Customer Futures Stories: A breakout week for digital ID, Apple’s personal AI prototype and 250 organisations work together on a digital wallet
Customer Futures Stories: A breakout week for digital ID, Apple’s personal AI prototype and 250 organisations work together on a digital wallet
Plus: Salesforce on the ‘AI Trust Gap’, WEF promotes decentralised identity and Vitalik Buterin on why Web3 is broken
Hi everyone, thanks for coming back to Customer Futures.
Each week I unpack the ever-increasing and disruptive shifts around Personal AI, digital customer relationships and customer engagement.
This is the weekly STORIES edition. Covering the important, and sometimes less obvious, updates from the market. If you’re reading this and haven’t yet signed up, why not join the growing number of senior executives, entrepreneurs, designers, regulators and other digital leaders by clicking below. To the regular subscribers, thank you. 🙏
📖 STORIES THIS WEEK
It’s been a hot few weeks for digital identity and digital wallets.
Updates from Apple, Google, and some of the largest identity and payments providers. All on manoeuvres.
It’s no surprise, really. Identity is woven into so much of our lives. Though you might not always call it that.
Setting up, verifying or authorising an account (or a service, a device or even an object)… by the right person… or someone allowed to do so on their behalf… happens billions of times a day.
And proving things about ourselves, in all manner of formats and places, has become part of daily life online. Digital identity is everywhere. And it’s a hot topic whichever way you look.
But it’s broken.
Here’s why: When identity is based on paper, it’s brilliant.
It’s super flexible. It’s accepted pretty much everywhere. And people are in control of their documents and cards. They control what they share, because they have to physically hand it over or send it somewhere.
Also notice that with paper, we can share different bits of it in one simple transaction. Like when I hand over my passport and credit card to the hotel receptionist in one go. (Where, by the way, I don’t need to have a customer account in advance for that to work).
Yet as soon as things become digital, it all breaks down.
We end up with brittle, inflexible, and often privacy-invading digital platforms. And we all need complicated accounts - hundreds of them - before we can do anything.
Each place has its own particular flavour of identity. Each requires slightly different bits of personal data in different formats. MMDDYY. YY-MM-DD. I’ve even had salary payments missed because they missed out a ‘-’ between numbers in my bank code.
So you can’t easily move your identities around. It’s a mess.
But things are changing.
Identity is becoming more portable. More private. More secure.
Like the early shifts from a closed to open Internet. The identity communities are rounding on new standards for verifiable data. Bringing these islands of identity together.
Soon, Digital identity will be in the ‘I’ of the beholder.
There is lots to be optimistic about. And there’s much more to come. But the direction is right - putting the individual at the centre of her digital life, not the business.
Welcome to the future of being a digital customer. And welcome back to the Customer Futures newsletter.
In this week’s edition:
Apple Vision Pro - a Personal AI prototype?
A breakout week for digital ID, and ‘Remember Me’ services
Market intelligence in the hands of the customer
Marc Andreessen: Why AI Will Save the World
EU Digital identity: 4 projects launched to test EUDI Wallet
Vitalik Buterin: Wallets will need to secure both assets and data
… plus other links about the future of digital customers you don’t want to miss
Let’s go.
Apple Vision Pro - a Personal AI prototype?
I’m not going to share yet another breathless take on Apple’s new AR headset here. But worth pulling out a few key things from the announcement:
NO MENTION OF AI
Apple trades in trust. But the words ‘artificial intelligence’ are super-hyped and conjure up worries about safety, privacy, and accuracy. The exact opposite of trust.
At the latest Apple announcement, we got a masterclass in product narrative. Focus on what it can do. Hide away all the complexity. Let Apple make sure that the plumbing is safe by design. Is trusted by design.
Just like car manufacturers don’t scream ‘machine learning’ at us. Yet that’s exactly what they are using to improve our car braking systems, lane assist technologies and automatic parking aids.
Instead, the car companies just tell us what the latest car can do. And we know that they are looking after us when we travel in their vehicles.
The difference of course is that the auto industry is regulated to do so. They must meet stringent tests before they can release a new technology onto the road.
