Common Training Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Training Quack AI Agent is like onboarding a new team member: it’s powerful when done well, but small missteps can lead to confusion or missed coverage. Below are common pitfalls teams encounter and how to avoid them.

1. Missing or Incomplete Briefs

What happens: Your AI Agaent doesn’t know how to answer a topic correctly or falls back too often.

How to avoid it:

  • Add a brief for every high-volume or high-priority topic

  • Include structured product or policy information, key details, and logic behind answers

  • Use the same language you’d give a new hire for context and tone

2. Over-Reliance on Knowledge Base

What happens: Your AI Agent pulls from articles but misses important nuances or logic.

How to avoid it:

  • Supplement knowledge base content with briefs and instructions that explain reasoning, exceptions, or edge cases

3. Vague or Missing Instructions

What happens: Your AI Agent replies inconsistently or oversteps boundaries.

How to avoid it:

  • Add clear instructions for every topic: what to always do or never do

  • Use direct language like "Always confirm the plan" or "Never give pricing over chat."

4. No Sampling or Testing

What happens: You assume the AI Agent is ready, but it performs poorly in production.

How to avoid it:

  • Use sample interactions to preview your AI Agent’s responses

  • Review responses with your team and refine briefs or instructions before going live

5. Not Using Fallback Strategically

What happens: Your AI Agent tries to answer everything, or falls back too often without value.

How to avoid it:

  • Use fallback messaging that’s clear and helpful

  • Pair fallback with escalation instructions to route issues properly

  • Monitor fallback frequency and fill training gaps based on patterns

6. Not Iterating Over Time

What happens: Your AI Agent becomes outdated as policies, products, or support goals change.

How to avoid it:

  • Regularly review performance through AutoQA

  • Update articles, briefs, and instructions when your policies evolve

  • Use feedback from agents to improve training over time

The best-trained AI Agent is one that’s actively maintained. By avoiding these pitfalls and thinking of the AI Agent as part of your team, you’ll deliver fast, accurate, and on-brand support at scale.