The speaker highlights the frustration when using tools that limit the ability to perform slightly more complex tasks beyond the tool's preconceived notions. They emphasize the importance of empowering engineers with flexibility and control, even when simplifying software development for non-coders. Retool focuses on giving engineers the ability to achieve 80% of their goals quickly and the remaining 20% with custom code like JavaScript or Python, acknowledging the irreducible complexity in programming that must be addressed through code.