Joana shares lessons from real deployments, including how to stage experiences, measure outcomes, and avoid common pitfalls.<\/p>\n
If CX leaders want strategy to stick, teams need to learn by doing, not just listening.<\/p>\n", "category": [ { "term_id": 51560, "name": "The CX Cast", "slug": "cx-cast", "description": "", "permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/podcast\/cx-cast\/" } ], "meta_desc": "If CX leaders want strategy to stick, teams need to learn by doing, not just listening.", "image_url": "https:\/\/go.forrester.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/FMK_TheCXCast_DX_560x346px.webp", "image_width": 560, "image_height": 346 }, { "post_type": "post", "post_id": 299430, "permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/my-takeaway-from-money-20-20-for-your-gtm-team\/", "title": "My Takeaways From Money 20\/20 For Your GTM Team", "date": "Jul 2, 2026 04:24:04", "excerpt": "Three packed days at Money20\/20 in Amsterdam, and the halls were buzzing about two things: trust and agentic commerce. Behind the buzzwords, Trust is really three concrete demands from banks: whether they can rely on AI they didn’t build; whether customers’ money, identity, and data stay safe with the bank (including how the bank itself […]", "body": "
Three packed days at Money20\/20 in Amsterdam, and the halls were buzzing about two things: trust and agentic commerce.<\/span><\/p>\n Behind the buzzwords, Trust<\/b> is really three concrete demands from banks: whether they can rely on AI they didn’t build; whether customers’ money, identity, and data stay safe with the bank (including how the bank itself uses them); and whether a nondeterministic decision can be proven to a regulator under DORA and the AI Act. Agentic commerce<\/b> lives in a narrower reality than the word implies: agents today work at discovery and assisted checkout stages, not autonomous buying. The consumer demand and control layer that grounds an agent in policy and identity aren\u2019t there yet.<\/span><\/p>\n For tech vendors, this means naming the specific problem you solve and not hiding behind a category label. The clearest way to do that depends on what you sell:<\/span><\/p>\n And for your own go-to-market (GTM) operations, the bigger shift is this: AI is changing how the function runs. <\/i>Bear in mind:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Want To Get This Right?\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n This is the work we do at Forrester Consulting. Our offerings help vendors position themselves against buyer needs and competitors, build messaging that holds up across the cycle, and resonates with the people making the decisions. If this is your world, let’s talk.<\/span><\/p>\n",
"category": [
{
"term_id": 2104,
"name": "B2B Marketing",
"slug": "b2b-marketing",
"description": "B2B marketing is increasingly expected to deliver the level of experience buyers are used to having as consumers. Success depends on marketers adapting \u2014 and quickly. Explore our B2B marketing insights to stay ahead.\r\n\r\nDiscover how Forrester supports B2B marketing leaders.<\/a>",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/b2b-marketing\/"
},
{
"term_id": 51784,
"name": "B2B Sales",
"slug": "b2b-sales",
"description": "",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/b2b-sales\/"
},
{
"term_id": 9675,
"name": "Banking",
"slug": "banking",
"description": "Banks face many challenges: declining customer loyalty, an emergent fintech class, and commerce platforms that continue to inch toward providing financial services. Read our insights on how the banking industry is changing and how banks can transform and thrive amid unprecedented disruption.",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/banking\/"
},
{
"term_id": 2123,
"name": "Europe",
"slug": "europe",
"description": "Read Forrester's insights on financial services, marketing, information security, technology, and more in Europe.",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/europe\/"
},
{
"term_id": 2154,
"name": "financial services",
"slug": "financial-services",
"description": "Financial services firms are under pressure as more investors choose a self-directed approach and shift their money toward emergent fintech disruptors. Discover how financial services firms can evolve to stay competitive, win business, and leverage CX to succeed.",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/financial-services\/"
},
{
"term_id": 51418,
"name": "Payments",
"slug": "payments",
"description": "",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/payments\/"
}
],
"author": "Diane Deng"
},
{
"post_type": "post",
"post_id": 300260,
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/aeo-changes-what-content-is-worth-creating\/",
"title": "AEO Changes What Content Is Worth Creating",
"date": "Jul 1, 2026 13:04:58",
