Welcome Will Foussier, Co-Founder & CEO at AceUp on this episode of 🔥 The Lantern 🔥
AceUp is an AI coaching technology for leadership development at scale.
Their team works with enterprise clients like L’Oreal, LVMH, IBM, OpenAI, Airbnb, and SpaceX to ensure managers and team leaders have the skills they need to succeed.
🤖 What’s happening at AceUp in 2026? 🤖
AI has completely transformed how companies bring upskilling and training to employees.
AceUp’s coaching solution, Ally, breaks past the typical 30-40% of employees who get development resources and puts leadership coaching in the hands of everyone, from the frontline to senior management, in every geography.
Wiley recently deployed Ally across their ~1,000 employees in six countries and within weeks standardized best practices around running meetings, setting goals, and cross-functional collaboration globally.
🧠 What has Will learned building AceUp over seven years? 🧠
On adopting AI internally: Will’s team deployed Claude Code company-wide after being heavy ChatGPT users.
Leadership has to model the behavior, be eager to learn new tools, and show the team how AI can amplify their capabilities.
On staying close to the buyer: Enterprise needs around AI are evolving so fast that RFPs can shift dramatically in short windows. Being close to that dialogue and willing to evolve your offering quickly is non-negotiable.
🧗 How has Will endured the Founder journey? 🧗
Disrupting himself before disrupting the business.
After seven years of reinventing AceUp multiple times, Will has learned that finding joy in the daily work despite the pressure is what sustains you. And the team you surround yourself with matters more than raw capability alone, because the quality of your human connection is what gets you through the hard conversations and the long road.
🤝 How can we help AceUp grow? 🤝
With Ally, AceUp can now serve organizations of any size, not just large enterprises!
If you’re a small, midsize, or fast-growing company that wants to develop human skills as fast as you’re scaling the business, reach out on LinkedIn or at AceUp.com.
In a world where technical skills are increasingly automated, the difference is made on how fast you grow human capabilities.
The Lantern is brought to you by MGMT Boston & Invest Northern Ireland – Americas this month