TL;DR
Sky is one of the UK’s largest media and entertainment companies, with about 30,000 employees. Above all, it wanted its inclusive leadership training to do more than teach theory. Employees learned how to disagree well and handle difficult conversations. However, using those skills in a real conversation still felt daunting.
So Sky’s D&I Learning & Advisory team built three Yoodli roleplays: Workplace Adjustments, Disagreeing Well, and Mid-Year Review. Then the team tested them with representative colleague groups, and Yoodli scored inclusive behaviors in every session. As a result, the pilot earned an NPS of 87 across 21 survey responses. In addition, every test group gave strongly positive feedback. Testers also found zero critical issues, and users felt more confident before real conversations. Consequently, Sky has approved all three scenarios for Sky Learn. They will launch to about 2,000 employees in Sky’s Inclusive Leadership Programme.
The Challenge: Turning Inclusive Leadership Training Into Practice
In Sky’s People team, the D&I Learning & Advisory function builds programs that grow inclusive behaviors across the business. One of these is Sky’s internal Inclusive Leadership program.
This inclusive leadership training gave employees strong foundations. For example, it taught them how to have a difficult conversation, how to disagree well, and how to lead inclusively. Still, knowing the theory and using it in the moment are two different things.
After the course, employees had to walk into a real conversation with their manager and apply what they learned. For most people, that first real attempt still felt intimidating. In other words, the program lacked a safe space to practice before the stakes were real.
Sky also doesn’t take tools off the shelf. Instead, any solution had to prove three things. First, it had to be fit for purpose. Second, it had to work for any type of difficult conversation. Finally, it had to justify its cost over cheaper tools with fewer capabilities.
“A lot of programs will give you the theory, here’s how you have a difficult conversation, here’s how you disagree well. It’s a brilliant course, but the ability to take those learnings and put them into practice in real life is still quite daunting. Having a safe space to practice what we’re teaching was needed, and Yoodli really plugged that gap.” – Wesley Lewin, Group D&I Learning & Advisory Manager, Sky
The Solution: A Pilot-First Path to Inclusive Leadership Training
Building and testing the pilot
Sky started with a structured test-and-learn pilot. First, the D&I team built three Yoodli roleplays. The team matched each one to a representative colleague group and a real workplace conversation. Then it used surveys and listening groups to assess five areas: user experience, scenario realism, learning impact, confidence building, and readiness for deployment.
| Test group | Scenario |
|---|---|
| Sky Disability Community | Workplace Adjustments |
| Home Service | Disagreeing Well |
| Performance Sprint Team | Mid-Year Review |
The formula: Inclusive leadership training content + customized Yoodli AI roleplays for any difficult conversation + inclusive behavior evaluation in every scenario.
How it works: No matter how Sky customizes a roleplay, every session gives users feedback on their inclusive behaviors. For example, it shows how well they communicated and how well they recognized intent versus impact. Users practice, review their coaching, and try again. As a result, they build confidence before the real conversation.
Refining before rollout
Participants’ suggestions focused on enhancements, not barriers to adoption. Together, Sky and Yoodli made five refinements. They slowed conversation pacing to give users more thinking time. They also improved onboarding guidance and personalized scenario content. In addition, they smoothed dialogue flow and shifted feedback emphasis away from scores. Ultimately, the team made every recommended change before rollout.
The pilot answered Sky’s two questions. Is it great? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes. Because of this, the D&I team had the evidence to secure leadership buy-in and move to wider deployment.
From pilot to champion
Today, Wesley champions Yoodli across the business. For example, he demos it at town halls and shares a short clip of himself practicing with a notably awkward AI manager. It always gets a laugh.
“The more you use it, the more you practice. If you practice a difficult conversation, you take the feedback, you do it again, you are so much more equipped and feel more confident when you actually have it in real life.” – Wesley Lewin, Group D&I Learning & Advisory Manager, Sky
Why Yoodli for Inclusive Leadership Training
Sky evaluated other options for its inclusive leadership training. However, those tools lacked Yoodli’s depth of coaching, analysis, and customization. Therefore, that combination made Yoodli worth the investment over cheaper, less capable alternatives.
