Your Customers are Being Rewired. Are You Freaking Ready for This?

Your customers are being rewired. This is not science fiction. This is happening now. And there are massive implications for sales and marketing.

The most important mantra in all of marketing has always been: Know your customer. Marketing success is built on understanding human nature and the quirks of the decision-making process.

What does it mean for our profession when human nature is under reconstruction?

When the psychology we’ve relied on for decades is being rewritten in real-time?

Artificial intelligence isn’t just changing how people shop, search, and scroll. It’s rewiring how they think, feel, and connect to our brands.

Many authors are writing about AI prompting, transformation, and productivity hacks. But here’s what nobody’s talking about: Our customers aren’t just adopting new technology. They’re becoming different humans.

Let that sink in. We’ve had technologies that made us stronger, faster, and more efficient. But this time, something more profound is shifting. AI is not just enhancing us -- it’s rewriting us.

Sure, every generation is different. But I don’t think I have a significantly different psychological make-up from my grandfather. I’m probably less bored and more stressed.

But today’s generation abdicates their most important life decisions to an intelligent algorithm. Some are falling in love with an AI companion. Others are trusting a machine to help raise their kids.

As marketers, this should make us sweat. Humans are changing. If we don’t understand the people we’re trying to reach, we’ll be shouting into the void.

A new kind of human requires a new type of marketing playbook. So ... I wrote it.

It looks like this:

You might be thinking, “Dude! Didn’t you just publish a book? Weren’t you taking the summer off?”

True on both counts. But the opportunity to create this important work was too good to pass up. It started with a research project that made my head spin ...

The 300-Expert Warning

The inspiration for this book was planted in 2025 when I was invited to participate as one of 300 futurists in a project to determine how AI will change humanity by 2035. I’m fairly certain the researchers had initially found 299 participants and called me to make it a nice round number, but hey, I got in.

We came together to answer one impossible question: What does it mean to be human when the machines know everything?

The outcome of that collaboration was a landmark study, published by the Institute for the Digital Future, titled Being Human in 2035. Drawing on the insights of global experts -- researchers, technologists, ethicists, and entrepreneurs -- the report offers a glimpse into what it might mean to be human in a world utterly dominated by AI.

The answers were profound, conflicted, sobering, and sometimes, beautifully hopeful.

The report identified essential human capacities that are likely to be transformed by artificial intelligence -- some enhanced, some diminished, some possibly lost forever. We explored topics such as deep thinking, empathy, purpose, creativity, human agency, and more.

With the blessing of the project sponsors, I’ve taken some of the most important conclusions to develop a probable AI-flavored future for sales and marketing.

Such a great project, right?

What’s in it for you

I would greatly appreciate it if you could purchase my book. It is unlike any other book or post on this subject. Nobody knows where AI is heading next. But when 300 experts come to a consensus on a few topics, we must pay attention!

For example, here are some of the questions I address in the book:

• When machines curate their ideas, information, and entertainment, what actually moves them?

• When some people prefer the empathy and attention of a non-human, what does a customer “relationship” mean anymore?

• When their very sense of self is shaken because a machine now performs their jobs, what motivates our customers to care?

• If AI is making purchasing decisions and life decisions for our customers, how do we market to the bot?

And that is just a small taste of what’s in store. If you’ve read my books, you know there is no fluff there. There is an idea and inspiration on every page!

This is a small book you can probably read in two hours, and I think it will change you. It certainly changed me. Some of the conclusions are inspiring. Some are unnerving. But none of these ideas can be ignored.

I urge you to grab a copy and get ahead of the curve. You can find the book here!

Somebody is going to respond to these ideas, and I hope it will be you! This book will help you think in radical new directions.

I appreciate you and the time you took out of your day to read this! You can find more articles like this from me on the top-rated {grow} blog and while you’re there, take a look at my Marketing Companion podcast and my keynote speaking page. For news and insights find me on Twitter at @markwschaefer, to see what I do when I’m not working, follow me on Instagram, and discover my RISE community here.

Image courtesy MidJourney.