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Machine Customers: The Evolution Has Begun
What if your next customer didn't have a pulse, preferences, or patience for poor performance?
In Machine The Evolution Has Begun, CX Evolutionist Katja Forbes reveals how intelligent agents, autonomous procurement systems, and logic-driven buying platforms are silently revolutionising commerce. This trillion-dollar transformation is happening now, not in some distant future.
Visa and Mastercard’s AI agents are shopping for customers. Walmart’s AI procurement makes million-dollar purchasing decisions in seconds without human intervention. Consumer advocate agents negotiate you out of your gym contracts. ChatGPT Agent will plan and book your holidays. These machine customers don’t respond to emotional appeals or brand storytelling. They evaluate clear information, consistent performance, and verifiable claims faster than any human ever could.
Every business leader should be asking the same "How do we stay competitive when our customers are machines?" Forbes provides the answer. Drawing on exclusive interviews with Don Scheibenreif (Gartner's leading machine customer authority) and Bruce Temkin (creator of industry-standard CX metrics), plus experts from Salesforce, Qualtrics, and other industry leaders, this book reveals the strategic playbook early adopters are using to build competitive advantages.
The book transforms abstract concepts into Monday-morning implementation through original the Machine Customer Experience Strategy Map, five Machine Customer types, and step-by-step guidance for redesigning customer journeys that win both human hearts and machine logic. There are 30-60-90 day plans for leaders and advice on how to set up a machine customer experience operating system in their organisation.
Forbes shows leaders exactly how to make their businesses discoverable to AI agents, design machine-readable value propositions, navigate machine trust and ethics, and build algorithmic loyalty systems that lock out competitors.
PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
In Machine The Evolution Has Begun, CX Evolutionist Katja Forbes reveals how intelligent agents, autonomous procurement systems, and logic-driven buying platforms are silently revolutionising commerce. This trillion-dollar transformation is happening now, not in some distant future.
Visa and Mastercard’s AI agents are shopping for customers. Walmart’s AI procurement makes million-dollar purchasing decisions in seconds without human intervention. Consumer advocate agents negotiate you out of your gym contracts. ChatGPT Agent will plan and book your holidays. These machine customers don’t respond to emotional appeals or brand storytelling. They evaluate clear information, consistent performance, and verifiable claims faster than any human ever could.
Every business leader should be asking the same "How do we stay competitive when our customers are machines?" Forbes provides the answer. Drawing on exclusive interviews with Don Scheibenreif (Gartner's leading machine customer authority) and Bruce Temkin (creator of industry-standard CX metrics), plus experts from Salesforce, Qualtrics, and other industry leaders, this book reveals the strategic playbook early adopters are using to build competitive advantages.
The book transforms abstract concepts into Monday-morning implementation through original the Machine Customer Experience Strategy Map, five Machine Customer types, and step-by-step guidance for redesigning customer journeys that win both human hearts and machine logic. There are 30-60-90 day plans for leaders and advice on how to set up a machine customer experience operating system in their organisation.
Forbes shows leaders exactly how to make their businesses discoverable to AI agents, design machine-readable value propositions, navigate machine trust and ethics, and build algorithmic loyalty systems that lock out competitors.
PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Audible Audio
Published December 24, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 9, 2026
Machine Customers: The Evolution Has Begun is a timely and genuinely forward-looking book that challenges one of the most fundamental assumptions in business: that customers are human.
Katja Forbes makes a compelling case that machine customers AI agents, autonomous procurement systems, and logic-driven buying platforms are already reshaping commerce at scale. This is not speculative futurism. Through concrete, real-world examples from Visa, Mastercard, Walmart, and consumer advocate agents, the book demonstrates how purchasing decisions worth millions of dollars are now being made without human emotion, loyalty, or patience for friction.
One of the book’s greatest strengths is its clarity. Forbes explains why traditional marketing tactics emotional storytelling, brand affinity, persuasion fail when the buyer is an algorithm. Instead, machine customers evaluate discoverability, data integrity, consistency, and verifiable performance. This reframing alone makes the book essential reading for executives, CX leaders, product teams, and strategists.