"excerpt": "During the past few months, I\u2019ve noticed a pattern in conversations with marketing and content leaders. Nearly every discussion about AI visibility begins the same way: \u201cTell me everything you know.\u201d Marketers want the new optimization playbook or the equivalent of keyword research. What they need is different: a way to decide what\u2019s worth creating […]",
"body": " During the past few months, I\u2019ve noticed a pattern in conversations with marketing and content leaders. Nearly every discussion about AI visibility begins the same way: \u201cTell me everything you know.\u201d Marketers want the new optimization playbook or the equivalent of keyword research. What they need is different: a way to decide what\u2019s worth creating in the first place.<\/p>\n The instinct makes sense. For years, marketers responded to every major search change by learning optimization techniques. Today, many assume answer engines work the same way and go looking for the sources that AI appears to favor.<\/p>\n But those conversations don\u2019t stay on optimization for long. They shift toward the kinds of information other people want to reference: original research, customer evidence, expert perspectives, proprietary data, and industry recognition. Google\u2019s recent comments<\/a> encouraging marketers to create original, useful content reinforce that broader shift. The real opportunity is in deciding what information is worth creating in the first place.<\/p>\n AI has dramatically changed the economics of content creation and optimization<\/a>. Organizations can now generate, adapt, personalize, and optimize content faster. As content becomes abundant, competitive advantage comes from contributing information the market doesn\u2019t already have. Search professionals have long described this as \u201cinformation gain\u201d \u2014 contributing something genuinely new rather than repeating what already exists. Answer engine optimization (AEO) raises the importance of that principle and changes how marketing leaders should think about their content portfolios. That means creating evidence that contributes original insights and demonstrates expertise the market can\u2019t get anywhere else.<\/p>\n Once we talk about the information that AI systems frequently retrieve and reference, the conversation shifts away from producing more content toward producing stronger evidence. Customer stories become more valuable because they\u2019re independently verifiable. Original research becomes more valuable because it\u2019s uniquely yours. Benchmarks and third-party validation become more valuable because other people trust and reference them.<\/p>\n At Forrester\u2019s B2B Summit this year, I found this conversation extending well beyond content teams. Product marketers, communications leaders, and analyst relations professionals were all beginning to rethink where they should invest. They recognized that original research, expert perspectives, analyst engagement, customer proof, and credible media coverage contribute to a body of evidence that compounds over time. Those investments require collaboration<\/a> across teams and patience.<\/p>\n Original research isn\u2019t conceived, published, trusted, and widely referenced within a month. Experts need time to develop meaningful points of view. Customers need time for adoption, then opportunities to share measurable outcomes. Analysts, journalists, industry publications, and practitioners need time to discover, evaluate, and discuss those ideas. The strongest authority signals emerge over months and have durability for years because credibility<\/a> compounds gradually. That long-term perspective feels very different from the optimization mindset or quick hacks that marketers expect when AI visibility first becomes a priority.<\/p>\n In my research, I\u2019ve encouraged marketing and content decision-makers to collaborate with experts to build content that drives authority. That recommendation has become more relevant as AI changes how buyers discover information.<\/p>\n Experts create differentiated knowledge. Internal subject-matter experts contribute implementation experience, product expertise, customer insights, and original thinking that competitors can\u2019t easily replicate. External experts \u2014 including customers, analysts, researchers, and industry practitioners \u2014 provide independent perspectives that strengthen credibility and extend the reach of those ideas. Together, they help organizations create information that earns attention, discussion, and long-term authority. This should change the conversations that leadership teams have during planning and budget season. Instead of focusing on content volume or campaign calendars, they should challenge their teams with questions such as:<\/p>\n Midyear planning and 2027 budget planning discussions are the right time to begin shifting both investment and attention. Look across your content portfolio and how your teams spend their time. If most effort goes toward producing more assets, begin shifting capacity toward authority investments, such as original research, customer evidence, analyst engagement, credible media coverage, and industry discussion. Those investments require coordination across marketing, communications, and product teams, which is exactly why teams should start plans well before they\u2019re needed.