How Cohesity Uses AI Video to Save $100,000 on Video Production

We spoke with Martin Dunne, Learning & Design Production Manager, and Kiera McAuliffe, Content Developer at Cohesity. They shared how they are using AI video to create eLearning content for the Cohesity Academy.

The Challenge

Martin and Kiera are tasked with converting instructor-led classroom training into eLearning courses for Cohesity Academy. These courses are accessed by Cohesity's large customer base and partners.

The team utilized voice recordings and experimented with in-house video production to create eLearning videos. However, both methods had notable limitations:

Complicated planning: With instructors and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) located worldwide, it can be challenging and costly to arrange filming sessions.

Lack of flexibility: Producing videos and voice-overs is a time-consuming and expensive endeavour. Making updates once they are finished is very difficult.

Busy SMEs: SMEs would record voice-overs, which was time-consuming and added extra work to their already busy schedules.

We tried recording previously, but it was a lengthy process. Setting up the green screen and doing retakes took up a lot of time. Moreover, since our software product changes frequently, the videos need frequent updates. - Kiera McAuliffe, Content Developer

The Solution

With Synthesia, the team can now quickly create eLearning videos. After receiving the script from the subject matter expert (SME), they import it into Synthesia. They then divide it into multiple scenes, perform some screen recording, add content to each scene, and the video is ready to be uploaded to the Learning Management System (LMS).

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This is what a final e-learning video looks like:

Here’s what the team likes most about Synthesia:

Ease of use: The platform includes all the necessary video editing features to create high-quality training videos without the need for any prior editing knowledge.

Avatar quality: Synthesia's avatars are capable of performing controlled gestures and have industry-leading lip sync.

Frequent updates: Synthesia is updated frequently, with each update carefully considered to enhance usability even further.

There were around 30 avatars when we started, and there’s now over 140! So the speed at which updates are made to the tool  is very impressive. - Martin Dunne, Learning & Design Production Manager

The Results

Having used Synthesia for just over a year, Martin and Kiera have achieved impressive results:

Video at scale: In the last quarter alone, the team created hours of Synthesia videos for multiple training requests.

Cost savings: By using Synthesia to create videos, the team saved approximately $100,000 that would have otherwise been spent on outsourcing the work to voice-over artists or video production companies.

Time savings: Martin and Kiera can now create an entire 3-minute training video in less than half a working day.

Improved average view duration: Since incorporating AI video, the team was able to increase their already impressive average watch percentage to 80%.

Increased video consumption: Previously, videos had about a 1-minute retention, but since using Synthesia, this has increased to 3 minutes.

It saves so much money and it saves so much time. Everything is in the cloud. We can edit and export a new version instantaneously – at a click of a button. - Martin Dunne, Learning & Design Production Manager