The emerging world of machine customers - Interview with Katja Forbes

The emerging world of machine customers - Interview with Katja Forbes

Author: Adrian Swinscoe | Customer Experience Strategy Expert July 2, 2026 Duration: 51:20

Today’s episode of the Punk CX podcast features a chat I had with Katja Forbes, Author, Advisor & Keynote Speaker, about her new book: Machine Customers: The Evolution has Begun: How AI that buys is changing everything. We talk about what exactly a machine customer is, what proportion of both B2B and B2C transactions are likely to be driven by machine customers in five years time, if we are seeing Doc Searls’ Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) brought to life with this, what sort of agents will there be, who will provide them and what happens to “shopping”…..so many questions!

This interview follows on from my recent interview – Responsible AI isn’t an optional layer, it must be foundational – Interviews from Pegaworld 2026 Pt2 – and is number 593 in the series of interviews with authors and business leaders who are doing great things, providing valuable insights, helping businesses innovate and delivering great service and experience to both their customers and their employees.


There’s a lot of noise around customer experience, but Punk CX: Customer Experience Insights with Adrian Swinscoe cuts through it with conversations that feel more like a strategic workshop than a standard interview. Host Adrian Swinscoe, a customer experience strategy expert, brings a distinctively pragmatic and often contrarian perspective to each discussion. He sits down with a wide range of industry leaders, from entrepreneurs to seasoned executives, to unpack what it really takes to build an organization that people genuinely want to engage with. You’ll hear them delve into the interconnected mechanics of customer service, customer engagement, and the often-overlooked driver of it all: employee experience and engagement. The dialogue naturally explores how technology, from AI to broader digital transformation, can be leveraged practically rather than just hyped, and what it means to build adaptable, responsive organizations with high-performing teams at their core. This podcast moves beyond theory, focusing on the actionable insights and sometimes uncomfortable truths that define modern customer and business strategy. Each episode is designed to give you a tangible takeaway, whether you’re refining your own approach or challenging the status quo within your company.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Punk CX: Customer Experience Insights with Adrian Swinscoe
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