<\/p>\n The organizations that build lasting advantage over the next few years will treat authority-building as an operating capability rather than a campaign or optimization project. They will build repeatable ways to capture expertise, produce original evidence, involve customers, and earn independent validation as part of how marketing operates.<\/p>\n Building authority takes time, and every organization starts from a different place. If you\u2019re evaluating your content strategy, authority investments, or AI visibility priorities, contact us<\/a>. We\u2019re glad to help you determine where to focus first.<\/p>\n",
"category": [
{
"term_id": 2104,
"name": "B2B Marketing",
"slug": "b2b-marketing",
"description": "B2B marketing is increasingly expected to deliver the level of experience buyers are used to having as consumers. Success depends on marketers adapting \u2014 and quickly. Explore our B2B marketing insights to stay ahead.\r\n\r\nDiscover how Forrester supports B2B marketing leaders.<\/a>",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/b2b-marketing\/"
},
{
"term_id": 51942,
"name": "Content Strategy & Operations",
"slug": "content-strategy-operations",
"description": "",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/content-strategy-operations\/"
},
{
"term_id": 50674,
"name": "Content Strategy and Operations",
"slug": "content-strategy",
"description": "Content is the core of B2B marketing: It conveys brand promise, helps drive demand, and keeps customers engaged. Explore our content strategy and operations insights to build and maintain a content strategy that delivers on marketing goals.\r\n\r\nDiscover how Forrester supports B2B marketing leaders.<\/a>",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/content-strategy\/"
}
],
"meta_desc": "AEO isn\u2019t about optimization tricks. It\u2019s about creating original research, expert insight, and proof worth citing. Here\u2019s where to start.",
"author": "Lisa Gately"
},
{
"post_type": "post",
"post_id": 300237,
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/if-cx-doesnt-change-decisions-it-doesnt-matter\/",
"title": "If CX Doesn\u2019t Change Decisions, It Doesn\u2019t Matter",
"date": "Jul 1, 2026 11:37:19",
"excerpt": "CX teams create value not by measuring experiences but by influencing decisions. The organizations pulling ahead are using customer insights to guide investments, prioritize change, and drive business outcomes, turning CX from a reporting function into an operating discipline.",
"body": " I like history. I read a lot of history books. I like museums, castles, reenactments, and more. History teaches us lessons about our time, and while often we can reinterpret those lessons when seen through new lenses, we can\u2019t change the past.<\/p>\n Are you an experience historian? Is your safe space documenting and measuring what yesterday\u2019s customers thought? You aren\u2019t alone.<\/p>\n Dashboards used to be progress. They gave CX teams visibility, credibility, and a shared language for experience quality. But today, dashboards too often act as a ceiling, not an engine. Too many CX programs still polish metrics that don\u2019t change outcomes. The organizations pulling ahead aren\u2019t measuring CX better. They\u2019re deciding<\/a> better. They use CX as an operating input: to allocate investment, prioritize fixes, steer transformation, and prove impact. That\u2019s the next evolution of CX: not more measurement but better decisions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Forrester\u2019s research consistently links CX value to business outcomes: Loyal customers stay longer, buy more, and cost less to serve. The implication is blunt: Insight only creates value when leaders use it to change what the business does next. Anything else is just history. And as we already agreed, you can\u2019t change history. If CX does not shape decisions, it does not shape performance.<\/p>\n The shift sounds simple. It is not.<\/p>\n CX teams need to move from insight production to decision orchestration. To do this:<\/p>\n You won\u2019t build influence with another reporting layer. You need stronger decision rights, clearer economic logic, and tighter links to the operating cadence of the business. To get started, control your scope. Find a real, bounded problem such as revenue leakage or customer churn that has a clear, measurable financial impact and:<\/p>\n Ask:<\/p>\n If the answer is unclear, you do not have a CX insight. You have a history lesson.<\/p>\n",
"tags": [
{
"term_id": 51969,
"name": "CX East 2026",
"slug": "cx-east-2026",
"description": "",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/tag\/cx-east-2026\/"
},
{
"term_id": 51968,