The inclusion of insights from leading authorities such as Don Scheibenreif (Gartner) and Bruce Temkin adds credibility and depth, grounding the argument in established CX and technology research. More importantly, the book moves beyond theory. The Machine Customer Experience Strategy Map, five machine customer types, and 30-60-90 day action plans translate a complex shift into clear, executable guidance.
As an Audible-first experience with a supporting PDF, the book is especially well suited to senior leaders who need to grasp emerging competitive realities quickly and apply them immediately.
Machine Customers: The Evolution Has Begun is not just a book about AI it’s a strategic warning and a practical playbook. Businesses that ignore machine customers risk invisibility. Those that act now gain a structural advantage that will be hard to displace.
Katja Forbes makes a compelling case that machine customers AI agents, autonomous procurement systems, and logic-driven buying platforms are already reshaping commerce at scale. This is not speculative futurism. Through concrete, real-world examples from Visa, Mastercard, Walmart, and consumer advocate agents, the book demonstrates how purchasing decisions worth millions of dollars are now being made without human emotion, loyalty, or patience for friction.
One of the book’s greatest strengths is its clarity. Forbes explains why traditional marketing tactics emotional storytelling, brand affinity, persuasion fail when the buyer is an algorithm. Instead, machine customers evaluate discoverability, data integrity, consistency, and verifiable performance. This reframing alone makes the book essential reading for executives, CX leaders, product teams, and strategists.
The inclusion of insights from leading authorities such as Don Scheibenreif (Gartner) and Bruce Temkin adds credibility and depth, grounding the argument in established CX and technology research. More importantly, the book moves beyond theory. The Machine Customer Experience Strategy Map, five machine customer types, and 30-60-90 day action plans translate a complex shift into clear, executable guidance.
As an Audible-first experience with a supporting PDF, the book is especially well suited to senior leaders who need to grasp emerging competitive realities quickly and apply them immediately.
Machine Customers: The Evolution Has Begun is not just a book about AI it’s a strategic warning and a practical playbook. Businesses that ignore machine customers risk invisibility. Those that act now gain a structural advantage that will be hard to displace.
February 22, 2026
Machine Customers: The Evolution Has Begun by Katja Forbes is a forward-thinking exploration of how intelligent agents, autonomous systems, and AI-driven platforms are transforming commerce. Forbes reveals that the trillion-dollar shift toward machine customers is already underway, highlighting real-world examples from companies like Visa, Mastercard, and Walmart to illustrate the speed and scale of this transformation.
The book provides actionable guidance for business leaders, including the Machine Customer Experience Strategy Map, the five Machine Customer types, and step-by-step methods to redesign customer journeys for both human and machine audiences. With interviews from industry experts such as Don Scheibenreif and Bruce Temkin, Forbes combines strategic insight with practical frameworks to help organizations stay competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape.
What stands out most is Forbes’ ability to turn abstract AI concepts into clear, implementable strategies. The book equips leaders to make their businesses discoverable to AI agents, create machine-readable value propositions, and implement algorithmic loyalty systems that ensure sustainable competitive advantage.
Machine Customers is essential reading for business executives, CX professionals, and technology leaders who want to thrive in a market increasingly influenced by intelligent, automated buyers.
The book provides actionable guidance for business leaders, including the Machine Customer Experience Strategy Map, the five Machine Customer types, and step-by-step methods to redesign customer journeys for both human and machine audiences. With interviews from industry experts such as Don Scheibenreif and Bruce Temkin, Forbes combines strategic insight with practical frameworks to help organizations stay competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape.
What stands out most is Forbes’ ability to turn abstract AI concepts into clear, implementable strategies. The book equips leaders to make their businesses discoverable to AI agents, create machine-readable value propositions, and implement algorithmic loyalty systems that ensure sustainable competitive advantage.
Machine Customers is essential reading for business executives, CX professionals, and technology leaders who want to thrive in a market increasingly influenced by intelligent, automated buyers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews