What if your next customer didnt have a pulse, preferences, or patience for poor performance?
In Machine Customers: 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 dont 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 question: "How do we stay competitive when our customers are machines?" Forbes provides the answer. Drawing on exclusive interviews with Don Scheibenreif (Gartners 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 frameworks: 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. More importantly, she reveals how to excel in the hybrid reality where businesses must serve both emotional humans and logical machines simultaneously.
The businesses that understand this evolution first will dominate their industries. Those that dont will become irrelevant. Forbes ensures readers will be in the first category.

Katja Forbes is a globally recognised customer experience strategist and futurist who has been exploring the intersection of AI and customer experience since 2017, before it was mainstream. Named as one of the Top 20 Global CX Leaders in AI and Global Top 20 CX Leaders in Financial Services by the CX Network, she combines deep industry expertise with forward-thinking innovation.

Recognised by CMO Australia as "an Australian pioneer in the field of experience management and design," Forbes brings a unique blend of strategic expertise and communication excellence.

As media-trained spokesperson for Standard Chartered Bank on machine customer topics, Forbes provides background briefings for journalists covering AI transformation in financial services. She serves as Chairperson of CX Asia Conference and Customer Experience Live globally, leading the industrys premier forums across Middle East, Asia, and UK.

Her leadership has been recognised with multiple Gold Winner awards for Best Customer Experience Team and Best Use of Mobile (CX Asia 2024), and she was honoured in the Australian Financial Review/Westpac 100 Women of Influence awards. Previously recognized as one of the Top 50 Australian Professionals and Top Ten Women Entrepreneurs in Australia, her insights have been featured on Mind the Product Podcast, CX Unlocked Podcast, Australian Design Radio, and across business publications including CMO Australia, B&T Magazine, Marketing Magazine and Kochies Business Builders.

Based between Singapore and Australia, Forbes combines deep CX expertise with ethical AI principles to help businesses prepare for a world where their most valuable customers might not be human. Machine Customers: The Evolution Has Begun represents her comprehensive framework for this transformation, developed through years of research, industry interviews, and practical implementation with forward-thinking organisations.

* MASSIVE MARKET OPPORTUNITY WITH FIRST-MOVER ADVANTAGE:
This addresses the trillion-dollar machine customer market identified by Gartner - executives believe 25% of all consumer purchases and business transactions will be delegated to machines by 2030. While the AI business book market is saturated with "how to use AI" titles, this is the only book revealing how to sell TO AI and treat AI as a valued customer. Forbes is the only customer experience professional deeply researching this trend since Garter first published about machine customers in 2017, making this the definitive early guide to an inevitable business reality that will impact every industry.
* UNMATCHED AUTHORITY BACKED BY MAJOR CORPORATIONS:
Forbes isnt just another AI commentator. Shes Standard Chartered Banks media-trained spokesperson on machine customers, briefing journalists on AI transformation in financial services. Her credibility is validated by Top 20 Global CX Leaders in AI and Financial Services recognition and multiple Gold Winner awards for customer experience excellence.
* IMMEDIATE BUSINESS IMPACT WITH PROVEN IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS:
Unlike theoretical business books, this delivers ready-to-use frameworks on day one: Machine Customer Experience Strategy Map, five Machine Customer types to design for, and machine customer journey templates. Every chapter ends with specific action items business leaders can implement immediately. Readers gain both offensive strategies (how to win machine customers) and defensive strategies (how to avoid being commoditised). Perfect for the executive who asks "what do I do Monday morning?"
* PERFECT TIMING FOR BUSINESS ANXIETY:
Launching during peak business planning season (Q1 2025) when executives are making strategic technology investments and confronting AI transformation anxiety. This book provides clarity and direction during a period of maximum business uncertainty.
* AUTHOR HAS PROVEN SPEAKING EXCELLENCE WITH MEASURABLE IMPACT:
Conference organisers rave about Forbes presentations: "The feedback from all her presentations was excellent. Katjas knowledge is very deep, and she has a knack of demystifying complex information into easily digestible snippets, whilst backing up her content with great examples. Her straight-forward communication style and great sense of humour endeared her to the audience" (Steven Tang, IQPC Conferences). She has delivered to audiences from 20 CEO group meetings to conferences of 2000+ people, with one testimonial noting she "always scores highly with members" (Carolyn Hyams, Marketing Director, Aquent).
* AUTHOR MEDIA AUTHORITY AND PUBLISHED EXPERTISE:
As a "regular media commentator", Forbes brings exceptional communication skills. She has been featured in articles for CMO Australia, B&T Magazine and Kochies Business Builders, and appeared on prominent podcasts including the Mind the Product podcast with more than 100k followers. Her thought leadership on AI ethics is particularly notable, with testimonials describing her as "a trailblazer at the intersection of ethics and emerging technology" who offers "a radical new perspective on the ethical implications of our rapidly evolving digital landscape."
* AUTHOR HAS MEDIA-FRIENDLY EXPERTISE:
Forbes combination of technical expertise and communication skills makes her highly bookable for business media, podcasts, and conference panels, driving ongoing book visibility.
* THIS IS THE BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION BOOK EVERY EXECUTIVE WILL NEED TO READ IN 2026
Publicity:
* Global Platform with Direct Customer Access for Promotion:
As Chairperson of global CX conferences (CX Asia, Customer Experience Live Middle East/UK/Asia), Forbes has guaranteed access to 10,000+ senior business leaders annually. Her 2025 speaking calendar included keynotes in Manchester, Singapore, and Dubai, providing direct sales channels to target buyers. She has 2025 bookings in Bangalore, Singapore and Sydney at mainstream business transformation conferences where C-suite executives make strategic technology investments.
* High Customer Demand Indicators:
Forbes direct access to 10,000+ senior business leaders annually through her conference chairperson roles creates built-in demand generation. This isnt speculative demand, these are confirmed audiences of people who will actually buy business books, making retail success highly predictable.
* Guaranteed Media Coverage and Ongoing Visibility:
Forbes combination of bank spokesperson role + "Australian pioneer" status + global awards makes her highly bookable for business media. Her professional PR team has targeted campaigns ready for Australian Financial Review, Business Insider, and international outlets. Plus ongoing podcast appearances and conference keynotes ensure 12+ months of sustained book promotion and high level media strategies and partnerships to drive readers to bookstores and online book retailers.
* Social Media Reach:
Forbes has a strongly engaged following on LinkedIn with nearly 5000 followers. The book announcement posting garnered over 11,000 impressions, 175 comments, 34 reposts and over 400 reactions in under 48 hours. The comments from industry leaders at Amazon, Gartner, Salesforce, Visa, Bain & Co, McKinsey & Co included sentiments like “This will become such a huge topic in the next 2 years! It sounds like you’ve done great foundational work for leader to understand and prepare, and it will substantially change who we design for, human and machine customer experience at the same time…Let me know once your book is available, I am keen to read it.”
* Perfect Timing for Maximum Business Impact:
The book will be available in November 2025 but full PR launch will be Q1 2026 during peak business planning season when executives are making strategic technology investments and confronting AI transformation decisions. This book provides clarity and direction during maximum business uncertainty, positioning it as essential reading for 2026 strategic planning.