EP025 Personal AI Agents, Forward-Deployed Engineers, and the Skills That Matter Now

Jay and Jeff dig into two very different but connected stories: Jeff's homegrown AI "chief operating officer" for his household, and the $10B forward-deployed engineer boom reshaping enterprise services. Along the way: why task automation isn't the same as agents, and the skill that will matter most in the age of AI.KEY TAKEAWAYSPersonal agents teach real agent behavior: Jeff's household agent, Mr. Baxter, learns from ongoing texts instead of needing reprogramming — a preview of how enterprise agents should work.Task automation isn't agents: Jay's take: most companies are building automation, not agents. Real agents remember, evolve, and run without babysitting.Enterprises are building personal agents too: A $10B industrial services company Jay spoke with made personal agents for employees a pillar of its AI strategy.Lean into human relationships: Automate what doesn't need a human touch, then reinvest the saved time into surprising and delighting customers.Be maniacal about killing process: Borrowing from Elon Musk, map every step and ruthlessly ask if it should exist — and if so, human, agent, or gone.FDEs are the new consulting: Unlike consultants who parachute in and hand off a deck, forward-deployed engineers stay and build the agents that actually run the business.Pair domain experts with engineers: The real unlock is combining business context with technical build skill — or training subject matter experts directly on AI once the architecture exists.Intelligence sovereignty is the next worry: As IP questions grow, expect more interest in post-trained open-source models for cost and control.CHAPTERS00:00 - Catching up: inbox zero and using Claude to triage email02:46 - Meet Mr. Baxter: building an AI COO for the household07:17 - Why personal agents preview enterprise AI strategy14:45 - Three priorities: human relationships, killing process, more joy22:38 - The $10B forward-deployed engineer boom30:03 - Pairing business operators with FDEs to close the last mile34:23 - Early adopters, intelligence sovereignty, and open source catching up41:10 - Wrap-up and a tease for next week's Starbucks storyAbout the Show: Chief Customer Officer Podcast is a show about real strategies for customer-led growth in the AI era—from leaders actually executing, not just talking about it.Your Hosts:Jay Nathan – CEO of Balboa Solutions and Co-Founder of ChiefCustomerOfficer.ioJeff Breunsbach – Head of Customer Success at Junction and Co-Founder of ChiefCustomerOfficer.io