"name": "CX West 2026",
"slug": "cx-west-2026",
"description": "",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/tag\/cx-west-2026\/"
}
],
"category": [
{
"term_id": 2242,
"name": "Age of the Customer",
"slug": "age-of-the-customer",
"description": "",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/age-of-the-customer\/"
},
{
"term_id": 2100,
"name": "customer experience",
"slug": "customer-experience",
"description": "Customer experience is a key driver of loyalty, satisfaction, and revenue. Mastering it is a complex and ever-changing proposition. Forrester's insights aid organizations to succeed with customer experience.\r\n\r\nDiscover how Forrester supports customer experience leaders.<\/a>",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/customer-experience\/"
},
{
"term_id": 2246,
"name": "Customer Experience Measurement",
"slug": "customer-experience-measurement",
"description": "Customer experience measurement ensures that CX investments are performing. It also helps stakeholders understand the value of CX. Explore Forrester's insights on customer experience measurement.\r\n\r\nDiscover how Forrester supports customer experience leaders.<\/a>",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/customer-experience-measurement\/"
},
{
"term_id": 2192,
"name": "Customer Experience Strategy",
"slug": "customer-experience-strategy",
"description": "A strong customer experience strategy can pay dividends to your bottom line. But orchestrating across a complex enterprise is easier said then done. Read insights on establishing and implementing a CX strategy.\r\n\r\nDiscover how Forrester supports customer experience leaders.<\/a>",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/customer-experience-strategy\/"
}
],
"author": "Martin Gill"
},
{
"post_type": "post",
"post_id": 300196,
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/schneider-electric-announces-intention-to-acquire-cognite\/",
"title": "Schneider Electric Announces Intention To Acquire Cognite",
"date": "Jul 1, 2026 09:12:11",
"excerpt": "Forrester analyst Paul Miller explores what Schneider Electric\u2019s intention to acquire Cognite means for industrial knowledge graphs.",
"body": " A long (long, long) time ago, I worked for a company building a semantic web platform. Graphs, ontologies, and standards governing well-managed data seemed like a promising and achievable future, until the financial crash sucked money and attention out of the space, and suddenly, they didn\u2019t. Pure and theoretically robust, many of these technologies were \u2014 frankly \u2014 hell to get working at scale. Fast-forward a couple of decades (or more), and many of those ideas are reentering mainstream conversations in the asset-intensive industries like manufacturing where I now focus my attention.<\/p>\n Image source: An early attempt to think about graphs<\/a>, before the formal standards were fully developed, by Eric Miller (no relation), Dan Brickley, and me.<\/em><\/p>\n German industrial conglomerate Siemens acquired Altair back in 2024<\/a>, and lurking behind all the simulation froth attached to that acquisition were Cambridge Semantics, graphs, ontologies, and all that jazz. Siemens announced<\/a> Intelligence Center X in June, and Siemens Digital Industries Software\u2019s leaders have been sharing more about it at Siemens Realize LIVE in Amsterdam this week. Low-code platform Mendix (which Siemens acquired back in 2018) takes top billing in the announcement, but a graph database (from Altair\u2019s RapidMiner\/Cambridge Semantics stable) now called Graph Studio may ultimately prove more transformative.<\/p>\n At AVEVA World in Milan back in May, industrial software company AVEVA\u2019s CEO, Caspar Herzberg, announced the intention to launch \u201ca digital twin builder and an industrial knowledge graph\u201d for its digital industrial platform<\/a>, Connect. And then this week, AVEVA parent Schneider Electric announced its intention to spend around $3.1 billion acquiring Cognite<\/a>, dashing my plans to write a blog about IFS CEO Mark Moffat popping up on the AVEVA keynote stage in Milan and<\/em> the Siemens keynote stage in Amsterdam to announce intriguing partnerships between his firm and both of these competitors: That one will have to wait! At the core of Cognite\u2019s increasingly AI-friendly software stack<\/a> sits Cognite Data Fusion and, at its heart, a knowledge graph.<\/p>\n AVEVA (and Schneider), Cognite, and Siemens are far from alone in exploring graphs. It\u2019s just intriguing that I\u2019ve sat in rooms having extended conversations with executives from all of them about this precise topic in just the last few weeks. Google had big graph ambitions back around 2010 when the company acquired well-funded startups like Metaweb. AWS made fresh knowledge graph announcements<\/a> in New York last month, and the graph is gaining prominence in Kognitwin as it and the industrial software company formerly known as Kongsberg Digital morph to become Falkor (company and product).