But with digital identity and tech providers, not so much. Which is why Apple’s announcement was ultimately about the product narrative, and about marketing. And about digital trust.
EMBEDDED IDENTITY
As per Apple’s own website:
“Where a user looks stays private while navigating Apple Vision Pro, and eye tracking information is not shared with Apple, third-party apps, or websites
Data from the camera and other sensors is processed at the system level, so individual apps do not need to see a user’s surroundings to enable spatial experiences.
EyeSight also includes a visual indicator that makes it clear to others when a user is capturing a spatial photo or video.”
So face-facing cameras scan your iris, and authenticate you in real-time, ambiently. It’s FaceID with no interaction needed. Nothing leaves the device, and no personal data is made available to other apps or 3rd parties.
Why does this matter?
Because we are back to digital trust. Without it, Apple won’t be able to persuade users that their highly personal biometric data is safe.
And second - and I wonder if this is actually more important - because the device has a secure enclave. Which means it can include a digital wallet.
Which means… it can store, and share, a whole bunch of other verifiable stuff.
Payments. Digital identity. Even CBDCs. And certainly all sorts of other credentials. Worker credentials. Tickets. Qualifications.
All verifiably. Privately. Safely.
Think of the headset like a multi-factor wallet genie: it can prove something you have (headset), something you are (iris) and something you know (like a digitally watermarked code in a verifiable credential).
The opportunities to automate, integrate, and facilitate digital transactions are now limitless using this device.
The banking sector talks about ‘embedded finance’. I think Apple Vision Pro might just be the first example of ‘embedded identity’.
In other words, while using the Apple headset you’ll be able to provide instant - and highly assured - proof of anything, including money.
Approving an in-app purchase
Registering for a new digital service
Opening a crypto or bank account
Booking travel, and providing all the verifiable information upfront, including ‘safe to travel’ information from your covid certificate or passport
No need to ‘tap’ to approve. It could all be done with a blink or a nod. Safe in the knowledge that only the right amount of data has been shared. (See the other Apple point below, about iOS17, and new APIs to privately share customer data).
Super safe. Super private. Super portable data.
Perhaps the Vision Pro is…
A PERSONAL AI PROTOTYPE?
With the hardware to run a local AI… plus the data on the user’s side under their control… and a constellation of 3rd party apps that can request identity and other verifiable data… I’m left wondering if the Vision Pro is actually a prototype interface for a new ‘Personal AI’.
One that can do things on our behalf. One that can help us hold and share our data on our terms. One that can run AI locally, on our device, to make sense of our personal data streams.
Now, Apple is but one player in this new market for Personal AI. But it’s a big one, and many are predicting they will make billions in the ‘Spacial Computing’ space.
The next big market won’t just be AI. It will be Personal AI.
A breakout week for digital ID, and ‘Remember Me’ services
It’s worth taking a minute to recognise how wide-ranging and far-reaching the recent digital ID announcements have been. Especially when you look at them in the round:
OnFido (identity verification) acquired Airside (a mobile wallet, notable for streamlining US travel)
Google announced their digital wallet (which will be way more than ID: tickets, travel, health, workplace and much more - see last week’s Customer Futures Stories)
WEF launched their latest paper on ‘Reimagining Digital Identity (all about the opportunities for ‘decentralised identity’… I was a co-author of the paper)
Apple launched Vision Pro with ‘Optic ID’ (analysing your iris for continuous authentication)
Apple also revealed new ways to share your digital ID with businesses (a family of additional APIs… but with iOS17, iPhone users will soon be able to hold their iPhone (or Apple Watch) near the business’s device, and consent to magically transfer the ID info over Bluetooth. That’s going to be a game changer for face-to-face interactions).
Plaid launched their latest ‘verify once, verify everywhere’ service (a “Remember Me” flow so you don’t have to re-enter identity info time after time)
I mean, holy moly. Some predict that digital ID will be a $100BN market in 5 years, growing over 20% a year. With announcements like those above, you can see why.
