Newsletter #21: The Unceasing Value of Mentorship

Recently, I celebrated a big birthday, which compelled me to reflect on my life over the past half century.  Coincidentally, over the past month I was also able to meet with several of my wonderful long-term mentors, which prompted me to think about the positive impact others have had on my development, and how I have tried (in turn) to positively impact the lives of others. 

As I thought about my closest career mentors, I was reminded of how fortunate I was that they chose to invest so much effort into my development.  I also noted a few consistent characteristics across the group: 1. They each emerged during career or life inflection points; 2. They challenge me to think differently; 3. They believed in me – more than I believed in myself at times; 4. They helped me aspire to bigger things which enhanced my life; 5. They are always honest and authentic; 6. I deeply respect their careers and even more so their characters; and 7. Their impact has been profound. 

These mentor relationships have also stood the test of time.  In looking across seven of the most impactful mentors of my career, these relationships have averaged over 22 years.  The longest, Professor Gaines Post Jr., helped motivate me from an unsure college student to a fulfilling career path, inspiring me to think boldly and historically over the past 31 years.  Jerry Newman, my boss when I was an Associate in the Venture Capital Services team at J.P. Morgan, provided me with a VC apprenticeship 25 years ago, and entrusted me with his own reputation to help him build something that didn’t exist before.  When I later joined Target Corporation following business school, I had the great fortune to have several amazing mentors who propelled my career forward over the past twenty-plus years, including Greg Duppler, Daniel Duty, Kathee Tesija, Rick Maguire, John Mulligan, and others.  Finally, a more recent mentor who took an interest in me and boosted me during and after a challenging time personally was Roger Goddu.  I am extremely grateful to each of these mentors, and appreciate that I am still connected to all of them.

Also during my recent reflection, I wondered how mentorship relationships have changed over the last few years for younger would-be mentees, with the explosion of technologies in recent decades (the internet, social media, and now AI), as well as due to the pandemic.  As it turns out, the data shows that people crave mentorship more than ever, but are now increasingly replacing human mentors with AI:

People are craving mentorship.

• “Mentorship” references in books and other periodicals (as recorded by Google’s Ngram viewer) as a percentage of total references increased by 12.3 times from 1980 to 2000. Since 2000, it has increased another 5.3 times.
• Similarly, “mentorship” as a search term on Google increased 5.6 times since 2004.

People are increasingly turning to AI for mentorship.

• References to traditional “mentorship” stopped rising about ten years ago, and began a precipitous decline in recent years.
• Multiple academic papers have been published recently highlighting the decline in traditional mentor / mentee relationships due to systemic barriers and workplace dynamics, particularly among younger generations.
• According to Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends report earlier this year, 8 out of 10 business leaders now use AI as a proxy on some level for mentorship.

This last stat haunted me, and led me to ask myself “will AI entirely replace human mentors?”  I hoped not- but then thought, “why not ask the AI LLMs themselves to see what they have to say?”  The responses from Google Gemini, Grok, Anthropic Claude and Microsoft Copilot are as follows:

• Google Gemini: “AI is not replacing human mentors but is increasingly being used as a tool to enhance and scale human-led mentorship programs. The consensus among experts is that AI cannot replicate the vital human elements of empathy, trust, and lived experience that are fundamental to effective mentoring.”
• Grok: “AI won’t fully replace human mentors, but it’s reshaping the role. Mentors provide emotional intelligence, nuanced judgment, and personal connection—things AI struggles to replicate authentically.”
• Anthropic Claude: “Rather than replacement, we're probably heading toward an ecosystem where AI tools enhance human mentoring relationships, making them more data-informed and accessible while preserving the essential human elements that make mentorship transformative.”
• Microsoft Copilot: “Not entirely—and probably not ever. AI can supplement mentorship, but replacing human mentors? That’s a stretch”…”Think of AI as your always-on coach, and human mentors as strategic allies. The best mentorship might come from combining both—AI for tactical support, humans for transformative growth.”

These responses struck me as somewhat biased and not all that confidence-inspiring.  Moreover, they don’t completely capture the value of human mentorship on many levels, including the power of interpersonal observation over time (verbal and non-verbal), and an understanding of how mentees best receive tailored, individual coaching.  AI mentorship lacks authenticity and a holistic understanding of the mentee.  AI also cannot provide mentees with experiences to put that coaching and guidance into action- whereas many traditional mentors can, directly or indirectly.  

In an increasingly chaotic, impersonal and transactional world, it is easy to lose sight of the value of authentic human mentorship.  Relying solely on AI as a proxy for human mentorship is a mistake, both within and outside the work environment.  Moreover, it is lazy to rely on AI for mentorship.  My advice to would-be mentees is to put in the effort to find a wonderful mentor, and to maintain and nurture your relationship when you do find one.  Be coachable, be open to feedback, and be authentic yourself.  Those relationships are rare, and in my experience, are incredibly valuable.

Having been on the receiving end of mentorship from many amazing people, I believe it is my duty to pay it forward by being a good mentor myself.  Mentoring others is satisfying for altruistic reasons, but it also good business: it helps build culture and improve outcomes.  So, when I founded Ocampo Capital, I purposely wove mentorship into our corporate strategy: we pride ourselves on how we mentor and support our portfolio companies to help amplify their outcomes.  And so far, I believe it is having a positive impact on our firm and our portfolio companies alike.

Thank you to all my wonderful mentors over the years.  You have helped me immensely - personally and professionally– and your impact has extended to the Ocampo Capital portfolio.  The value of your mentorship is unceasing.

*Examples of mentoring dynamics at Ocampo Capital will be highlighted further in the near future, in a short series of blog posts featuring dialogues with our current VC analyst.  We look forward to sharing those with you.