The best AI role-play tool for your team is the one your people will actually use, whose feedback they find useful and whose data handling your company can accept. Product pages make that hard to judge, because every tool promises realism and improvement. This guide gives you questions you can put to any vendor, including us, and a way to test the answers yourself in a week.
We make DIRI AI, so we have an interest. We have written the checklist so that it works for any product, and we name no competitors and say nothing about any specific tool beyond what its maker publishes. Where we describe what DIRI AI does, it is as an example of an answer, not proof that it is the right choice for you.
Start with the problem, not the tool
Before you compare products, write down in one or two sentences what you want to change. Typical aims are:
- new salespeople who are nervous before their first calls;
- experienced people who avoid a particular situation, such as price objections;
- a team that needs a regular, low-effort way to keep practising;
- a manager who wants something concrete to discuss in coaching.
Different aims point to different tools. A tool built for onboarding may be a poor fit for weekly practice, and the other way round. If you cannot name the problem, no checklist will help.
The checklist
1. Is it a spoken exercise or a text one?
If your people sell on the phone, practising by typing is a different skill. Ask whether the practice is spoken, how it handles interruptions and silence, and what happens when the speaker pauses. Try it with a headset and judge whether it feels like a call.
2. Who controls the scenario?
Some tools let you describe any situation; others offer a set of fixed scenarios with levels of difficulty. Free-form is flexible but can drift. Fixed scenarios let you repeat the same situation and compare attempts. Ask which model the tool uses and whether you can adapt scenarios to your product and market, such as your own objections and your own language.
3. What feedback do you get, and how is it produced?
Ask to see a real report. Check whether it quotes specific moments from the call, whether it suggests one clear thing to try next and whether it explains how it reached its conclusions. Be careful of precise-looking scores with no explanation. Feedback from AI is a suggestion, and a good tool says so. In DIRI AI, the coach report quotes moments from the transcript and suggests a practice goal; how we score describes the method.
4. Does it train, or does it evaluate?
This matters for people and for law. If a tool produces ratings that managers can use to compare employees, it may fall into a category that regulation treats more strictly, and it will change how honestly people practise. Ask whether each person sees their own results, who else can see them and whether the intended use is training or evaluation. DIRI AI is built for training, and the participant sees their own report.
5. How is data handled?
Ask where recordings and transcripts are stored, how long they are kept, who can access them, whether they are used to train models and how deletion works. Ask for the privacy documents and read them. For a team, ask who the data controller is and where processing happens. Do not put real customer data into practice scenarios unless your company has approved it.
6. Does it work for your languages and your market?
If your team sells in Czech, Slovak, Polish or German, test a call in that language, not only in English. Judge whether the customer sounds natural, whether local expressions work and whether the report is written in language your people will read.
7. How does it work for a team?
Look for a way to invite people, a shared set of scenarios, an overview for a manager and a clear rule about who sees what. Ask whether a manager can see individual calls or only an overview. Ask how new people are added and removed. A tool that is good for one person can be awkward for twenty.
8. What does it really cost?
Ask about the price per person, what is included, what counts as a call, any limits on length and what happens after a trial. Check whether a trial needs a payment card and whether the plan renews on its own. Ask about the cost of adding people later. Compare plans on your expected use, not on the headline price. DIRI AI lists its plans on the pricing page; check current terms for any product before deciding.
9. What happens to you if you leave?
Ask whether you can export your data and whether you can cancel at any time. Switching tools is easier when you know in advance how to take your material with you.
10. Can the vendor tell you what it cannot do?
A trustworthy vendor can describe limits. Ask what the tool is bad at. A simulated customer does not know your market like an experienced colleague, it can be wrong and it is not a replacement for coaching. If the answer is only superlatives, treat that as information.
Questions to be careful with
Some claims deserve a second look.
- Large numbers with no source. Percentage improvements and rankings need a method you can read. If there is none, discount them.
- Claims of being first or best. These are hard to verify and add little to your decision.
- Promises of certain results. Practice helps people prepare. It does not secure an outcome.
- Emotion or personality detection. Reading emotions from a voice is contested and in some workplace settings restricted. Ask what the tool actually analyses.
How to run a fair trial
A one-week trial tells you more than a demo.
- Choose two or three scenarios that match real situations your team finds hard.
- Pick three or four people, including one sceptic and one new starter.
- Have each person do three short calls, repeating the same scenario at least once.
- Ask afterwards: Did it feel like a call? Was the report useful? Did you change anything on the second attempt?
- Check the practical parts: invitations, language, data settings and what the plan costs when the trial ends.
You can hear what a practice call is like on the sample call page, and read about practising a sales call in 10 minutes.
When you may not need software at all
Be honest about the alternatives. Practice with a colleague costs nothing and gives a real person's reactions; see AI role-play vs practising with a colleague. A general chat assistant is good for preparing words; see ChatGPT vs a voice AI trainer. A workshop is better for introducing a method; see AI sales practice vs classroom training. For a wider view, read the page on alternatives.
Related: AI role-play vs practising with a colleague, DIRI AI vs Zenarate, AI Sales Coach vs Human Coach: What Each Does Best, AI role-play software for insurance teams: what to look for.
Frequently asked questions
What should AI sales role-play software include?
At a minimum: spoken practice if your people sell by phone, scenarios you can repeat, feedback that quotes real moments, clear data handling and a team view if you are buying for more than one person. Beyond that, decide by your own aim.
How do I compare tools fairly?
Use the same scenario, the same people and the same language for each tool, and ask each vendor for its privacy documents and its pricing in writing. Judge the second attempt, not only the first.
Is AI role-play accurate?
It is a simulation. It can be useful for rehearsing and it can also be wrong, so treat its feedback as a suggestion. Real calls, colleagues and managers remain the reference.
Is it safe to use with company data?
Keep confidential customer information out of any tool your company has not approved. Check each provider's data handling, retention and access rules, and your own policy.
Can I use it to evaluate employees?
DIRI AI is intended for training, not for evaluating employees, and each person sees their own report. If you are considering any tool for assessment, take legal advice first, because rules on employee evaluation and automated systems are stricter.
How much does it cost?
It varies by product and by the number of people. DIRI AI has a Free plan with 3 voice calls a month of up to 5 minutes each, and paid plans for more. See the pricing page.
A note on sources
This guide is editorial. It describes questions to ask and does not rank products or measure results. Features and prices change; verify them with each vendor.
DIRI AI trains communication and provides a report after each practice call; the participant sees their own report. The intended purpose is training, not evaluating employees.
The Free plan includes 3 voice calls a month of up to 5 minutes each; e-mail confirmation is required. Check current terms before you start.