<\/p>\n Before everyone in IT and banking and healthcare and fashion rushes to brief me on their amazing new graph thingummy, I should stress that I don\u2019t formally cover knowledge graphs and related technologies for Forrester. Analyst colleagues including Boris Evelson<\/a>, Indranil Bandyopadhyay<\/a>,\u00a0and Charlie Betz<\/a> do that far better than I could. I was just bemused by this intersection between my past and present lives.<\/p>\n Still, if you\u2019re using (or thinking about using) a knowledge graph in the asset-intensive industries Forrester does pay me to think about, I\u2019d love to chat. What are you doing (or trying to do), what works, and what doesn\u2019t? What, if anything, do these maneuverings by some of the sector\u2019s big beasts mean for you and your plans? If you have your own perspectives to share, please schedule a briefing<\/a> and tell me all about them. If you\u2019re a Forrester client and want to discuss (or challenge) my thinking on these topics, schedule an inquiry or guidance session<\/a>.<\/p>\n",
"category": [
{
"term_id": 2242,
"name": "Age of the Customer",
"slug": "age-of-the-customer",
"description": "",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/age-of-the-customer\/"
},
{
"term_id": 34440,
"name": "Data Analysis",
"slug": "data-analysis",
"description": "Data holds the key to improving customer experience and operational efficiency, which in turn fuels company success. Unlocking data's full potential relies on sound data analysis. Read our insights and best practices.\r\n\r\nDiscover how Forrester supports customer experience leaders.<\/a>",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/data-analysis\/"
},
{
"term_id": 51173,
"name": "Data Governance",
"slug": "data-governance",
"description": "Learn about the latest trends in data governance and how best practices can improve data management and control within your organization.\r\n\r\nDiscover how Forrester supports technology executives. <\/a>",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/data-governance\/"
},
{
"term_id": 2449,
"name": "low-code platforms",
"slug": "low-code-platforms",
"description": "Low-code platforms can help development teams work faster and increase enterprise-wide software production by empowering \"citizen\" developers. But buyer beware: Hype haunts low-code platforms. Read our insights to successfully leverage this emerging technology.\r\n\r\nDiscover how Forrester supports IT leaders.<\/a>",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/low-code-platforms\/"
}
],
"meta_desc": "Forrester analyst Paul Miller explores what Schneider Electric\u2019s intention to acquire Cognite means for industrial knowledge graphs.",
"meta_keywords": "industrial knowledge graph, smart manufacturing, Cognite, Schneider Electric, AVEVA, semantics, ontology",
"author": "Paul Miller"
},
{
"post_type": "post",
"post_id": 299903,
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/build-bridges-to-customers-with-digital-product-passports\/",
"title": "Build Bridges To Customers With Digital Product Passports",
"date": "Jul 1, 2026 09:08:12",
"excerpt": "There's a real opportunity for organizations to leverage digital product passports beyond sustainability and compliance use cases.",
"body": " In less than nine months, millions of batteries sold into Europe will require something called a battery passport. These battery passports are one instance of a broader idea called a digital product passport (DPP), and more jurisdictions will require DPPs for more product classes over the next few years. Batteries may get a lot of attention right now, but even lower-value (and higher-volume) items like clothes will soon be issued passports. We’ve just published my new report, The Digital Product Passport Is A Bridge To Your Customer<\/a>, and I\u2019ll be digging deeper into some of the learnings in a client webinar<\/a> on September 8.<\/p>\n Most executives who\u2019ve heard about DPPs assume (not incorrectly) that they\u2019re a sustainability and compliance thing. That\u2019s not unreasonable, especially given the way that Europe\u2019s battery passport is being talked about. But it would be a mistake to leave your company\u2019s DPP thinking to an intern in the compliance department, as there are real opportunities to make the DPP do so much more. DPPs support several (sometimes all) of these five broad use cases:<\/p>\n Vendors, researchers, and legislators often discuss the concept of a DPP without explicitly defining what a passport could, should, or must include. Although the specifics necessarily differ from one program or product to the next, most DPPs include seven key components:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Not really. Volvo announced \u201cthe world\u2019s first EV battery passport\u201d back in 2024, and the company\u2019s EX90 electric SUV now ships all over the world with a QR code inside the driver\u2019s door: Scan it and see a real