The article discusses the evolving landscape of customer journey design, emphasizing the increasing role of AI agents alongside human customers. Traditionally, customer journeys have been designed with humans in mind, who are emotional and unpredictable. However, by 2026, AI agents are becoming significant players in influencing how people search, compare, and make purchasing decisions. These agents filter options, generate shortlists, and may soon negotiate on behalf of humans. This shift means marketers must now design dual journeys: one for humans and one for AI agents.
For marketers, this article is crucial as it highlights the need to adapt to this dual journey approach. Human journeys are driven by emotions, trust signals, and personal preferences, while agent journeys require structured, machine-readable data and clear logic. Marketers must ensure their content is both emotionally engaging for humans and logically structured for agents. This dual approach ensures visibility and relevance in a landscape where agents act as gatekeepers in the decision-making process.
To improve their work, marketers should start by auditing their sites for both human readability and agent interpretability. They should map current journeys and overlay agent versions, close data gaps, and ensure key attributes are structured and complete. By designing for both humans and agents, marketers can maintain visibility and relevance, ensuring their brands are chosen in an increasingly AI-influenced market.
