At iGamingFuture, we specialise in helping operators identify the solutions that will drive the future of iGaming and this is one to take note of.
ChatBet is a revolutionary AI-powered betting assistant that transforms finding markets and placing bets from a laborious, multi-step, menu-based process into a streamlined, personalised experience that boosts player lifetime value and reduces churn.
To learn more about this innovative new product, we invited ChatBet CEO and Founder Josh Swerdlow to the iGF studio to tell us more.
Don’t miss out as Josh explains why the era of the “peak menu” is over, and how the future of the industry belongs to those operators who embrace conversation-based search and retrieval – or as he calls it, the “intent-to-slip” model.
We’ve seen sports betting apps become incredibly feature-rich over the last few years. Why is that suddenly a problem?
“Operators have spent years adding markets, parlay builders and streaming to their apps in a bid to offer bettors more, but in doing so, they’ve also inadvertently created a friction tax.
“The current user-experience is putting users under immense cognitive load and it is leading to high levels of churn. When a user has to navigate through five layers of menus to find a niche market, they experience ‘betting paralysis’.
“Today, the KPI that matters is ‘time-to-bet’ and operators are really starting to wake up to this. If it takes 40-60 seconds to place a wager, they aren’t just losing a bet; they’re losing the customer’s impulse and attention.”
You’ve mentioned that we’ve reached “peak menu”. What does that mean for the average bettor?
“It means they have to work hard to get what they want from the app. Traditional betting apps rely heavily on a ‘pull’ model where the user does the heavy lifting of discovery, but this is leading to fatigue.
“In most cases, there’s a six-step process to go through to place a bet, from FaceID log-in to the market hunt and then on to setting their stake and confirming the wager. The current funnel is a marathon when it needs to be a sprint.
“By the time a casual bettor finds their market, the window of intent, especially for in-play, has often closed. It’s also important to remember that Millennials and Gen Z don’t browse menus; they use search bars and messaging.
“A 2010-era user interface (UI) is a barrier to entry for the next generation of high-value punters, a barrier that could be costing operators dearly.”
How does conversational AI actually collapse this funnel?
“It allows bettors to take command. Instead of navigating, the user simply states their intent, such as ‘G-Men +6 tonight for fifty bucks’, and the AI handles the translation and mapping.
“It means punters can place a bet in three steps, not six, turning a complex search into a simple flow: Message – review slip – tap to confirm.
“It also provides a premium, concierge experience and moves betting away from a cold transition to a one-to-one dialogue. It remembers teams, stakes, epic wins, offering a personalised service that feels like a friend, not the marketing department trying to get you to wager more often.”
Does collapsing the funnel and reducing friction lead to more bets, or just faster ones?
“It drives bet volumes by allowing operators to capture the in-play window. In-play betting is a race against the clock, so reducing the process from 60 seconds to 10 seconds captures volume that used to disappear into thin air.
“What’s more, complex wagers like same game parlays are usually hard to build manually, so by making them a single-sentence request, operators see a natural shift towards these higher-margin products because they are so easy to engage with.
“Operators can also extract greater LTVs and improve retention without having to run tons of promos – generic push notifications are digital noise that’s rarely heard. But a conversational prompt, like ‘Want to let that 49ers win ride on the Warriors tonight?’ drives engagement without needing to slash margins with constant promo codes.”
What’s the risk for operators who stick to the traditional UI model?
“When the UI feels like an argument, users will leave. As ‘chat-to-commerce’ becomes the standard in banking and retail, betting apps that rely on labyrinthine menus will become obsolete.
“Our pilots show that when you move from app-based browsing to chat-based intent, there is a significant lift in daily engagement and sign-up conversions.
“In such a highly-competitive market, and with consumer expectations changing, operators that don’t embrace conversational betting risk being kicked out of the chat.”
We’ve talked about peak menu, but if you had to strip your app back to one core interaction today, what would it be?
“Most modern apps are built for browsing, but the ‘intent era’ demands a search-first or command-first approach. The ultimate goal is intent-to-slip.
“If you strip away the fluff, the only thing that matters is a blank field where the user says what they want and the app makes it happen.
“Operators need to stop thinking of markets as files in a folder and start thinking of them as answers to a question.”
With the 2026 World Cup on the horizon, do you think operators will win on the depth of their markets or the speed at which users can find them?
“Major tournaments such as the World Cup bring in millions of casual bettors who don’t know how to navigate a complex sportsbook. They want to bet on ‘England to win’ or ‘Harry Kane to score’ without having to find the right sub-menu first.
“In a sea of identical odds and profit boosts, the operator that offers the path of least resistance wins the lion’s share of the volume.
“During a live World Cup match, the window to capture a bet is seconds. Conversational AI allows an operator to manage sudden spikes in betting intent that would normally create bottlenecks and be lost in a traditional UI.”
Editor’s Note:
In response to growing consumer demand, sportsbooks now list more markets than ever before. But innovation in UI and in search methods has lagged behind.
According to Josh, menu-based platforms quickly create friction and overwhelm, ultimately leading to churn as bettors struggle to locate the markets they want.
For modern players, used to search bars and messaging, this problem is even more pronounced. They don’t want to browse through menus; they want to lay bets fast and with as few steps as possible.
But it’s not game over.
ChatBet’s AI assistant streamlines the process, allowing bettors to take control and quickly find what they are looking for, reducing fatigue and thereby the risk of churn.
For live betting, where speed is critical and there are more complex wagers, like parlays, this is a game-changer, resulting in increased retention and value while reducing operator reliance on promotions.
And for major tournaments, such as this summer’s FIFA World Cup, this functionality will become indispensable for first-time bettors who don’t know their way around a sportsbook.
In a “sea of identical odds”, it could prove a crucial and winning competitive advantage.