So it’s worth digging in. Lots more to come in future posts, but for now, let’s look at the Plaid announcement. Says Alain Meier, Plaid’s Head of ID:
“The history (and future) of ID verification:
2008 - 2014: Credit bureau checks + "what color was your Nissan?"
2014 - 2020: ID doc and selfie checks popularized by crypto exchanges
2020 - 2023: Phone-based identity + auth
2023+: Plaid Remember Me
The holy grail of ID verification is the notion of verifying your identity once and being able to carry it anywhere. We're bringing that to everyone today at Plaid - and we're calling it Remember Me.
Customers can store their identity with Plaid and reuse it anywhere else Plaid is used for identity verification
50% faster ID verification experience for end users
Managing your Remember Me profile is easy: every time you verify, you can update your data if you move, add new ID types (prefer to use your passport over your driver’s license?) and swap between info seamlessly
We re-run end-user PII according to each new company's verification and compliance requirements. Just because it's one-click for the end user doesn't mean it's one-size-fits-all for the businesses who use Plaid ID verification
So far, so interesting for identity nerds. Especially as Plaid claim 70% opt-in from users.
“Remember me” is an excellent idea. Many governments, like Estonia and the UK, are now applying the same principles to citizen data, called “tell us once”. Why should I have to repeat something to a government department when I’ve already told another part of the organisation?
So it makes sense to do the same for businesses that share a vendor platform.
Stripe has done precisely the same, but for checkout and payments. It is called ‘Link’, and means customers can instruct merchants to remember their payment details for next time. And it works if the user is on any Stripe-powered website.
And so Plaid, like Stripe, are banking on their own ‘network effects’. As more businesses join their closed platform, the more places consumers can use the service and get faster registration and checkout. And the more consumers sign up, the more attractive it is for companies to join the platform.
Which is one of the reasons Stripe has been doing some massive deals recently, including with Amazon, Airbnb, BMW and Microsoft Teams.
Regardless of which vendor platform we’re talking about, these approaches are all meeting tangible market pains. Real ‘jobs to be done’, for both users and for businesses. Faster, cheaper, better.
But remember folks: all of these approaches are delivered on the business side.
We’re building identity and payment rails that are essentially massive private networks. Powered by closed platforms.
Instead, we need protocols, not platforms.
For identity and payments to work on open rails. For individuals to be able to choose their own digital wallet that can hold their identity, payment and other verifiable data.
And for retailers, travel providers, health companies and all sorts of organisations to use open protocols to request the customer’s data when needed. That could be digital identity, payment info, loyalty data, personal profiles or even just an ‘over 18’ credential.
It all forms a new ‘customer stack’ on the individual’s side. Where digital identity will be a core component.
As I said at the top, there is more to come. These huge announcements signal the start of a shift. Of more private, portable digital identity. Over to the individual’s side.
It’s an exciting future. And a customer-centric one.
Market intelligence in the hands of the customer
Mark Zuckerberg recently spoke about how there won’t be ‘one AI’. Because, he says, each brand will want its own platform to control the brand experience.
Or rather, to avoid someone else’s AI recommending another company’s product to the customer.
Instead, he envisions many different AIs. To be used in many different customer channels, acting for the business.
And this is the single most important reason people will need their own AI too.
Because today’s artificial intelligence tools are already smarter than most humans. So how on earth will we be able to navigate, and out-smart, all those business-side AIs? The ones that Zuck will be pushing down the business pipes via WhatsApp, Instagram or Facebook?
The answer is Personal AI.
On my side. Doing the things precisely that Zuckerberg doesn’t want us to do… like compare prices correctly, or compare features, or map the market. Or make recommendations that are best for the individual, rather than personalised suggestions that are optimised for ‘basket size’ or ‘engagement’ or 'cross-sell’.
Yes, AI is being deployed all over the place. But mostly for business.
Take, for example, VelaGPT. It’s a simple AI agent that can scrape product information from any website. Just give it the URL, and ask for a list of products, numbers of reviews, and prices. In under a minute, you get all the data.
