In this episode of The Emblazers: B2B Leaders Igniting Revenue, Abby Kerr and Tim Riesterer sit down with Dr. Johannes Habel (University of Houston) and Jeff Cummings (United Rentals) to unpack groundbreaking research on AI role play training. Using data from a 6,000-person sales organization and the Second Nature AI role play training solution, they reveal how practice frequency, AI scoring, and manager support directly connect to real sales performance and revenue growth.
Whether you’re exploring AI-powered sales training for the first time or scaling enablement across a large field force, this conversation offers practical insight into where AI role plays are delivering value today and where they can take your team next.
Second Nature’s AI role plays make it possible to deliver consistent, repeatable practice and coaching at scale—so enterprises can train thousands of employees without needing a large trainer bench. In this episode, United Rentals highlights why this matters when rolling training to a 6,000-person sellers across multiple roles, replacing practices that couldn’t scale with a small trainer team.
According to Jeff Cummings from United Rentals, AI role play creates a safe, repeatable practice environment with immediate feedback, that encourages reps to practice multiple times and shifts training from “check-the-box” completion to sustained, coaching-driven behavior change.
This episode shares research linking AI role play usage and scores to real outcomes. In the study conducted by University of Huston, certain segments saw 7% to 30% revenue uplift, and the data showed that more practice and higher AI scores correlated with stronger real-world performance.
It’s designed to fit into existing enablement flows. United Rentals embedded AI role plays into e-learning paths, and noted that new scenarios can be created quickly—often in about 15 minutes from idea to ready-to-go implementation—so practice can be added without heavy operational lift.