If you step into my project’s Silai center in semi-urban Patna, you’ll be greeted by the buzzword of the season: “robot.” Apparently, this so-called robot is tailing the young girls, asking them questions. One of my 50-year-old team members, adjusting her sari, squints at her phone and exclaims, “Look, it’s typing all by itself!”
Spoiler alert: the “robot” is just the WhatsApp chatbot we’re piloting, innocently gathering data.

What Is A WhatsApp Chatbot?
A WhatsApp chatbot is an AI-powered program that mimics human conversation on WhatsApp. Integrated with the WhatsApp Business API, it personalizes interactions using user data and streamlines tasks like customer service, sales, and product recommendations.
We collaborated with Glific, an open-source WhatsApp-based platform tailored for NGOs to engage thousands of beneficiaries at once. From sharing critical maternal health updates to delivering creative educational content, this chatbot has wide-ranging applications. Its standout features include a customizable conversation designer, support for regional languages, multimedia options, data analysis tools, and integration with platforms like Bhashini (voice-to-text and vice versa feature).
Why Did We Use It?
Over the years, our program has built a network of participants—each at different life stages, from college graduates to entrepreneurs. Staying connected with them all was a growing challenge. The chatbot offered an innovative solution: re-establishing meaningful connections and creating safe online spaces. It allowed us to share tailored information based on individual needs while fostering two-way communication.
We also hoped to create smaller, interest-based cohorts—like groups with similar skill sets, interests, work experience, etc. These groups could foster peer learning, entrepreneurship, and targeted training, helping participants build networks that supported their growth.
Lastly, the platform doubled as a space for clearing doubts—whether through AI or expert responses. It is a great tool for connecting with subject matter experts to get detailed, accurate answers. Some organisations have successfully tested and launched this service which has proved to be very useful for the program participants. One more big reason for testing the chatbot was to see if it could ease the workload on our team. We wanted to know if technology could take over some of the repetitive tasks, freeing up our human resources for more strategic roles.
The Pilot
For two months, we piloted the chatbot with 100 participants, reconnecting them to the program. Through this initiative, we collected updated data, feedback, and testimonials. The Bot intended to refresh their understanding of what the program stands for, to reignite a sense of belonging, and to encourage them to reconnect with the bold, independent person they had discovered within themselves.
Designing chat flows was like trying to read minds while juggling languages, symbols, and emojis. “Think like the user,” I kept reminding myself. But which user? The one who speaks Hindi? Hinglish? Urdu? Or the one who sprinkles emojis like salt on every sentence? And let’s not forget the eternal debate: should it be text or voice notes?
Fifteen days and countless revisions later, I tested the first flow with the girls. Turns out, they interpreted some questions in ways that hadn’t crossed my overthinking brain. A simple question could morph into a dozen meanings depending on the phrasing—one version clicked. Another? Total disconnect.
Then came the length dilemma. More message options? Longer chats. More explanation? Longer chats. Longer chats? Participants tune out. Voice notes seemed like a genius idea until they produced rich, qualitative answers that were a data analyst’s nightmare. All in all, a very interesting process to understand the community and the ways they think. To hit the right spot with a myriad of ingredients that the ‘robot’ offers.

Some Insights And User Experience
What struck me most was how the chatbot offered a safe, anonymous space. From a distance, girls could share their thoughts and concerns without the fear of being judged—something that doesn’t always come easily in face-to-face conversations. The girls were curious—and skeptical. They kept asking, ‘Who are we talking to?’ and ‘Where is this data going?’ The idea of me being able to read their responses later made some shy away from sharing freely.
Some of them were unsure about using features like voice notes or selecting options with buttons, things they didn’t typically use on WhatsApp. But after some guidance and hand-holding during the first interaction, things improved. The second time around, they were more comfortable and confident with the process. It was a small but heartening step forward. While testing the bot with the girls, I also realized how the chatbot shifted the focus from endless social media scrolling to meaningful engagement. It nudged participants to use their phones in a way that felt purposeful and empowering.
Lessons Learned During The Pilot
The pilot taught us that simplicity is key. Questions that seemed straightforward to us often needed rephrasing to resonate with the girls. We learned to focus on clarity over creativity in our messaging. Visual cues helped a lot. Adding fun, gamified elements—like quizzes or rewards—might have made the chatbot more engaging but might also simultaneously make it difficult to understand.
For many participants, technology felt alien and intimidating. We realized that trust-building had to come first—explaining how the chatbot worked, how their data would be used, and why it was safe to engage. It was important to demystify AI. The moment they understood that the ‘robot’ wasn’t some mysterious entity but a tool designed to help them, their comfort level increased.
Digital Divide And The Fear Of Tech Innovations
In the communities I work with, young girls rarely have access to mobile phones. High migration rates, changing cities after marriage, or simply losing phone numbers because there’s no money for balance—these challenges make digital outreach feel like chasing shadows.
Just getting started is the hardest part: tracking down numbers, seeking consent, and beginning the conversation. And it’s not just about technology; class, religion, gender, geography, and age all weave together to create a stubborn wall of inaccessibility. The digital divide is the elephant in the room for any platform hoping to make a real difference. Reaching the people who need these tools the most will take time.
According to sociologist William Ogburn, technology has a tremendous impact on society and in creating social change; technology changes society through three processes: invention, discovery, and diffusion.
The resulting changes of these processes, however, may “lag” behind social changes that result from any of the three processes. In other words, it takes time for us—in terms of the way we go about living—to ‘catch up’ with technology; Ogburn referred to this as cultural lag.
From Smartphones To Digital Tools
In just two decades, smartphones have reached 50% of the population—a remarkable milestone. With the government prioritizing digital services, it’s clear that the rest of the population will catch up soon. Phones are no longer just a convenience; they’re becoming essential for accessing transportation, healthcare, and banking services.
Digitalisation also makes the convergence of the development sector with government programs easier. Leveraging digital innovations can enable more data-driven needs assessments, customized interventions, better resource allocation, real-time monitoring and evaluation, and accurate impact measurement. Mid-day meal distribution by the Akshaya Patra Foundation is one of the best examples of using digital tools to achieve a large-scale social impact in our country.
Educate Girls in Rajasthan has been able to retain 2,40,000 girl children in school. This was enabled through continuous collection and monitoring of data on attendance, and learning outcomes, and using mobile-based tools.
While our chatty bot is out collecting answers, investing in digital platforms early on can lead to better outcomes in the future for social impact organizations. It’s about laying the groundwork for better outcomes tomorrow.
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