Synthesia, best known for helping companies produce training videos quickly and at lower cost, is now taking its enterprise AI strategy in a new direction. The British startup has introduced Roleplay Sessions, an interactive product that lets employees rehearse difficult workplace conversations with an AI avatar that responds in real time and then evaluates performance using a rubric.
The launch reflects a broader bet that the value of enterprise AI will be judged less by how polished its outputs look and more by whether it drives measurable results. Synthesia is positioning the new offering as part of a wider Sessions platform, which the company plans to extend into additional formats such as job interviews and candidate screening. According to the report, the move comes as businesses increasingly scrutinize whether their AI spending is producing real operational benefits.
From content generation to performance data
Company founder and CEO Victor Riparbelli said video is still more effective than text or documents, but argued that people learn best through practice and feedback. Synthesia says the new product adds another layer on top of its avatar and voice technology, which remains proprietary, while the reasoning engine behind the interactions comes from OpenAI. By combining rubrics, analytics, and performance data, the company is aiming to become less of a video tool and more of a platform for managing and understanding workforce skills.
Early customers already include large organizations, among them one of the top three companies in Europe by market capitalization, one of the top five Fortune 100 companies, and one of the world’s largest recruitment firms, according to a company spokesperson. The most common uses so far are sales training and leadership development, including practicing product pitches and difficult conversations. Customers can build programs themselves or work with Synthesia consultants to create customized training using their own internal materials.
For now, Roleplay is being sold to enterprises, but Synthesia expects to make it available more broadly to small businesses, prosumers, and possibly educational institutions in the coming months as inference costs decline. Riparbelli said the next phase of enterprise AI will be defined by proof of business impact, not just impressive demonstrations.
Source: techcrunch.com
