Mind blowing AI agents, Apple opens up NFC, and making sense of the eIDAS2 Implementing Acts
Mind blowing AI agents, Apple opens up NFC, and making sense of the eIDAS2 Implementing Acts
Plus: Private Personhood Credentials, Digital ID is in a ‘critical phase’ globally, and could autonomous agents change brand loyalty
Hi everyone, thanks for coming back to Customer Futures. Each week I unpack the disruptive shifts around digital wallets, Personal AI and digital customer relationships.
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With electric vehicles, we have the chance to redefine the car. With Web3, we have the chance to redefine digital ownership.
And with Empowerment Tech, we have the chance to redefine the customer relationship.
Why?
Because there’s a difference between simply digitising something, and making something truly digital.
Here’s what I mean.
DIGITISED: putting the restaurant PDF menu online
TRULY DIGITAL: dynamically only showing the veggie options based on the customer's preferences
DIGITISED: adding a static bank statement to yet another 'MyAccount'
TRULY DIGITAL: smart money rules so that customers can dynamically round up their spend, and auto-add to their pension pot
DIGITISED: adding a digital driving license to the mobile phone, so that people can share their date of birth with a digital service
TRULY DIGITAL: creating a portable digital profile for shopping (proving they are>18, with pre-approved payment type, complete delivery address and evidence of 'high-value spend' in category X - all verified with Y/N info)
OK, but what about AI? Won't that change the game?
That's going to need Empowerment Tech too.
DIGITISED: prompting a search platform or GPT to ask about what product options exist or are popular.
TRULY DIGITAL: smart agent prompting ME about my needs, and coming back with options based on my preferences... complete with one tap check-out
Digitised vs. Digital. It’s all about understanding the future of being a truly digital customer. So welcome back to the Customer Futures newsletter.
In this week’s edition:
A *mind blown* moment with AI agents
Ethereum Name Service (ENS) partners with ID platform Dentity
Mind the gap: You are not like everyone else
Apple opens up NFC, and it’s a big deal
Private Personhood credentials, AI and distinguishing who is real online
Unpicking The eIDAS Implementing Acts
… plus other links about the future of digital customers you don’t want to miss
Let’s Go.
A *mind blown* moment with AI agents
Rowan Cheung writes a weekly AI newsletter for 600k people. This week he made a mistake and ended up realising how powerful new AI agents are going to be.
“I accidentally enabled an agent that validates inbound leads, sends hyper-personalized emails, and negotiates on my behalf... and it WORKED.
“For context, I'm new to the platform and was tinkering with it yesterday evening, not realizing that I turned the triggers on.
“At first glance on Saturday morning I thought my inbox got hacked. The AI agent (built on Lindy AI) was literally responding as me (Rowan) and got me a couple calls booked for next week.
“Once I figure it all out, and if it actually works, it could take over ~50% of the tedious work my partnerships team has to do. This means us mere humans can focus more on the unscalable stuff: client success, follow up calls, in-person relationships, and the stuff that actually matters like improving our newsletter.”
I find this so interesting. Partly because it’s one of those use cases that people can relate to. Many teams spend hours on these things, and AI agents will be able to automate much of it.
But it’s more interesting because it’s an excellent example of an agent working on the business side. Now imagine the opposite agent (PersonalAI) working on the customer side.
Tracking deliveries. Chasing returns. Updating accounts. Reading and responding to low-priority messages. Sorting calendar conflicts. Remembering the important stuff in the family and school diaries.
As Rowan found out, these new platforms have the potential to help cut back at least 50% of our admin time (hours a day). Meaning we can focus on what matters.
Now calculate those same time savings in your day-to-day life. But not just in one domain (like sending prospect emails). Think of it across money, health, travel and volunteering. Across your home, pets, family and the car.
Just think.
Many of the large consumer and social platforms like Google and Meta are already working on AI agents for people. And apparently, GPT5 will be available later this year.
The question then becomes: who will you trust?
Ethereum Name Service (ENS) partners with Dentity
This new partnership is a big deal.
It represents the missing bridge between Web3 (where ENS has millions of users) and true digital trust. Between Web3 and digital identity.
Only once we can trust who we are dealing with online - with tight controls and permissions around what data is shared with whom - can we open up the new world of digital use cases.
As Dentity’s CEO, Jeff Schwartz puts it:
“Real-world identity is the unlock for blockchain beyond crypto. It’s the golden ticket to bringing the next billion users onchain."
First, it expands use cases for blockchain well beyond crypto. It lays critical identity infrastructure which will allow consumers to access things like educational credentials, professional licenses, and health care records. It will massively improve myriad services used by consumers every day.
Second, it opens the door to bring traditional financial services onchain. Enabling financial services with blockchain will improve customer experience, reduce burdensome fees, and improve privacy.
