By Jordan-Ashley Walker On a cloudy Thursday morning in September, Rhett Epler, an assistant professor of marketing at the Strome College of Business, sits at his desk in Constant Hall, engaging in a video call with a prospective client. The client, dressed in formal business attire, comments on Norfolk’s gloomy weather, suggesting that the lack of sunshine adds to the coastal city's charm before shifting to business matters. “Don’t waste my time with fluff, ” she tells Epler. Although this interaction sounds and appears to be a real client meeting with a high-stakes deal, the person on screen is not human. Instead, it is an artificial intelligence–powered avatar from Copient. ai, a state-of-the-art software platform designed to simulate authentic sales conversations. By incorporating Copient. ai into Epler’s professional selling courses, the Strome College of Business offers students practical, real-world experience within a safe, controlled setting, Epler explained. Students can test strategies, refine their delivery, and build confidence — all prior to engaging in actual sales pitches. “It doesn’t replace teaching, ” Epler said. “It augments it. We are removing the tension from sales interactions and helping students get comfortable with the experience. ” The AI client tailors its responses based on each student’s performance, enabling a wide range of unpredictable interactions that closely mirror real-life situations. Rather than relying on memorized scripts, students are encouraged to listen attentively, think critically, and adjust their responses in real time. Old Dominion University is among the first 15 universities nationwide to adopt this technology, Epler added. Students show significant improvement in their scores after just six to seven AI-driven sales interactions, making the program an efficient and effective alternative to traditional role-playing.

The software helps Epler circumvent what he calls a “role-play bottleneck” — the challenge of limited time preventing longer, more in-depth sales scenarios with every student. After completing each scenario, students receive a rubric that scores their sales interactions. They are evaluated on numerous criteria, from building rapport with the potential client to smoothly transitioning from introductions to product discussions — all facilitated through the software’s AI system. For instance, during a demonstration, Epler himself lost points for failing to mention the name of the company he represented. For students, the experience proves revealing. Many begin the program apprehensive about the pressure of sales, but Copient. ai offers a low-stakes environment to practice and develop skills, Epler noted. Maliyah Terry, a senior double majoring in business analytics and real estate, utilized the AI tool in Epler’s professional selling class. “It allowed us to practice real sales conversations freely without needing someone else to act as the customer, ” Maliyah said. “It’s much more efficient and lets us engage with different customer difficulty levels, simulating real-life scenarios. ”