Your next customer won't be human. Are you ready?
Katja Forbes is a global keynote speaker, strategist, and author defining one of the most consequential shifts in modern commerce… the arrival of the machine customer powered by AI.
As the world's leading voice on Machine Customer Experience, Katja helps executives understand what happens when AI agents, autonomous systems, and algorithmic buyers actually become your customers. Her proprietary frameworks, including the Five Faces of Machine Customers and the Three Altitudes of Agentic Commerce, give organisations the strategic tools to compete in a market where business models and the rules of customer experience are being rewritten.
Her book, Machine Customers: The Evolution Has Begun, carries a foreword from Gartner Distinguished VP Don Scheibenreif. She is a two-time CX Network Top 50 AI Leaders in CX honoree, an expert contributor to global research on agentic commerce and on the emerging field of machine customer strategy.
With more than 30 years spanning global financial services, consultancy, and executive leadership across Asia, Europe, and Australia, Katja brings rare commercial depth to a topic drowning in hype. She founded and sold the consultancy Syfte before taking senior client-side roles at a global bank. She has sat on both sides of the table, and it shows.
Her keynotes are known for cutting through the noise, leaving senior audiences with a framework they can act on before they've left the room.
Katja is based in Australia and speaks globally.
Talking Points
Your Next Customer Won't Be Human
Right now, AI agents are browsing, comparing, negotiating, and buying autonomously, at scale, and without a human required. The business model and customer experience your organisation built for human emotions is already beginning to break. This isn't a future scenario. It's the commercial reality landing on your P&L before most leadership teams have even named it.Your Next Customer Won't Be Human
Katja Forbes is the world's leading voice on Machine Customer Experience… the strategic implications for organisations when AI agents and autonomous systems don't just assist your customers, they become them. Drawing on proprietary research, real-world commercial experiments, and frameworks trusted by Gartner and Forrester analysts, Katja equips executive audiences with the strategic tools to compete in a market where the rules of commerce are being rewritten in real time.
Audiences leave understanding which of their revenue streams are most exposed, what it takes to remain differentiated when an algorithm is making the buying decision, and why the organisations that act now will control the next decade of customer relationships.
Audiences will leave with:
- A clear picture of the five types of machine customers already operating in their markets
- A framework for assessing their organisation's readiness across the Three Altitudes of Agentic Commerce
- The strategic questions their leadership team should be asking and probably isn't
Best suited to: C-suite, board, and senior leadership audiences in all industries but particularly financial services, technology, retail, and professional services.
Video
Katja Forbes | The CX Evolutionist | Saxton Speakers
As the Chairperson for CX Asia Week 2023, Katja's deep expertise in customer experience, coupled with her passion for driving positive change, was evident throughout the conference. Her abil ... keep reading CX Asia Week
Unyielding, innovative, and endlessly insightful, Katja Forbes stands as a trailblazer at the intersection of ethics and emerging technology. Whether she's deconstructing the impact of AI on human decision-making or challenging the status quo on data privacy, Katja has an uncanny knack for leaving audiences both unsettled and inspired - a surefire sign of a conversation worth having!
Katja has a remarkable ability to make complex topics accessible, clearly explaining how businesses can prepare for a future where machines, not just humans, become decision-makers and active participants in the customer journey. She’s a catalyst for reimagining the future of experience design, seeking to push the boundaries of innovation, digital transformation, and customer strategy.
