Businesses are turning to AI to increase sales, but meeting revenue goals is more difficult than ever.
To improve pitch landings, companies are hiring AI sales coaches, a tool that has gained traction since the inception of ChatGPT.
These systems simulate conversations with customers and allow sales reps to practice their pitches in real-time using AI personas that act like buyers. The tool then scores performance and provides personalized feedback, complementing manager-led coaching and static training with interactive, repeatable practice.
This change comes as key parts of sales training are disintegrating. Companies are cutting back on middle managers to increase efficiency, leaving those who remain to spend less time overseeing large teams and coaching employees.
When coaching is stressed, engagement decreases and turnover increases. HR research firm Work Institute’s 2025 Retention Report found that 18% of workers cite a lack of professional development opportunities as the main reason for leaving a job. A lack of sales coaching can mean less support for your sales team to improve.
Now, companies are incorporating AI sales coaches into their training to fill that gap. These tools can standardize feedback, give sales reps an opportunity to practice, and make performance measurable. Early results show reduced onboarding time and enhanced communication.
But this change raises questions about how much sales training can be enhanced through simulation, and what is lost when coaching begins to lose its human touch.
pitch practice
At ServiceNow, an enterprise AI platform, AI sales coaches are taking over repetitive training tasks.
The tool is built into ServiceNow University, the company’s internal training platform, and about 8,000 distributors use it for certification and product training, said Janie Howson, the company’s senior vice president of global employee skills and talent readiness. Before AI, training relied on manager feedback through webinars, self-guided courses, and simple “feel checks.” Their subjective valuation methods varied widely and delayed the time it took for sellers to prepare for actual inquiries.
Now, sales reps can practice role-playing simulations as many times as needed and receive metrics to score their skills and quantify their improvement.
“It’s a very difficult thing to learn with a lot of effort,” Howson told Business Insider. “That’s wonderful.”
In one exercise, a seller interacts with an AI persona named Jordan, a mid-level buyer, and asks, “What are you here to talk about?” Sales reps then make proposals, handle follow-ups, and are scored based on a rubric. The system flags gaps, such as not asking enough questions to understand the customer’s needs, and the seller repeats the exercise until it improves.
Since introducing the tool earlier this year, Howson said about 90% of ServiceNow’s sales reps are using it. He added that the time it takes for employees to become familiar with the job has been reduced from three months to six weeks.
Janie said AI coaches have significantly increased confidence in sales readiness by moving sales reps’ skills from manager-driven “vibe checks” to quantifiable metrics. Automated training allows managers to focus on higher-value instruction.
“AI needs to help you manage so you can lead,” Howson says.
Turn communication into data
Sales training company Braintrust uses AI sales coaching to analyze how sales reps communicate and turn it into measurable data.
The company, which trains clients in the pharmaceutical, SaaS, and financial sectors, uses a tool called Yoodli to conduct and analyze buyer-seller conversations. Track pacing, filler words, and brevity and map those behaviors to your internal sales framework.
The system is trained on Braintrust’s proprietary data, including training videos, rubrics, and books on neuroscience-based sales approaches.
Jeff Bittner, director of digital and AI at Braintrust, told Business Insider that practicing with AI reduces risk and allows sellers to “practice and fail” without having to perform in front of others.
Yoodli’s AI personas are tailored to specific customers. Braintrust created an AI oncologist persona to benchmark performance for a pharmaceutical client. Bittner said the cancer diagnostics company saw its team’s ability to “personally connect” go from 10% to 84% within three months.
Bittner also pointed to a security firm that won bigger deals after improving its “quantification of problems,” a skill practiced in an AI role-playing system that helps sellers calculate the financial cost of customer pain points.
Limits of simulation
Despite the early wins, the Tour quickly showed its limitations as a machine. Braintrust found that interacting with an AI avatar doesn’t feel like talking to a real human. “There’s just something wrong with them,” Bittner said, adding that when the AI speaks, the lips “tremble a little bit”, making the conversation feel unnatural.
At ServiceNow, Janey said she worries that AI will weaken relationships with managers if leaders avoid difficult conversations about performance. “Managers are withdrawing from those conversations,” Janey said. “It’s a real risk.”
There is also the possibility of overconfidence. Janie said that while AI can help sellers measure their practices and performance, it cannot replace the judgment needed to understand customers and adapt in real time.
“You can’t automate curiosity or the wisdom to know when a conversation is going in the wrong direction,” she added.
The future of AI sales coaching
Despite the risk of dehumanizing mentorship, the two companies are aiming for deeper integration.
ServiceNow is committed to tailoring training to specific regions and customer situations. Braintrust analyzes real sales calls alongside AI simulations to see if strong performance translates into revenue.
While these tools offer the potential to standardize practice and measure performance, they cannot fully replicate the human guidance needed to train strong salespeople in real-life conversations.
But companies don’t see that as a trade-off.
“It’s not about replacing their jobs,” Bittner said. “It’s about helping them.”