Thirty-four per cent of Dutch decision-makers in digital strategy do not know how many actions or transactions AI agents carry out on their digital platform. Many organisations also lack the technical foundations to measure or manage this. Data, integrations and governance are often not yet set up for AI.
This is according to research conducted by PanelWizard in September 2026 on behalf of Tilburg-based digital platform agency Freshheads. The actions in question include ordering or booking a product or service and requesting or changing information. Freshheads bases the figures on nearly six hundred respondents who are responsible, jointly responsible or in an advisory role for digital strategy. They already have a digital platform on which users can handle matters themselves, or are developing one. In contrast to the group lacking insight, 17 per cent say they are already preparing for AI with a platform that can keep pace with further technological developments.
Data not yet structured for AI
Half of the decision-makers (51 per cent) say their own data and processes are insufficiently structured to easily apply new technologies such as AI. Only 14 per cent say data on users, products, services and transactions is fully and reliably structured for AI applications. At 40 per cent, this is not in place or only to a limited extent.
Integrations and governance lag behind
Organisations also score poorly on other technical requirements. At 19 per cent, core systems are connected to the digital platform via APIs or other integrations. A quarter or fewer have adequately set up analytics (24 per cent) or have governance for data, algorithms and AI applications in order (24 per cent).
This means more is at stake than whether organisations know how many AI agents are interacting with their platform. The question is also whether this can even be measured from a technical standpoint. Almost half of the decision-makers (44 per cent) admit they do not really know to what extent external systems or AI agents will be able to carry out actions independently on their platform in the future.
From interface to data and APIs
Wout Withagen, co-owner and managing director of Freshheads, says organisations have for years invested mainly in the front end of their platform. According to him, AI agents do not look at the interface, but at data, APIs and integrations. Withagen sees a risk in this: an agent that orders something or makes an appointment on behalf of a customer will, in his view, choose the platform where this can be done most easily and reliably.
Withagen advises first mapping out whether, and how many, AI agents are already active on the platform. After that, he says, it is important to record information about products, services and customers in a consistent and reliable way. Next, you determine which actions to make available via APIs and explicitly set out what an agent may and may not do. Withagen expects that most companies already have more of the building blocks for this in-house than they think.
About the research
PanelWizard surveyed more than 650 respondents via an online questionnaire. All are involved in decisions on digital strategy, such as the digital customer journey, marketing technology or IT infrastructure. They work at Dutch organisations with more than 25 employees across various sectors, with a digital platform in use, in development or under consideration. Freshheads publishes the full results in the report Je volgende bezoeker is geen mens.
The full report can be read via Je volgende bezoeker is geen mens.
This article was originally published in Dutch on MSP Business. Read the original →
