In this episode of The Product Experience, Randy Silver and Lily Smith sit down with Katja Forbes, Executive Director at Standard Chartered Bank, design leader, and lecturer, to explore the fast-approaching world of machine customers.
Katja shares why businesses must prepare for a future where AI agents, autonomous vehicles, and procurement bots act as customers, and what this means for product managers, designers, and organisations.
Key takeaways
- Machine customers are here already. From booking services for Tesla cars to procurement bots closing contracts, AI-driven commerce is no longer hypothetical.
- APIs are necessary but insufficient. Businesses need to think beyond plumbing and address trust, compliance, and customer experience for non-human agents.
- Signal clarity matters. Organisations must make their value propositions machine-readable to remain competitive.
- Trust will be quantified. Compliance signals, ESG proof, uptime guarantees, and reliability ratings will replace human gut instinct.
- New roles will emerge. Trust analysts and human–machine hybrid coordinators will be critical in shaping future interactions.
- Ethics cannot be ignored. Without careful design, agentic commerce could amplify consumerism and poor societal outcomes.
- Practical first step. Even small businesses can prepare by structuring their product and service data into machine-readable formats.
- Product managers must adapt. The skill to manage ambiguity, think systemically, and anticipate unintended consequences will be central to success.
Featured Links: Follow Katja on LinkedIn | Katja's website | Sign-up for pre sale access to Katja's forthcoming book 'The CX Evolutionist'
