Blog
Synthesia Sessions: AI avatars that practice with your team, not just talk at them
Most AI video tools still end at a finished clip. On October 1, 2026, Synthesia shipped something different: Sessions, a platform where lifelike AI avatars hold two-way conversations for practice, interviews, and guidance—not just one-way playback.
What it does
Sessions sits on top of Synthesia’s existing enterprise video platform. Instead of watching a recording, a learner or respondent joins what feels like a video call with an avatar that responds in real time.
Two session types are live today:
- Roleplay Sessions — Practice sales discovery, objection handling, manager conversations, or support escalations. Scenarios can be personalized before practice; companies can build custom roleplays. Learners get real-time coaching and scoring, plus thematic insights aimed at which skills drive performance—not only who scored highest.
- Survey Sessions — Turn a survey or form into a one-to-one interview. The avatar asks questions, follows up on answers, and returns structured insight. Use cases called out in Synthesia’s launch post include new-hire check-ins, customer-problem discovery, and inbound lead qualification before a human sales call.
A third type, Expert Sessions (product and process guidance on demand), is listed as coming soon.
Synthesia also notes an API path for teams that want to build interactive-avatar products on their own stack rather than using the ready-made Sessions product.
Who it is for
Sessions is aimed at organizations that already feel a people bottleneck: not enough skilled coaches, interviewers, or product experts to cover every repetition.
Strong fits include:
- Sales enablement and customer-facing teams that need high-volume practice before live calls
- Learning and development teams measuring skill gains, not just completion rates
- People ops and research teams that want interview depth at form scale
- Support and onboarding teams rehearsing escalations or walkthroughs without burning senior staff hours
Indie creators and tiny teams can still use Synthesia’s core video tools; Sessions’ value shows up clearest where conversation volume outruns available humans.
Why it matters this week
The launch is fresh (October 1, 2026) and pushes Synthesia from “AI video generator” toward “AI conversation practice at work.” That matters for buyers comparing avatar tools: the question is no longer only how good the video looks, but whether the avatar can push back, score practice, and surface coaching themes.
Synthesia’s own launch post cites early deployment signals: across deployments, 78% of learners returned for another roleplay attempt, and 83% of those improvers raised their score on a later try. Treat those as vendor-reported figures from the announcement, not independent audits.
Benefits in plain terms
- Practice without the risk — Hard conversations happen with an avatar first, not a customer or employee.
- Scale that humans can’t match — Same quality of practice or interview, available any time and language Synthesia supports, without waiting for a coach’s calendar.
- Feedback that points at skills — Roleplay analytics are framed around themes and suggested next practice, not only leaderboard scores.
- Faster insight than forms — Survey Sessions aim for interview depth with form reach.
Try Synthesia
Affiliate link: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The Synthesia product links on this page, such as Synthesia, are affiliate links.
Affiliate link: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Affiliate / referral note
Synthesia runs a public affiliate program (25% commission on eligible Starter and Creator plan payments, 60-day cookie) via synthesia.io/partners/affiliates and Rewardful signup. There is also a separate referral-partner track for agencies.
SaaS Finder Hub is enrolled in that affiliate program. Product and content links that should earn affiliate credit use our link with via=saasfinderhub. The partners/affiliates apply page below is linked without that param so it stays a plain signup path for people who want to join the program themselves.
Sources
- Sessions: Synthesia's New Interactive AI Avatar Platform (Oct 1, 2026) — affiliate link
- Become a Synthesia Affiliate Partner