In our quest to simplify the customer experience and boost self-service in a largely digital world, chatbots are the latest must-have accessory for any self-respecting company. Engaging customers or employees in a textual conversation, chatbots are designed to automate customer services, information discovery, sales or application processes. While they’ve been around in various forms for years, the time of the fully-functioning chatbot finally seems to be upon us. Or is it?

“We’re right at the beginning of the journey,” says Sudhish Mohan, CIO, TransUnion. “Currently, chatbots are so simplistic, but once you start adding the analytics and sentiment analysis components, it gets more complex.”