Why we need to design products for machines – Katja Forbes (Executive Director, Standard Chartered)
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.
Chapters
00:38 – Introductions and Katja’s background
02:01 – From design consultancy to Standard Chartered
03:01 – What if the customer is a machine?
07:10 – APIs vs customer experience
10:28 – Preparing businesses for agentic commerce
15:05 – Lessons from algorithmic trading
18:25 – From UX to AX
21:08 – The five pillars of Agent Experience
33:29 – The fifth pillar: AI brokers
35:28 – Organisational implications and investments
39:06 – New roles and hiring for the future
41:06 – Skills product managers need
43:50 – Katja’s upcoming book
45:24 – Closing credits
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 | / katjaforbes
Katja’s website | https://www.katjaforbes.com/
Sign-up for pre sale access to Katja’s forthcoming book ‘The CX Evolutionist’ | www.theCXevolutionist.ai Receive SMS online on sms24.me
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