel Macek
PhD · MSc · ACC

High ability has a hidden cost.

One more paper. One more tool. One more framework. One more meeting. One more opportunity. One more must-have direction.

At first it feels exciting. Then it becomes pressure, fragmentation, unfinished loops, and the feeling that you are always behind.

That is FOMO at work. It keeps capable people moving — but not necessarily forward. Work, wealth, family, health, and calm start pulling in different directions. The person keeps performing, but life starts to feel less whole.

The question is not whether you can do more. The question is what kind of life all this ability is actually building.

Vision

Meaningful work, wealth, family, health, and calm in one life.

Mission

Helping capable AI/data/tech professionals build that life with clarity, discipline, and courage.

What I help with

Many capable AI/data/tech people are not lost. They are overloaded by too many possible futures. Coaching helps reconnect these worlds into one life.

Meaningful work and high-value contribution

Your ability is real. The question is whether the work you do actually reflects it — and whether you are rewarded accordingly.

Wealth and better reward

Better compensation, stronger business value, negotiation, career leverage, or building something of your own. The value you create and the reward you receive should match.

Family, health, and calm under pressure

Family gets the tired version. Health waits. Calm is postponed. Coaching helps rebuild these as active priorities, not casualties of ambition.

Reducing FOMO, overload, and scattered execution

The field is moving under you. Too many options, tools, and directions. Coaching helps you choose what actually matters and execute with discipline.

Best first step

3-Session Clarity Sprint

3 sessions · 3 weeks · 450 EUR

For a tactical question, immediate overload, or a concrete professional or life dilemma that needs clearer thinking and action.

We work through what is stuck. We name the real tension or opportunity. We define actions you can test between sessions — not a generic plan, but a clear direction that fits your actual situation.

Book a free orientation call
Deeper transformation

12-Session Next Chapter Coaching

12 sessions · 1 800 EUR

For people who want to achieve 2–3 challenging goals, build lasting habits, and create breakthroughs that may have felt almost impossible or years away.

This is not only about solving the current problem. It is a focused transformation process: you choose what really matters, act between sessions, learn from reality, and gradually become the kind of person who can sustain the next chapter.

Book a free orientation call

How it works

The orientation call is not a sales trap. It is a mutual check: what is really going on, whether coaching is the right tool, and whether it makes sense to work together.

01 — Book an orientation call

Free. 30 minutes. We talk about your situation. I will tell you honestly if I can help and what working together would look like.

02 — Decide freely on both sides

No pressure. If it makes sense for both of us, we define the goal and commit to the program.

03 — Commit seriously

Sessions via video call, 60–75 minutes. We go directly at the real question — not a template, not a process for its own sake.

04 — Work between sessions

Each session ends with a concrete action. The real transformation happens between sessions, not only during the conversation.

05 — Celebrate results and version 2.0

Real change that holds. A next chapter that actually fits your ability, your values, and the life you want to be living.

By default, all coaching is strictly confidential and conducted under the ICF Code of Ethics.

Why this works

13 years coaching

With technical professionals, senior leaders, and people at real decision points. ACC certified, trained at the NeuroLeadership Institute.

17 years in AI

Across research, delivery, and leadership. I know this world technically and organizationally — from the inside.

100+ AI/ML interviews

Across 6 companies. I know how senior talent is assessed, where people lose, and what actually opens doors.

PhD · MSc · ACC

Mathematical Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, and a trained coaching method grounded in neuroscience.

What people say

“The results still feel almost improbable to me. I spent a year abroad and came back with experience I couldn't have bought. My thesis was highly praised. And I eventually moved to London to start an interesting and rich career. I don't think any of it would have happened the same way without him.”

David Ešner
AI Vertical Team Lead, Keboola · Coaching client

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“Those conversations contributed meaningfully to the direction I have taken since, and to a greater sense of confidence in my decisions today.”

Anna Potanina
Developer, Barclays Investment Bank · Coaching client

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“It clarified what I want to do, with many surprising aha moments. I was drowning in thoughts of many possibilities — which one to take and which not? Karel helped me realise what to leave and what to pursue.”

Jiří Horáček
Concept Artist, GRIP Studios · Coaching client

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“He is a brilliant navigator that is able to assist you with finding your way out of “labyrinths” of various unexpected and unpleasant occasions and situations. At the same time, he can be your supporter that walks with you as a reliable ally for overcoming your current or perceived obstacles.”

Veronika Štromajerová
GL & Reporting Accountant, Ricardo · Coaching client

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“I carry from it, and still use to this day, valuable approaches to solving problems and life situations that help with inner self-confidence and a positive approach.”

Petra Pokorná
ERP Consultant · Coaching client

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About me

I am Karel Macek, PhD, ACC. I work as a coach for capable AI/data/tech professionals.

