For coating applications under combined mechanical loading and corrosive environment, there are only few cost-effective solutions. The stainless steel AISI 304 has the potential to fill this niche showing excellent corrosion resistance while utilizing the deformation-induced phase transformation from γ-austenite to α’-martensite, which results in an increase in strength. However, it is not known whether this can occur in laser cladded material. Therefore, AISI 304 coatings deposited by conventional laser cladding and high-speed laser cladding in as-cladded and heat-treated conditions were investigated before and after deformation by means of light microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and electron backscatter diffraction. It was shown that due to the dendritic microstructure accompanied by an inhomogeneous distribution of the main alloying elements no deformation-induced phase transformation o-curred in the as-cladded coating manufactured by means of conventional laser cladding. The applied approach involved the formation of a homogeneous γ-austenite microstructure through a solution annealing treatment, so that a deformation induced martensitic transformation (DIMT) could occur in the coatings. However, the volume fraction of martensite which has been formed locally at individual shear bands, was rather low, which can be possibly attributed to the high Ni content of the feedstock, stabilizing the γ-austenite micro-structure. On the contrary, high-speed laser deposition resulted in a fine-grained austenitic microstructure, enabling the DIMT without additional heat treatment. This study shows the possibility of exploiting the DIMT mechanism in laser cladded AISI 304 coatings.