Key advantages of Yoodli for Sky:
- Fully customizable roleplays: They fit any type of difficult conversation, a broad use case other tools couldn’t match.
- Realism: Fast responses and natural conversation mean users quickly forget they’re talking to an AI.
- Instant, actionable coaching: After every attempt, users get a one-paragraph summary of strengths and areas to develop.
- Delivery analytics: Yoodli tracks filler words, repeated words, pauses, and pacing [link: Yoodli analytics or feedback feature page]. In other words, users get feedback on how they speak, not just what they say.
- Inclusive behavior scoring: Every roleplay includes it, so Sky can measure D&I outcomes in any scenario.
“I tell people all the time how good it is, but I let them find out for themselves. Jump in, use it yourself, and the feedback is always, this is brilliant. You can see people thinking, we could use it for this, we could use it for that.” – Wesley Lewin, Group D&I Learning & Advisory Manager, Sky
Impact
Pilot results
All three test groups gave strongly positive feedback:
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Net Promoter Score | 87 across 21 survey responses |
| Scenarios tested | 3 roleplays with 3 representative colleague groups |
| Critical issues | 0; Sky and Yoodli made every recommended improvement |
| Confidence | Users felt more confident before real-life conversations |
| Inclusive behavior scores | Rose with repeated attempts |
| Deployment | Sky approved all 3 scenarios for Sky Learn, launching to ~2,000 employees in the Inclusive Leadership Programme |
What participants said
Overall, participants said the conversations felt natural and adaptive. They also said the scenarios reflected real workplace situations and needed little support. In addition, they valued the specific examples in the feedback. Playback and analytics also helped them understand how they came across.
“It was much better than expected and felt more natural.” – Pilot participant, Sky
“Loved how fluid it was and easy to use.” – Pilot participant, Sky
What’s next for Sky’s inclusive leadership training
Next, Sky plans to expand its inclusive leadership training with new scenarios that match business priorities. For example, new scenarios will cover transformation, managing wellbeing, performance feedback, customer escalations, and influencing. Because every roleplay includes inclusive behavior scoring, Sky can track D&I outcomes as each new use case goes live. Finally, Sky will feature participants’ own advice in internal comms and on Sky Learn pages. Their tips: practice regularly, use playback and insights, and focus on progress over perfection.
“The one thing we’ve always sold is that the more attempts a user has, the more their inclusive behavior scores increase. For me, in my role and the purpose of why we even have Yoodli, that metric and that impact is there in the analysis, which is really good.” – Wesley Lewin, Group D&I Learning & Advisory Manager, Sky
“Just the measure of before and after the pilot gave us the answer, and it gave my director the ammo to say, yes, we should invest in this tool.” – Wesley Lewin, Group D&I Learning & Advisory Manager, Sky
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About Sky
Sky is one of Europe’s leading media and entertainment companies, serving millions of customers across the UK, Ireland and Italy. Part of Comcast Corporation, Sky brings customers the best in entertainment, sport, news and arts, alongside innovative TV, broadband and mobile services. Through our award-winning original content, world-class sports coverage and trusted journalism, we connect people to the stories, experiences and services they love. Guided by our belief in better, we’re committed to making a positive contribution to our customers, our communities and the world around us.
About Yoodli
Yoodli is a skills readiness platform that helps individuals and teams practice real-world conversations, presentations, and professional interactions through customizable AI roleplays and AI Tutors. Whether preparing for difficult conversations, leadership moments, sales calls, or certifications, users get targeted, real-time feedback to build confidence and improve communication. The Seattle-based company is trusted by Fortune 100 companies, leading training providers, and educational institutions to deliver scalable, judgment-free coaching across sales, leadership, customer success, and more. Learn more at yoodli.ai.
Want to see what Yoodli can do for your team? Contact: sales@yoodli.ai | yoodli.ai