Practis names Ryan Felton CTO to expand Voice AI platform

Practis has hired Ryan Felton as chief technology officer to lead engineering, AI and product development as the company scales its Voice AI sales training platform. The move is designed to strengthen the system that combines coaching, practice and live conversation analysis for customer-facing teams.

Why it matters: - Practis is trying to turn sales training into a measurable workflow built around Voice AI, not just one-off coaching sessions. - Felton’s background in enterprise software and product growth gives Practis leadership experience as it pushes the platform into its next phase. - The company says the platform is meant to help organizations close skill gaps faster and improve customer conversations at scale.

What happened: - Practis named Ryan Felton chief technology officer. - Felton will lead engineering, AI and product development. - The appointment was announced as Practis expands its Voice AI platform and builds its leadership team. - Practis is based in Overland Park, Kansas.

The details: - Felton will set Practis’ technical direction across engineering, AI and product. - He will also lead Voice AI Labs. - His remit includes advancing learning and practice experiences for real customer conversations. - Practis combines AI Coach, AI Customer simulations and analysis of live customer conversations. - The platform is designed to show how skills develop and where coaching has the greatest effect. - Ed Kerr, Practis CEO and founder, said the company’s mission is to help every salesperson build the skills and confidence to handle real customer conversations. - Kerr said Practis uses personalized coaching and realistic conversation practice to help people turn company knowledge into usable skills. - Felton previously served as senior director of software engineering at UnitedHealth Group. - At UnitedHealth Group, Felton led a global organization that included teams at Optum. - He oversaw product, design, project management, software engineering, quality assurance and cloud infrastructure. - Felton led the rebuild of the UnitedHealthcare mobile app, which reached No. 1 in the Medical category on the Apple App Store under his leadership. - Felton’s career includes four company acquisitions. - He founded Calculated Combustion, which was acquired by BLiNQ Media in 2011. - He later served as vice president of technology and product at BLiNQ Media, which was acquired by Gannett in 2012. - Felton was co-founding CTO at Pulse Platform, which was acquired by Rally Health. - He also served as senior director at Rally Health, which was acquired by UnitedHealth Group. - Felton holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and mathematics from the University of Iowa. - He also earned an Executive MBA from the University of Missouri–Kansas City. - Felton is a U.S. Army veteran.

Between the lines: - Practis is positioning Voice AI as a way to connect learning, practice and real customer conversations in one system. - Kerr framed the business problem as a lack of visibility into the skills behind lagging sales metrics like pipeline, close rate and revenue. - The hire signals that Practis wants deeper product and technical leadership as it moves from training tools toward a broader performance platform.

What's next: - Practis will use Felton’s leadership to advance its Voice AI platform and expand its product capabilities. - The company is likely to keep building tools that help sales leaders track skill development and coaching impact in near real time. - More information is available on Practis.