2026 Predictions ~ AI Agents, CX Engineers & The End of "Chat" / Jochem van der Veer / Episode #245

12 snips

Jan 15, 2026

Jochem van der Veer, CEO of TheyDo, brings his expertise in journey management and customer experience to explore fascinating predictions for 2026. He discusses the evolution of journey frameworks, emphasizing the necessity of quality data to answer vital business questions. Jochem highlights common roadblocks like data access and costs, offering practical strategies to overcome them. He boldly forecasts the rise of CX engineers and AI agents, anticipating a future where technology handles routine tasks while humans provide critical oversight. A must-listen for anyone interested in the future of customer experience!

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

AI Can Answer 'Why' — If Data Is Trustworthy

You can query journey frameworks with AI to get directional answers about causes.
The quality of those answers depends entirely on the validity and scope of your data.

INSIGHT

Adoption Reveals Journey Anarchy

Rapid adoption exposes inconsistent, outdated, or unvalidated journey data and creates 'journey anarchy'.
Organisations must clean and govern journey data before expecting reliable AI-driven answers.

ANECDOTE

Baggage Booking Mystery Solved

An airline's baggage-booking drop looked like a problem to one team but was caused by another team's premium offering upstream.
Viewing the full booking journey revealed there was no company-wide revenue issue, just a local shift.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Imagine a world where you can simply look at your journey model and ask it why... Why, for example, is our customer churn spiking this quarter? How close are we to that reality?

I invited my good friend Jochem van der Veer, CEO of TheyDo, back onto the show to find out. It’s become a bit of a tradition to start the year with Jochem, looking back at our past predictions and setting the stage for what’s next in the world of Journey Management.

Not so long ago, "Journey Management" was really just an emerging term. Fast forward to today, and I think it's fair to say that the conversation has shifted entirely. We're seeing organizations big and small adopt this practice as a framework that drives real business decisions.

In last year's episode, Jochem predicted that by now we’d be able to ask our journeys "Why?" and get instant (and meaningful) answers. In this conversation, we discuss how the technology has arrived and why "Journey Anarchy" is the new hurdle we have to clear.

Next, we play a round of "Objection Bingo" where we address the most common roadblocks we hear every day that stand in the way of wider adoption of journey management. From "we don't have the data" to the classic "It’s too expensive". And of course, Jochem shares some practical strategies to help you overcome these roadblocks when you encounter them.

Finally, Jochem makes some spicy predictions for 2026. Like the emergence of a completely new role in the CX space. So, if you want to stay one step ahead and hear where our field is heading, this is the conversation for you.

I would love to know: how do you feel about the state of journey management heading into 2026? A) Mostly "meh" B) Excited! C) Something else...