Founded in 2016, Pray.com is the No. 1 app for prayer and meditation, serving as a digital destination for faith.
Ryan Beck, CTO and Co-Founder of Pray.com, identified a clear gap in how faith-based organisations were leveraging technology. “We work with some of the largest ministries and non-profits across the world to help them go digital and connect with new members online,” Ryan said.
From the beginning, Pray.com’s vision was to bring modern tools to an industry that has historically been slow in adopting digital technology. That vision quickly evolved into a focus on artificial intelligence (AI). “When large language models and diffusion models emerged, we knew we had to adopt them for our ministry and nonprofit partners so they could amplify their message and impact,” Ryan said. That was when Pray.com turned to HeyGen.
Making the impossible possible with AI video
Before adopting HeyGen, the level of translation and localisation Pray.com envisioned simply wasn’t feasible. Many of Pray.com’s partners had built schools, churches, and humanitarian organisations in regions where English wasn’t spoken. These founders had never been able to communicate directly with local members in their native language.
“It wasn’t just a challenge; it was impossible,” Ryan said. “These organisations didn’t have the tools or the budget to translate thousands of videos across languages and regions.”
HeyGen did not just streamline the process. It opened a door that had long been closed. “With AI translations, they can now speak to their communities across the world without depending on a human translator,” Ryan explained. “That was never possible earlier.”
One truly transformative moment came during an internal hackathon. A teammate in Argentina submitted a demo video that used HeyGen’s AI translation technology to feature one of Pray.com’s ministry partners—a 75-year-old Texan—speaking fluent Spanish. “He doesn’t speak a word of Spanish, but it sounded exactly like him,” Ryan recalled. “We sent it to him and he was completely amazed.”
That moment triggered a real shift. “It was a magical moment not just for us, but for our customers as well. They saw first-hand what AI could do for their mission.”
HeyGen’s translation tools became a central part of Pray.com’s offering. One pastor used them to send a sermon translated into Tagalog to his wife’s cousin in the Philippines, who had never heard him preach before. “He broke down in tears,” Ryan said. “It was a transformative experience for both of them.”
For Ryan, these stories are more than just anecdotes. They are proof that HeyGen is bridging gaps culturally, linguistically, and emotionally. “These organisations are doing real work: food drives, business literacy, orphanages. With HeyGen, their founders can speak directly to the people they are impacting. That kind of connection simply was not possible earlier.”
Scaling the message, one voice at a time
Since implementing HeyGen, Pray.com has been able to significantly expand what is possible for its customers without increasing production costs or needing external support. Key results include:
- Global reach: Thousands of faith-based videos are now translated into 8–30 languages within minutes, rather than over several months.
- Content efficiency: Work that earlier took weeks can now be completed in a few hours, enabling leaders to scale their voice without losing authenticity.
- Emotional impact: Video messages now retain the speaker’s emotion, cadence, and tone even when delivered in a completely different language.
Ryan sees this as just the beginning. “We’ve gone from audio to full video translations. Not only do the avatars move in sync, but they retain the emotion and natural rhythm. It’s not a clunky dub. It feels real.”
For him, the most fulfilling part is hearing ministry leaders say, “I made this.” “That’s what HeyGen enables,” he said. “A founder can look at thousands of translated videos and say, ‘I made that.’ It’s quite remarkable.”
His advice for those who are just getting started with AI video? “There are no more borders—whether physical or language-based. If you are a content creator, your audience has just grown a thousandfold.”
With HeyGen, Pray.com is not just keeping pace with innovation; they are leading a movement that makes faith more accessible, inclusive, and impactful across the world.