live battery passport! I did on a recent visit to Stockholm, and I\u2019m still not sure whether my wife or the salesperson were the more bemused when I whipped out my smartphone to start scanning QR codes instead of photographing Scandinavian design excellence …<\/p>\n Inside Europe and out, most DPPs remain dependent on the interest and enthusiasm of individual companies: A high-end maker of Italian shoes might use a DPP to build a relationship with its customer, but a competitor\u2019s shoe elsewhere in the shop offers nothing comparable. To meet bold targets over the next few years, regulators, manufacturers, and software providers still have quite a lot to do. Explicitly lifting the whole conversation above sustainability reporting would help.<\/p>\n As always, if you have your own perspectives to share, please schedule a briefing<\/a> and tell me all about them. If you\u2019re a Forrester client and want to discuss (or challenge) my thinking on these topics, schedule an inquiry or guidance session<\/a>.<\/p>\n",
"category": [
{
"term_id": 2242,
"name": "Age of the Customer",
"slug": "age-of-the-customer",
"description": "",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/age-of-the-customer\/"
},
{
"term_id": 2177,
"name": "Automotive",
"slug": "automotive",
"description": "The automotive industry is being upended to a degree never before seen in its 140 year history. From rideshare tech to shifts in consumer preferences to self-driving cars, our insights can help automotive firms forge a fruitful path amid uncertainty.",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/automotive\/"
},
{
"term_id": 2123,
"name": "Europe",
"slug": "europe",
"description": "Read Forrester's insights on financial services, marketing, information security, technology, and more in Europe.",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/europe\/"
},
{
"term_id": 51104,
"name": "GRC - Governance, Risk, And Compliance",
"slug": "grc-governance-risk-and-compliance",
"description": "Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) trends are always evolving. Follow Forrester's latest research and insights on GRC trends.\r\n\r\nDiscover how Forrester supports IT leaders.<\/a>",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/grc-governance-risk-and-compliance\/"
},
{
"term_id": 2545,
"name": "supply chain management",
"slug": "supply-chain-management",
"description": "Supply chains have gone global. Consumers demand greater transparency. Global warming is poised to disrupt. Supply chain management is more important and more difficult than ever before.\r\n\r\nDiscover how Forrester supports IT professionals.<\/a>",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/supply-chain-management\/"
},
{
"term_id": 50149,
"name": "Sustainability",
"slug": "sustainability",
"description": "Forrester provides the latest insights about sustainability and mitigating environmental risk, including the effects of climate change and extreme weather.",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/sustainability\/"
}
],
"meta_desc": "There's a real opportunity for organizations to leverage digital product passports beyond sustainability and compliance use cases.",
"meta_keywords": "DPP, digital product passport, product passport, supply chain visibility, sustainability, green deal, battery passport",
"author": "Paul Miller"
},
{
"post_type": "post",
"post_id": 300179,
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/stripes-new-stablecoin-bet-open-usd\/",
"title": "Stripe\u2019s New Stablecoin Bet: Open USD",
"date": "Jun 30, 2026 22:25:15",
"excerpt": "On June 30, 2026, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase, BlackRock, BNY, DBS, OCBC, Standard Chartered, Google, Shopify, and more than 140 other companies have signed on to Open USD, a new US dollar-backed stablecoin initiative operated by Open Standard. The project is designed for powering global money movement and is expected to go live later in […]",
"body": " On June 30, 2026, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase, BlackRock, BNY, DBS, OCBC, Standard Chartered, Google, Shopify, and more than 140 other companies have signed on to Open USD, a new US dollar-backed stablecoin initiative operated by Open Standard. The project is designed for powering global money movement and is expected to go live later in 2026, addressing several barriers businesses face when using stablecoins at scale: high minting and redemption costs, limited influence over issuer roadmaps, and the fact that most reserve economics accrue to the issuer rather than ecosystem participants. The initiative is led by Zach Abrams, the cofounder of Bridge, which was acquired by Stripe in late 2024.