It’s being touted as the future of competitive intelligence. Of market research and lead generation. But that, once again dear reader, is putting such tools to use on the business side.
But what if all these kinds of things like market intelligence were on the customer side? All part of the Customer Stack?
Zuck’s missing out on a huge market opportunity. To kickstart the Personal AI market. Doing things with me, and for me, not to me.
Sadly Meta has too much ‘trust debt’. Would you use Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp to give you financial or health advice? Or to log into your healthcare provider?
But someone will. And it’s going to happen fast on the customer side. Not just for businesses to improve their marketing ROI.
ZUCK INTERVIEW, VELAGPT, CUSTOMER STACK
Marc Andreessen: Why AI Will Save the World
My fridge has its own Wifi. I’ve still not worked out why anyone would care about this. But it’s part of the ever-spreading reach of digital things in our life.
And how software is increasingly everywhere. And in everything.
In late 2011, Marc Andreessen wrote a seminal piece in the Wall St Journal about why ‘Software Is Eating The World’. It has been considered one of the most important perspectives on how everything will ultimately become digital.
From payments and health to ticketing to travel and government. Software is becoming the default way to think about building and scaling products, services, and experiences.
And with so much AI fear-mongering around, Andreessen has decided it’s now time for another landmark essay. This time about AI, and the opportunity to save the world.
It’s worth a read. He makes some good points about jobs. About the potential upsides. But there are clear gaps in his logic, including missing the full potential of personal AI.
Both as a force for good and individual empowerment… but also as a new, global threat: to manipulate and misdirect human beings at a scale never possible before.
As the experts put it: AI robots with guns won’t take over the planet. But humans under the hyper-personalised influence of AI, might.
I’m not sure this piece will age as well as his software thesis 12 years ago.
It has a whiff of techno-solutionism, not to mention a huge dollop of western nationalism. But worth digesting nonetheless. His legendary VC firm, a16z, has been at the forefront of technology disruption for years. And they have a pretty good track record in seeing what most can’t, ahead of the curve.
“As the proponents of both “trust and safety” and “AI alignment” are clustered into the very narrow slice of the global population that characterizes the American coastal elites – which includes many of the people who work in and write about the tech industry – many of my readers will find yourselves primed to argue that dramatic restrictions on AI output are required to avoid destroying society.
I will not attempt to talk you out of this now, I will simply state that this is the nature of the demand, and that most people in the world neither agree with your ideology nor want to see you win.
“If you don’t agree with the prevailing niche morality that is being imposed on both social media and AI via ever-intensifying speech codes, you should also realize that the fight over what AI is allowed to say/generate will be even more important – by a lot – than the fight over social media censorship.
“AI is highly likely to be the control layer for everything in the world. How it is allowed to operate is going to matter perhaps more than anything else has ever mattered. You should be aware of how a small and isolated coterie of partisan social engineers are trying to determine that right now, under cover of the age-old claim that they are protecting you.
In short, don’t let the thought police suppress AI.“
EU Digital identity: 4 projects launched to test EUDI Wallet
By 2030, at least 80% of EU citizens should be able to access government services using a new digital identity wallet.
That’s the goal of the eIDAS program, where each member state will approve a number of digital wallets for individuals to use when interacting with their government.
It’s all based on decentralised digital identity, and is the largest project of its type in the world.
I’m not sure they’ve realised it yet, but I predict EU wallets will become more valuable, and more impactful than GDPR.
Certainly in terms of real-world influence on citizen control over personal data. And more grandly, in terms of kick-starting a new digital economy organised around people rather than (just) business.
EU digital wallets will have huge knock-on implications for the surveillance economy. And I’m looking forward to the quiet revolution around the downstream opportunities for business to reimagine their digital customer relationships.
It’s early days for the EU digital initiative, but they’ve now approved 4 landmark pilot projects to design and test out the whole thing. Kicking the tyres on some exciting use cases:
“The 4 pilot projects involve more than 250 private and public organisations across almost every Member State, as well as Norway, Iceland, and Ukraine, and will run for at least 2 years. They represent a combined investment of over €90 million in the EU digital identity ecosystem, co-financed by the Commission at 50%.
