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Leveraging AI to Create an Interactive Podcast Training for Customer Service Agents

Client

Chewy

Audience

Customer Service Agents

Responsibilities

Led Design and Development

Tools Used

Google NotebookLM/Reaper
Adobe Character Animator/Adobe Premiere
Articulate Storyline

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Overview

Chewy needed to train new customer service agents on who their customers are, what they care about, and how to foster empathy in their interactions.

Problem

Traditionally, this information had been presented using static slides, which were neither engaging nor memorable.
New agents, especially those without pets, often struggled to relate to Chewy customers and understand their needs. To improve customer interactions, agents needed a clearer picture of who Chewy customers are and why their needs matter.

Solution

To address these challenges, I designed an interactive animated podcast learning experience, which presented key information about Chewy customers in a more engaging and memorable way than traditional slides.

This learning experience fostered empathy by helping agents understand customer experiences and needs. Through empathy-building exercises, agents listened to ‘unicorn call’ examples, then reflected on customer emotions and practiced delivering empathetic responses.

Key Course Features

AI-Generated Podcast – Used NotebookLM to create AI-driven discussions about Chewy customers, then refined the best content in Reaper for a polished narrative.
Engaging Animation – Brought the podcast to life using Adobe Character Animator and sequenced the final animated videos in Adobe Premiere.
Interactivity – Integrated videos into Articulate Storyline, adding pause points for learner engagement, knowledge checks, and immediate feedback.

Prototype Development

AI-Generated Podcast

To create engaging content, I leveraged NotebookLM, a Google AI tool that synthesizes information into structured formats like summaries, outlines, and audio overviews. Specifically, I:

Curated a notebook with key insights about Chewy customers.
Generated multiple AI-driven audio overviews—structured as lively discussions between two people.

Click Play to listen to an audio overview example.
Edited the best parts together using Reaper, an audio editing tool, to ensure a smooth and compelling narrative.

Engaging Animation

To bring the podcast to life, I used Adobe Character Animator to create animated characters that "spoke" the podcast dialogue.

To save time, I used pre-made puppets and enhanced their realism by enabling the Auto Blink behavior under puppet properties.

Next, I imported my AI-generated podcast audio, selected it, and generated mouth movements using the "Compute Lip Sync Takes from Scene Audio" feature.

After exporting these character videos, I sequenced them in Adobe Premiere to create a polished animated experience.

Click Play to watch the a video example.

Interactivity

To keep learners engaged, I housed the videos in Storyline and added interactive elements, including:

Pause points where learners guessed customer demographics, pet profiles, reasons for contact, and preferred channels.
Immediate feedback, reinforcing correct answers and clarifying misconceptions. Learners would hear the podcast hosts comment on their answer.

Empathy Building

To develop agents’ empathy, I incorporated three ‘unicorn call’ examples—exceptional real-life customer interactions.

After each call, learners:

Reflected on what the agent did or said.
Considered how the customer likely felt.
Learned how to apply similar empathy-driven responses in their own interactions.

By hearing real examples, agents gained a firsthand sense of how empathy plays out in customer interactions and how to respond effectively.

Results

This interactive and engaging learning experience successfully:
✅ Equipped agents with key customer insights.
✅ Improved engagement and retention compared to traditional slides.
✅ Fostered stronger empathy, leading to better customer interactions and higher satisfaction rates.

Conclusion

By transforming a static learning process into an interactive, engaging, and empathy-driven experience, this initiative not only provided knowledge but also prepared agents to connect with customers on a deeper level. This approach reinforces what makes Chewy’s customer care so special and sets agents up for long-term success.