<\/p>\n The idea is compelling. But payment leaders should treat Open USD as an important signal, not yet a proven network. Stablecoins are moving from crypto-native settlement into mainstream payment infrastructure, but the leap from \u201cwell-backed initiative\u201d to \u201cglobal payment standard\u201d is a long one. Whether Open USD can become a SWIFT-like backbone for cross-border value transfer \u2014 or a Visa- and Mastercard-like acceptance network for programmable money \u2014 will depend on execution, governance, regulatory acceptance, liquidity, and ecosystem cooperation over time.<\/p>\n The stablecoin market is not short of dollar tokens. USDT and USDC already dominate much of today\u2019s liquidity, with strong crypto exchange adoption, brand recognition, and established distribution. Open USD is trying to compete on a different axis. Rather than positioning itself as another issuer-led stablecoin, Open USD is presenting itself as a shared network asset for business-scale money movement. That difference shows up in three design choices.<\/p>\n This is also where the comparison with Facebook\u2019s 2019 Libra project is useful \u2014 but only up to a point. Like Libra, Open USD is built around the idea of a consortium-backed digital currency network; unlike Libra, it starts from a more pragmatic position: a US dollar-backed stablecoin, a business-oriented money movement use case, and a broader coalition of incumbent financial institutions, payment networks, fintechs, and crypto infrastructure providers. Libra\u2019s failure remains a warning that partner logos and technology are not enough; global payment infrastructure also requires regulatory trust, credible governance, and disciplined execution.<\/p>\n Can the industry agree on a shared, neutral, economically aligned standard for programmable money movement? That is a big ambition. SWIFT became critical infrastructure because banks needed a common messaging network. Visa and Mastercard became global networks because issuers, acquirers, merchants, and consumers had aligned incentives to participate. Open USD is trying to create a similar network effect for stablecoin-based value movement.<\/p>\n But networks are not announced<\/strong> into existence. They are earned<\/strong>:\u00a0integration by integration, jurisdiction by jurisdiction, and use case by use case. From my point of view, Open USD faces three key risks:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For banks, payment providers, marketplaces, and treasury and finance leaders, Open USD is worth watching closely \u2014 but not yet worth treating as inevitable. Three signals will matter most over the next 12 to 24 months:<\/p>\n Forrester has dedicated research and blog posts on payment innovations, such as stablecoin-based payments, including:<\/p>\n Mastercard Makes Its Stablecoin Move: The BVNK Acquisition<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Predictions 2026: Payments<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n How Stripe And Bridge Are Pushing Stablecoin Real-World Adoption: A Conversation With Mai Leduc<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The State Of Stablecoin In Japan<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Ant International\u2019s Playbook On AI, Blockchain, And Wallet Network<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Predictions 2026: Asia Pacific<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Forrester clients can set up an\u00a0inquiry or guidance session<\/a> to discuss these topics with us.<\/p>\n",
"category": [
{
"term_id": 2242,
"name": "Age of the Customer",
"slug": "age-of-the-customer",
"description": "",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/age-of-the-customer\/"
},
{
"term_id": 2338,
"name": "Blockchain",
"slug": "blockchain",
"description": "Separating the hype from the real value: Our insights help your firm effectively leverage blockchain and distributed ledger technologies.\r\n\r\nDiscover how Forrester supports technology executives. <\/a>",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/blockchain\/"
},
{
"term_id": 34593,
"name": "fintech",
"slug": "fintech",
"description": "Fintech is remaking how consumers interact with financial institutions. Learn more about the rise of fintech and what it means for disruptors and incumbents.",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/fintech\/"
},
{
"term_id": 51418,
"name": "Payments",
"slug": "payments",
"description": "",
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/category\/payments\/"
}
],
"meta_desc": "Stripe, along with 140 partners, has initiated an open stablecoin standard, a new consortium to create differentiated stablecoins for payments.",
"author": "Meng Liu"
},
{
"post_type": "post",
"post_id": 300070,
"permalink": "https:\/\/www.forrester.com\/blogs\/three-parting-lessons-from-forresters-june-cx-events\/",
"title": "Three Parting Lessons From Forrester\u2019s June CX Events",
"date": "Jun 30, 2026 21:00:22",
"excerpt": "Across our CX events in Amsterdam, New York City, and San Francisco, the message was clear: The organizations that thrive in the AI era won\u2019t be the ones with the best AI; they will be the ones that put people first.",