And third, it paves the way for the expansion of regulated digital assets. As KYC / AML compliance expands globally, bringing real-world ID onchain will create new economic opportunities for consumers worldwide”
Most people haven’t yet realised how powerful digital tokens and Web3 are going to be. But we can’t, and won’t, unleash that potential until we know who we are dealing with online, not just what.
Pay close attention to this one.
Mind the gap: You are not like everyone else
The marvellous Lisa Talia Moretti this week posted about assumptions that businesses make. I’m copying the whole thing here for its brilliance.
Some simple rules to follow when designing digital products and services:
You are not like everyone else
Not everyone has a smartphone
Not everyone likes technology
Not everyone wants to do everything using technology
Not everyone has broadband
Not everyone wants to use the Internet
Not everyone wants to use an app
Not everyone can use an app
Not everyone has digital literacy skills
Not everyone wants to learn new skills
Not everyone trusts their government
Not everyone is able-bodied
Not everyone wants to do everything on their own
Not everyone has someone to help
Not everyone has access to on-demand electricity
Not everyone has the same rights you do
Not everyone thinks your idea is great
Not everyone thinks your solution is the best
It’s easy to fall into these traps. And we all have blindspots here. When it comes to digital ID, we must remember that often the edge cases are the use cases.
Apple opens up NFC, and it’s a big deal
This is one of Dave Birch’s latest posts, and it’s one of his best. On Apple’s recent announcement to open up NFC, the digital wallet and secure element (for a fee, of course).
Why it matters, and what might happen next.
“The new ecosystem will have more of an impact in the world of identity than in the world of payments because the ability to use secure elements in both Android and Apple applications means that developers can bring into existence the kind of digital public infrastructure (DPI) that has long been needed in the US and elsewhere (eg, the UK).
“I think it is quite easy to imagine that there will be some kind of Ticketmaster wallet that will be developed in the ecosystem so that tickets to concerts and sporting events become NFTs that cannot be lost, stolen or counterfeited because they are stored in wallets that have the private key in the secure element.
I might keep my Apple wallet as the default for when I tap and go at the store, but it will not be the only wallet that I use.
Dave also kindly points to last week’s Customer Futures newsletter, where I make the point that digital wallets will become a new powerful digital customer channel. More trusted than SMS, less spammy than e-mail, more portable than an app.
It looks like Apple is already going there.
Private Personhood credentials, AI and distinguishing who is real online
Worth reading this new paper on how to prove we are human online using privacy-preserving verifiable credentials.
“We analyze the value of a new tool to address this challenge: "personhood credentials" (PHCs), digital credentials that empower users to demonstrate that they are real people -- not AIs -- to online services, without disclosing any personal information.”
Digital credentials that empower users. You can say that again.
Unpicking The eIDAS Implementing Acts
If you’re following eIDAS2, the EU just published five papers on the "implementing acts". They describe how the 27 EU Member States should roll out the latest eIDAS regs, from tech and formats to interop and trust, and they are looking for feedback.
Lucky for you, Andy Tobin has read them so you don’t have to.
There’s A LOT here. It’s one of the best analyses I’ve seen on governmental documents like this. And there a LOT of open questions:
“Economic model: who is paying for what in this eIDAS ecosystem? Will a "relying party pays issuer" model operate? How will money change hands if so, while protecting the privacy of the user?
“Intermediaries: where proxy verification services are used, will specific rules apply (due to their increased ability to correlate/track users through concentrating transactions across many relying parties they service).
“OS vendors: What stops OS vendors from introducing new versions of their software that impact eIDAS wallets?
“Devices providers: Will mechanisms be put in place to certify (or de-certify) particular devices, and keep abreast of new device releases with new functionality?
“Governance of operations: Who is going to audit the various Member State operations that will be required for supporting the wallet ecosystem(s)? For example, if a number of users report a relying party behaving badly, who ensures that a Member State does the right things in a reasonable time frame to respond?”
It’s a pretty deep dive. These meaty five questions alone are from only one of the five papers.
Dig in people, this will matter if you’re working on ID or digital wallets in the EU. And as Andy concludes, there is A LOT to do.
And many gaps.
OTHER THINGS
There are far too many interesting and important Customer Futures things to include this week. So here are some more links to chew on:
Insight: Could autonomous agents change brand loyalty READ
News: Mattr and Austroads National Digital Trust Service helps Australia implement Mobile Drivers Licences (mDL) READ
Research: 89% of businesses expect revenue growth with Digital ID adoption READ
Insight: Digital ID is in a ‘critical phase’ globally READ
Event: Meet the ‘Funke’ competition teams building the EU Digital Wallet in Germany (3rd Sep) REGISTER
And that’s a wrap. Stay tuned for more Customer Futures soon, both here and over at LinkedIn.
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