In an industry where every healthcare provider (HCP) interaction carries significant weight, ACTO’s CxZone has been recognized for its approach to pharmaceutical field training. In the 2025 Pharmaceutical Technology Excellence Awards, ACTO won awards in both the Innovation (AI Roleplay) and Product Launches (Field Simulation) categories for CxZone.
ACTO’s approach to bridging the gap between strategy and execution, along with its integration into pharma field professionals’ workflows, has drawn attention within the life sciences sector.
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AI Roleplay innovation: Addressing the strategy-to-conversation gap
ACTO’s CxZone won the Innovation award in the AI Roleplay category for its targeted use of AI roleplay to address persistent challenges in pharmaceutical field engagement. One of the most significant hurdles for pharmaceutical companies is ensuring that the strategies developed at headquarters translate effectively into field conversations with HCPs—especially when access to these providers is limited and the pressure to deliver concise, clinically relevant information is high. ACTO developed CxZone in response to this disconnect, which is underscored by industry data showing that only 28% of HCPs feel their interactions with field representatives meet their needs, despite the substantial investment companies make in their field forces.
Unlike generic AI roleplay tools that focus on basic sales skills, CxZone is designed specifically for the pharmaceutical context. It operationalizes clinical reasoning, enabling field representatives to practice evidence-based conversations that mirror the realities of HCP interactions. The AI avatars in CxZone are configured to simulate the behaviors, priorities, and time constraints of real HCPs. For example, avatars can be tailored to represent different specialties, therapeutic areas, and even moods, challenging reps to adapt their approach as they would in real clinical office settings.
A key innovation of this AI-simulated roleplay solution is CxZone’s integration with Veeva Vault PromoMats and MedComms, which allows practice scenarios to be built around the most current, medical, legal and regulatory (MLR)-approved content, an industry first.
This auto-synching Veeva integration ensures that field professionals are not only practicing with accurate information, but using approved promotional and scientific materials. By turning static assets into interactive simulations, CxZone can increase the real-world application of these resources and help ensure compliance.
The platform also addresses the need for objective, personalized feedback. Each simulation provides instant, data-driven assessments aligned with a company’s specific sales process and coaching methodology. This allows for measurable skill development across teams, making it possible to track progress and identify areas for improvement at both the individual and cohort levels. The feedback is designed to be actionable and consistent, supporting a culture of continuous learning.
Security and compliance are built into CxZone’s design. ACTO’s platform is SOC 2 Type II certified and validated to meet FDA 21 CFR Part 11 requirements, ensuring that customer data integrity is maintained and that data is handled in a secure and controlled manner. ACTO plans to add a new capability within CxZone called “My HCP,” which will further personalize simulations by incorporating real-world HCP context and behavioral insights, allowing reps to practice with “digital twins” of their actual customers while maintaining compliance controls. This structured approach to personalization is particularly relevant in an industry where differentiation and regulatory adherence must go hand in hand.
Field simulation excellence: Enhancing product launch training
The Product Launches award reflects CxZone’s impact on transforming the way pharmaceutical field teams prepare for new product introductions. Traditional roleplay exercises, often conducted live with trainers or managers, have long been viewed as uncomfortable and artificial by both participants and facilitators. This “roleplay fatigue” can undermine engagement and limit the effectiveness of training, especially when field professionals are expected to master complex clinical and product information in a short period.
CxZone addresses this challenge by providing a gamified, on-demand environment where field representatives can practice clinical conversations without the pressure of real-time observation. The platform’s empathetic AI engine creates realistic HCP avatars that not only look like HCPs, but also think and respond like them. These avatars pose challenging, clinically relevant questions, requiring reps to demonstrate fluency in product messaging and therapeutic knowledge. The ability to customize avatars by specialty, therapeutic area, and even emotional tone adds a layer of authenticity that encourages meaningful practice. CxZone’s backend user interface is intuitive and easy, so trainers can design the HCP avatar, define the conversation, set evaluation criteria, and deploy the simulation to the field in a matter of minutes.
A major factor in CxZone’s adoption is its seamless integration with Veeva, which is used by the vast majority of pharmaceutical companies for CRM and content management. By providing out-of-the-box Veeva integration, CxZone works seamlessly with the Veeva ecosystem, reducing the friction typically associated with rolling out new field training tools in pharma. Field teams can access simulations directly from their iPads, in the comfort of their home, allowing them to practice in a “safe space” before being certified or to sharpen their clinical fluency before meeting with an HCP.
The platform’s launch package is designed for immediate impact, offering pre-configured avatars, clinical practice zones, and tailored scoring systems from day one. This comprehensive approach supports rapid onboarding and enables organizations to see measurable improvements in field readiness early in the launch process. CxZone also standardizes coaching signals, which is particularly valuable during complex, multi-market launches where consistent message delivery is critical.
Procurement and deployment are further streamlined by CxZone’s upfront validation and compliance controls, which help organizations meet regulatory requirements and reduce time-to-value. Early feedback from field training leaders has highlighted increases in field team confidence, scientific knowledge, and engagement, with reported metrics such as an 85% boost in confidence, a doubling of scientific knowledge, and a 71% increase in engagement. These outcomes suggest that CxZone’s approach resonates with both field professionals and training leadership, supporting more effective and consistent product launches across diverse markets.
“ACTO set out to reimagine roleplay in life sciences by addressing top real-world industry challenges—limited HCP access, inconsistent coaching, and field resistance to traditional methods. Since the success of new therapies hinges on how effectively field teams engage HCPs, we want CxZone to be more than a place to practice. We created it to be a safe space where field professionals can work on building clinical fluency, anticipating real-world objections, and speaking the language of medicine with clarity and confidence. It’s a breakthrough moment for the roleplay experience in life sciences.”
– Parth Khanna, CEO of ACTO
Company Profile
ACTO is an Intelligent Field Excellence (IFE) platform built for life sciences that unifies human intelligence with empathetic AI to help Sales, Medical, Market Access, and Marketing teams improve customer engagement and brand performance. With ACTO, biopharma companies can ensure field professionals are always competent, confident, and credible in face-to-face HCP interactions, while providing senior leaders and frontline managers with the insight they need to drive continuous field force effectiveness. As a validated platform compliant with FDA 21 CFR Part 11 and SOC 2 Type II certified, ACTO is the trusted partner for intelligent field excellence in the life sciences industry.
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ACTO Technologies Inc.,
60 Atlantic Ave Suite 200
Toronto, ON M6K 1X9, Canada
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