"body": " We\u2019ve just closed the curtain on CX Forum West, wrapping up an exhilarating month of CX events. It was a series of new beginnings: new host cities in Europe and North America and a smaller, more intimate format for our North America events. A huge thank you to everyone who joined us in Amsterdam, New York City, and San Francisco, as well as to the teams behind the scenes who made these transitions work so smoothly!<\/span><\/p>\n Across all three events, we focused on a goal that is both ambitious and achievable: building the human foundation for differentiated AI experiences. AI is quickly becoming table stakes, at least as a productivity play. The organizations that ultimately win will be those that combine AI with human judgment, creativity, and empathy to create better experiences \u2014 not just faster ones. <\/span>We covered a lot of ground. Here are three lessons that stood out.<\/span><\/p>\n Last year, we introduced Forrester\u2019s <\/span>Total Experience Score<\/span><\/a> to measure both the promises that brands make and how well they deliver on those promises in the customer experience. Organizations that deliver a strong total experience can realize huge revenue growth \u2014 upwards of 6x in some cases.<\/span><\/p>\n This year, we added the <\/span>Employee Experience Index<\/span><\/a> to better understand how well companies equip their people to support that total experience. Strong EX isn\u2019t just complementary; it\u2019s essential to sustaining a good total experience.<\/span><\/p>\n Our latest research shows that total experience performance remains largely mediocre, despite <\/span>modest year-over-year gains<\/span><\/a>. That creates a clear opportunity for organizations willing to improve by focusing on building better experiences powered by people and AI.<\/span><\/p>\n As my colleague Martin Gill <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a>, AI only delivers value if customers <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> employees believe in it. Today, distrust is often the default. In fact, 72% of US online adults say they are concerned that companies will not use AI responsibly.<\/span><\/p>\n That makes trust a competitive differentiator. Organizations should make trust fundamental to experiences to ensure that AI-driven decisions are transparent, explainable, and fair. Without that, even the most advanced use cases will fall short.<\/span><\/p>\n Trust matters just as much internally. Employees need to perceive <\/span>AI as something that enables them, not replaces them<\/span><\/a>. That requires giving them a clear role in how AI is used, along with the skills to use it effectively and the space to innovate. As Colleen Fazio put it, \u201cThe winners won\u2019t be the companies with the best AI. They will be the ones that put humans first.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ve seen plenty of headlines over the past year declaring that CX is \u201cdead.\u201d Our own 2026 predictions <\/span>warned<\/span><\/a> that legacy mindsets and practices could hold CX teams back if they don\u2019t evolve. <\/span>AI creates a strong incentive to rethink that trajectory but only if organizations are willing to make real changes. <\/span>That means shifting focus away from metrics for their own sake and toward what actually drives value. It means setting a clear, ambitious vision for experience that the organization can align around.<\/span><\/p>\n AI enables entirely new categories of experience, much as the internet and mobile did before it. Taking advantage of this opportunity means moving from one-time journey mapping exercises to continuous <\/span>\n
\n
Marketers Are Solving For The Wrong Constraint<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Build Evidence That Others Want To Cite<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
Move From Dashboards To Decisions<\/h2>\n
\n
Start Orchestrating Decisions<\/h2>\n
\n
Start With A Measurable Problem<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/go.forrester.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Rdf-917x1024.png\")
<\/p>\nAI Needs Good Data, And Good Data Gets A Helping Hand From A Good Graph<\/h2>\n
What Is A DPP For?<\/h3>\n
\n
How Is A DPP Built?<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/go.forrester.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/A-Useful-Digital-Product-Passport-Includes-Seven-Key-Components-Download-Figure-1024x751.png\")
<\/p>\nAre We There Yet?<\/h3>\n
Why Open USD Is Different<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
The Hard Part: A Consortium Is Not Automatically A Network<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
Signals To Watch<\/h2>\n
\n
What To Read Next<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Take The Broad View Of Experience<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n
Prioritize Trust<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n
Reboot Your CX Vision And Practices<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n