I can’t really understand the obsession with “protecting developers” and preventing them from speaking with clients. It’s a mix of infantilising and applying a “manufacturing chain” mindset to a work that is far from being “industrializable”.
Talking to your users - therefore to your clients - is when you learn 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭.
Every client call I join at Worksome is a chance for accelerated learning 🤓.
To “sell” the product and explain how it addresses potential clients’ needs, I first need to understand how they do business. And staffing is not “the business” by itself in many cases. The business our clients operate in might be the creative world, regulated industries, or consumer products, and they might need to hire and manage freelancers, on top of many other responsibilities they need to manage.
In a world where code is becoming more accessible (thanks to gen AI), solving problems becomes the main money-earning skill again - as it should always have been. Sometimes it’s through code, sometimes it’s through system integration, and sometimes it’s just a change in process that makes the trick. No code = cheaper solution, less to maintain.
And the best way that someone has to understand their clients’ (aka “their users”) needs is by talking to them. If you are building a software product (or service) and you get needs processed by others (sales, customer support, your CEO, your product managers, surveys…), you are getting tunnel vision on the problem, and you miss the chance to understand your client’s needs.
If you are a software engineer and are not talking to your clients in some form yet (customer visits, joining a sales call, solving support tickets) - do yourself a favour and consider this for your 2026 goals. Your career (and your team) will benefit from it!
#agiledevelopment #customercentricity #softwaredevelopment