Your AI agents aren't failing because the models are bad. They're failing because your data was built for humans, not machines.
Jochem has spent years working on the structural problem underneath failing enterprise AI initiatives. In this episode, he breaks down why CX AI pilots stall after six to eight weeks, what an experience ontology actually is and how it differs from a taxonomy or tag list, and why the architectural decision of where your ontology lives - data layer versus AI layer - determines whether your AI investment compounds or drifts.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
AI pilots fail because the data environment was designed for human interpretation, not machine reasoning.
Tagging the same word across systems is co-location, not integration — AI can't bridge that gap reliably.
An ontology defines not just what things are, but how they relate and what an agent can do with them.
Location primitives (journey, phase, step) give disparate data a shared address so it can finally connect.
The architectural choice of where the ontology lives — data layer vs. tool layer — determines whether it scales or drifts.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction — Why AI pilots hit a wall after six to eight weeks
01:45 The three lenses enterprises use to understand customers
03:10 Why co-location isn't integration and what breaks when humans leave the loop
04:47 The core problem: confident AI output with no traceable foundation
06:20 What an ontology actually is — and how it differs from a taxonomy
08:00 Location primitives: journey, phase, and step as shared address
09:30 Connecting VOC evidence and BI metrics to the same structural coordinate
10:30 Pattern primitives: spotting recurring opportunities across journeys
12:00 The KYC banking example — one named object, many product teams
13:30 The third job of an ontology: structural rules for what agents can do
15:00 Why data binding is where most CX data efforts actually break down
16:30 How a working ontology creates a self-reinforcing context layer
17:54 The critical architectural decision: data layer vs. AI layer
19:30 Why CIOs and CX leaders need to make this call together
21:00 Bringing it back: the real fix isn't a better model, it's a better foundation
22:00 How TheyDo is built as the data layer AI agents run on
LINKEDIN
Jochem van der Veer — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jochemvanderveer/
THEYDO
Learn more about Journey Management with TheyDo: https://www.theydo.com
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