What if your most important customers aren’t even human?
In this episode of Gartner ThinkCast, we explore what customer experience looks like in 2025 — a world where your most valuable customers might not even be human. Gartner Distinguished VP Analyst Don Scheibenreif joins host Alexis Wierenga to unpack how CEO perceptions, AI agents and machine customers are reshaping CX strategy.
Drawing from Gartner’s latest CEO research, Don shares critical insights on the shift in customer expectations, the rapid emergence of autonomous buyers and the emotional impact of AI adoption. Whether you’re designing for humans, machines or both, this episode offers a roadmap for getting customer experience right in an AI-first future.
You’ll learn:
- Why CEOs may not know their customers as well as they think
- What machine customers are and why they matter now
- The key blind spots in AI-driven CX strategies
- How to balance automation and humanity to create trust
Timestamps:
Intro
What CEOs Misunderstand About Customer Expectations
Price Sensitivity and Customer Pushback
Machine Customers Defined
How AI Agents Are Already Influencing Buying
Human-Machine Relationships
The Emotional Impact of AI Adoption
Blind Spots in CX: Humanity, Empathy and Design
Voice of the Customer and High-Growth Companies
Final Advice: Balance Technology and Human Connection
Intro
What CEOs Misunderstand About Customer Expectations
Price Sensitivity and Customer Pushback
Machine Customers Defined
How AI Agents Are Already Influencing Buying
Human-Machine Relationships
The Emotional Impact of AI Adoption
Blind Spots in CX: Humanity, Empathy and Design
Voice of the Customer and High-Growth Companies
Final Advice: Balance Technology and Human Connection