“They will work on 11 priority use cases to improve citizens' access to highly trusted and secure electronic identity means. The pilot projects will test the whole eco-system, from issuing the wallet to the user, to incorporating personal identity information, adding additional documents, and presenting this information to service providers. For example, to a public service, a pharmacy, or a hotel the user wants to access.
“The 4 pilot projects will work closely with each other and with the Commission. Their results will feed into the ongoing development of technical specifications for the EUDI wallet by the eIDAS expert group.
“To support the pilot projects and continuously enhance the EUDI wallet technical specifications, the European Commission is developing an open-source prototype of the EUDI wallet. This will provide valuable real-world insights and solutions for both Member States and the large-scale pilot projects to use either in full or in parts.”
Vitalik Buterin: Wallets will need to secure both assets and data
In a deeply technical post, Vitalik Buterin - the inventor of Ethereum - points out that identity is broken in Web3.
Because 1) it’s not private, and 2) it’s not usable by those not already using your specific ledger.
He’s right on both counts. And the answer, he says, is for the wallet to store both assets AND data.
Which is what I’ve been writing about at Customer Futures for some time. Although he doesn’t use the words, he’s inching towards an answer that the identity community reached years ago: identity needs to be grounded using Decentralised Identifiers (or ‘DIDs’).
“One of the common threads of these changes is that the concept of an "address", a cryptographic identifier that you use to represent "you" on-chain, will have to radically change. "Instructions for how to interact with me" would no longer just be an ETH address; they would have to be, in some form, some combination of multiple addresses on multiple L2s, stealth meta-addresses, encryption keys, and other data.
“One way to do this is to make ENS your identity: your ENS record could just contain all of this information, and if you send someone bob.eth (or bob.ecc.eth, or...), they could look up and see everything about how to pay and interact with you, including in the more complicated cross-domain and privacy-preserving ways.
But this ENS-centric approach has two weaknesses:
It ties too many things to your name. Your name is not you, your name is one of many attributes of you. It should be possible to change your name without moving over your entire identity profile and updating a whole bunch of records across many applications.
You can't have trustless counterfactual names. One key UX feature of any blockchain is the ability to send coins to people who have not interacted with the chain yet. Without such a functionality, there is a catch-22: interacting with the chain requires paying transaction fees, which requires... already having coins. ETH addresses, including smart contract addresses with CREATE2, have this feature. ENS names don't, because if two Bobs both decide off-chain that they are bob.ecc.eth, there's no way to choose which one of them gets the name.
“One possible solution is to put more things into the keystore contract mentioned in the architecture earlier in this post. The keystore contract could contain all of the various information about you and how to interact with you (and with CCIP, some of that info could be off-chain), and users would use their keystore contract as their primary identifier.
“But the actual assets that they receive would be stored in all kinds of different places. Keystore contracts are not tied to a name, and they are counterfactual-friendly: you can generate an address that can provably only be initialized by a keystore contract that has certain fixed initial parameters.”
Bonus link below: why ‘DIDs’ are a breakthrough for customer relationships.
VITALIK POST, DIDS (THE TECH), DIDS FOR RELATIONSHIPS
📌 OTHER THINGS
There are far too many interesting and important Customer Future things to include in this edition, so here are some more links to chew on:
Customer Feedback Case Study: The Secretly Disappointed READ
A Digital Wallet For Learning And Employment Records READ
Salesforce Aims to Plug ‘AI Trust Gap’ With New Tech Tools READ
Self Sovereign Identity Explained WATCH
Wallets Can’t be the Adapters Between Credential Formats READ
WEF on Digital identity models: What’s next for secure and seamless travel READ
Consumers Expect Even Better Experiences When Economic Conditions Worsen READ
Bank customers ill-served by poorly deployed chatbots READ
And that’s a wrap. Stay tuned for more Customer Futures soon, both here and over at Twitter and LinkedIn.
A final question for you: Was today’s newsletter valuable, or nope? Let me know by clicking below or ignoring: