
Against Product Chatbots
From Troubleshooting Agile by A weekly problem-solving session for all things agile
May 6, 2026 · 16 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the effectiveness of chatbots in customer service and offers insights on when to use them.
Is your chatbot helping your customers or putting them off? In this episode, Squirrel is wound up about the chat-first interface trend in software, which hinders more than it helps. Tune in to get Squirrel and Jeffrey’s thoughts on how you can use “book smarts” vs “street smarts” to determine whether you need a chatbot, and what you should be offering instead. LINKS: - The Dimensionality Problem: https://deadneurons.substack.com/p/why-the-most-valuable-things-you - CITCON:AI in Helsinki: https://citconf.com/helsinki2026/ -------------------------------------------------- You'll find free videos and practice material, plus our book Agile Conversations, at agileconversations.com And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com -------------------------------------------------- About Your Hosts Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication. Squirrel is an advisor, author…
People in this episode
Hosts: Douglas Squirrel, Jeffrey Fredrick
Topics covered
- chatbots
- customer experience
- software interfaces
- communication
- agile practices
Keywords
- chatbots
- customer service
- software trends
- communication skills
- agile methodology
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: TIM Group, ION Analytics, agileconversations.com, deadneurons.substack.com, citconf.com
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