---
id: "quote-what-is-customer"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ The Second Revolution: Bots as Customers"]
tags: ["ai-agents", "customer-identity"]
related: ["contrarian-algorithm-as-customer", "concept-machine-customer-first"]
speaker: "Stefano Puntoni"
speakers: ["Stefano Puntoni"]
quote: "The question is no longer just \\\\\\\"Who is your customer?\\\\\\\" It's also \\\\\\\"What is your customer?\\\\\\\"—because your customer might be an algorithm."
sources: ["geo"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-geo"
originDay: 3
articleStem: "hbr-ext-13-ai-upending-marketing"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/02/ai-is-upending-marketing-on-two-fronts"
sourceTitle: "AI Is Upending Marketing on Two Fronts"
---
# What is your customer?

> "The question is no longer just 'Who is your customer?' It's also 'What is your customer?'—because your customer might be an algorithm."
> — [[entity-stefano-puntoni]]

**Context.** In the age of AI agents, the decision-maker and the end user may no longer be the same entity. This is the rhetorical crystallization of the second revolution — the decoupling of *consumer* from *customer* — see [[contrarian-algorithm-as-customer]] and [[concept-machine-customer-first]].


## Related across articles
- [[quote-new-type-of-customer]]
- [[quote-customer-journey-algorithm]]
- [[quote-first-customer-algorithm]]