Technology

Start Preparing Your Frontline for Machine Customers

Machine customer concept with robot holding phone

Published On: 11th Nov 2026 08:00 - Modified: 6th Nov 2026

Machine customers are already beginning to enter the contact centre and are presenting fresh challenges for frontline teams. So, how can you help prepare your agents for this new reality?

We spoke to Katja Forbes – author of Machine Customers: The Evolution Has Begun – to find out how you can take a practical, step-by-step approach to getting this right.

What Is a Machine Customer?

In a nutshell, a machine customer is a non-human actor that can enter businesses and everyday life to transact on behalf of a person or organization.

For consumers, this could mean a delegated AI agent that searches for and purchases products, makes bookings, or carries out other tasks on their behalf.
For businesses, machine customers could include AI procurement platforms that negotiate with suppliers to secure better prices.
There are also emerging examples of embodied AI, such as robots that can autonomously transact on behalf of humans or themselves.

What Challenges Do Machine Customers Bring?

Somewhat unsurprisingly, this shift is putting fresh pressure on the frontline – particularly as these new machine customers are typically not arriving through clearly labelled channels. They simply call the contact centre.

This creates a very different dynamic for agents – as the question is no longer simply “What does the customer want?”.

Instead, agents may need to establish who the machine represents, what it is trying to achieve, and whether it actually has permission to carry out the requested action.

Help Prepare Your Agents for Machine Customers

If these challenges sound familiar, here are some approaches you can try to better support your agents as and when they encounter machine customers:

Give Agents a Framework to Follow (the ROC Protocol)

It can really help to give agents a simple framework to follow for handling conversations with machine customers – such as the ROC Protocol.

Inspired by Katja’s own experience of interacting with an AI dialler, the framework focuses on 3 key questions:

R = Represent (Who Does the AI Represent?) – The first step is to establish who is behind the AI. An agent could ask who the machine customer represents and identify the business or human that is ultimately behind it.
O = Outcome (What Outcome Is It Trying to Achieve?) – The second step is to understand the desired outcome. What is the machine customer trying to achieve, and what is it being measured on?
C = Constraint (What Is It Allowed to Do?) – Finally, the agent needs to understand the constraints. What is the AI actually permitted to do?

The purpose is not necessarily to prevent the interaction from taking place. Instead, it gives the agent a way to establish whether the machine customer has the authority to carry out the conversation or transaction.

The framework therefore gives agents a practical way to assess a machine customer – rather than simply reacting to the fact that the voice on the other end of the phone is not human.

Make Sure Agents Understand That a Machine Customer Is NOT in Control Simply Because It Is Powered by AI

It is also important to train agents to understand that they should not automatically assume that a machine customer is in control – simply because it is powered by AI. Agents need to feel they have permission to question the AI – not that they simply have to follow whatever instructions the machine customer gives them.

The purpose of a framework therefore is to put the agent in a position where they can ask questions and establish the boundaries of the interaction.

Once the agent understands who the machine represents, what it wants to achieve, and what it is allowed to do, they can make a more informed decision about how to proceed. This can help frontline workers approach these conversations with greater confidence.

Katja Forbes – author of Machine Customers: The Evolution Has Begun — Katja Forbes

“When call centre workers are confronted by an AI calling them up, it’s important they understand that they are the boss in the conversation.

They can then use the ROC Protocol to make a confident determination as to whether or not they can treat this machine customer in a way that gets it to the outcome and ultimately serves the human or business on the other side of them.” – Katja Forbes

Don’t Leave Agents to Guess What They Are Allowed to Do

It doesn’t stop there! Whilst a framework can provide useful guidance in the moment, it cannot replace clear organizational policies.

Agents therefore also need to know what they are expected to do when a machine customer enters the contact centre.

Without that direction, they may be left guessing about whether they can interact with the AI, what information they can provide, and what actions they are permitted to take.

This is particularly important because the technology is developing faster than the models that most businesses currently have for consent.

So, rather than expecting agents to work this out for themselves, leaders need to establish a clear position and regularly provide updates, as this is one of the most important forms of support a contact centre can provide.

“Leaders really need to set out a clear position as to how their agents are expected to interact with any machine customer coming into their call centre, so that people aren’t left guessing. It’s a key piece of support, as agents don’t want to be left worrying about what they should or shouldn’t do.” – Katja Forbes

What does this all mean in practice? Quite simply, creating clear guidance for agents on when they can interact with machine customers, what information they can share, what actions they can take, and when an interaction should be stopped or escalated.

Ultimately, any decision comes from the business – rather than being left to individual agents to work out in the moment.

Leaders also need to manage agent workarounds. For advice on this, read our article: How to Manage Agent Workarounds and Shortcuts

Establish and Communicate Your Commercial Sovereignty

Beyond this, there is a wider strategic question for contact centre leaders – as businesses do not necessarily have to accept every AI agent that attempts to interact with them either. They can decide the terms under which they are willing to interact with other people’s AI agents.

Often referred to as “commercial sovereignty”, the concept is about making deliberate decisions around what the business will and will not allow and then communicating those decisions to employees. After all, just because they come, doesn’t mean that you have to interact with them.

“I strongly advise businesses to have strategic and intentional conversations as soon as possible – covering everything from “how do we allow our business and our humans to interact with other people’s AI agents?” to setting out the full terms under which they are going to allow that to happen.

All helping to make sure the business decides upon and communicates its position long before frontline agents are left to deal with these challenging situations alone.” – Katja Forbes

★★★★★

Machine Customers Are Creating a New Layer of Complexity

Machine customers are undoubtedly putting pressure on leaders to adapt their approach and better prepare their frontline for this new layer of complexity.

Yet there’s no need to be alarmed! As with any change in the contact centre, the leaders that give their agents the tools and guidance to handle each interaction with confidence will ultimately rise to the challenge and win out.

Has Your Contact Centre Been Having Interactions With Machine Customers Already?

If you have any stories or tips to share about how you’ve already helped prepare your agents for interactions with machine customers, we’d love for you to join our LinkedIn community and tell us more about your experience so far.

If you are looking for more information on machine customers and AI in the contact centre, read these articles next:

Author
Megan Jones

Megan Jones, Editor, Call Centre Helper

Megan interviews inspiring people across the contact centre industry to capture these amazing voices and turn them into best practice articles – covering all elements of what it takes to deliver truly outstanding employee and customer experiences.

Connect with Megan on LinkedIn