My background combines 13 years of coaching practice, 17 years in AI, leadership of AI/data teams, an ACC coaching credential, a PhD in Mathematics, and an MSc in AI.

I am not a resume reviewer. I am not here to give generic advice. My role is to create productive conditions for clearer thinking, disciplined action, and deeper personal transformation.

I also take on selected AI transformation, design thinking, and expert advisory work where my AI/data leadership experience creates clear value.

Not sure if this is for you?
That's what the call is for.

Book a free orientation call.
We'll look at your situation together.
I'll tell you honestly if I can help.

Book a free orientation call

Or write to me at karel@macek.ai

FAQ

How does my coaching actually work?

We meet regularly, usually for 3 or 12 sessions. I use brain-based coaching methods I trained in at the NeuroLeadership Institute. These methods work actively with principles of how the human brain makes sense of complex situations, decisions, pressure, and change.

My role is to navigate your thinking in a calm, structured, and efficient process toward the progress you want to achieve. Each session ends with a concrete action, because real change happens between sessions, not only during the conversation.

What is the ROI?

I cannot guarantee a specific result, because the real work is in your hands. The investment is partly the coaching fee, but your main part is following through on the actions you define, specify, and commit to between sessions.

In some cases, the financial return can substantially exceed the coaching fee, especially when income growth is an explicit focus. But I do not sell guaranteed outcomes. The deeper value is often clearer direction, better decisions, healthier performance, and a more integrated life.

That said, clients often value other outcomes even more: more meaningful work, better balance between delivery and learning, stronger professional direction, and healthier integration of professional and private life.

Why is your coaching unique?

I combine several worlds that are rarely brought together. I use brain-based coaching methods, but I also bring in ways of thinking from innovation and problem-solving, including TRIZ, Six Sigma, and design thinking. I draw on my PhD in optimal decision-making with probabilistically specified objectives — especially when helping clients clarify trade-offs, uncertainty, goals, and action.

There is also a deeper human layer. I wrote my MA thesis on anthropological foundations of personal development and have studied thinkers such as Simone Weil, Fernando Rielo, and Ludwig von Mises. In parallel, I collaborate with my wife on applied neuroscience and Montessori principles in family and community learning.

So the work is not only "career coaching" or "leadership coaching." It is structured thinking, human development, decision-making, and real-life action brought into one process.

Why is it not just advice-giving?

Advice-giving rarely works in complex life and leadership situations. You do not need someone to win your battle for you. You need to win your own victory.

My role is not to fight instead of you, but to offer a spotlight, a calm mind, and a structured process. Most people today do not lack information. They need to harmonize what they already know, see the situation more clearly, and turn it into a successful journey toward their goals.

That does not mean advice has no value. In some cases it can be useful, and I am open to it. But then we are operating under a different contract. I see advice-giving as an exception, not the core of the work.

My top priority is coaching, because I believe in people, their aspirations, and their inner resources.

So if it is not about advice, why focus on AI team leaders?

Because I know this world from the inside. These are not abstract "target clients" for me. They are people whose pressures, language, ambitions, overload, and professional dilemmas I understand from lived experience.

I have gone through many of the pains myself. That helps me sense more precisely what is being said, what is not being said, and where the real tension may be. Compared with a random coach, I can often recognize the technical, organizational, and psychological patterns faster.

Clients also value my technical analogies and metaphors. When useful, I explain how the mind works, why certain patterns appear under pressure, and how we can use these principles for their own journey.

The focus on AI team leaders is not about giving them technical advice. It is about creating a coaching space where their world is deeply understood.

Book a free orientation call

Or write to me at karel@macek.ai

Values

Wholeness and dignity

Work, wealth, family, health, and calm belong together. A good life connects them without losing dignity, relationships, or self-respect.

Freedom

Coaching starts without pressure. First an orientation call, then a free decision on both sides.

Optimization

Observe reality, try actions, evaluate results, and find the next better iteration. Coaching is a living process, not a one-time fix.

Courage and adventure

Real transformation requires courage: naming the truth, letting go of false options, and entering the path. Life should be a meaningful adventure, not only performance and survival.

Truthfulness

Good coaching helps see reality as it is: what you really want, what you avoid, what works, what does not, and what can no longer be postponed.

Discipline

Transformation does not happen only inside a good conversation. It happens between sessions through action, observation, and gradual change.

Kind challenge

People need both safety and challenge. Coaching should respect the person and invite them not to live below their possibilities.

Expression

Big life questions are not always solved through models and rational analysis alone. Imagery, metaphor, story, and creativity help people understand their next chapter more truthfully.

Book a free orientation call

Or write to me at karel@macek.ai