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Lorikeet News Desk
Jun 23, 2025
TL;DR
Parallax's VP of Customer Success, Grant Hultgren, discusses the need for human touch in customer success, even as AI handles basic queries.
With AI adoption varying across organizations, focusing on individual contributors demonstrates value and drives margins.
The challenge with AI isn’t just using it; it’s using your humanistic talent to stand out despite it. Focus on your baseline values, what you uniquely contribute from a humanistic standpoint—make that the showpiece. Use AI for efficiency in production, but let human ingenuity lead.
Grant Hultgren
VP of Customer Success | Parallax
AI is cranking out content and speed, but standing out takes more. In customer support, the value isn’t in faster replies or smarter workflows; it’s in how human teams build trust, convey nuance, and bring a distinct point of view.
Grant Hultgren is the VP of Customer Success at Parallax, a platform that helps agencies and consultants optimize resource planning and forecasting. He asserts that as AI transforms CS, it’s human connection that makes brands unforgettable.
AI antidote: "The challenge with AI isn’t just using it; it’s using your humanistic talent to stand out despite it," says Hultgren. As AI democratizes content creation, he sees a looming "white noise" effect where undifferentiated voices get lost. His antidote is clear: "Focus on your baseline values, what you uniquely contribute from a humanistic standpoint—make that the showpiece. Use AI for efficiency in production, but let human ingenuity lead."
The human touch: "AI can handle basic queries in seconds—that’s table stakes now," Hultgren says. "But real value comes when customers ask, 'How will this decision impact my business? Should I make this hire?' Those high-touch moments need a human touch, data-backed insight, and trust AI can’t deliver," he explains. That shift means CS teams are moving into specialized roles, focusing on complex customer issues that AI flags or escalates while building deeper trust through human insight.
Adoption looks different for every party. You have to meet them where they are.
Grant Hultgren
VP of Customer Success | Parallax
Defining adoption: Implementing new tools and workflows isn’t one-size-fits-all, Hultgren warns. "What does 'adoption' even mean? How do you measure it with data?" He stresses that AI adoption is subjective and shaped by who you’re talking to within an organization. "We target individual contributors—project managers, account managers, portfolio managers—who value our system because they can show it helped them drive 5% more margin on a project," Hultgren explains. "But CFOs and COOs often push for standardization."
Parallax meets both realities with empathy and tailored data. "We collect data at the individual contributor level, then take it to CFOs and CEOs to show them the full picture," Hultgren says. That approach demonstrates how teams are using the tool effectively, evidenced by higher margins and improved project outcomes. "Adoption looks different for every party," he explains. "You have to meet them where they are."
No AI echo chamber: Hultgren’s concerns go beyond internal strategy to the very future of AI development. He worries that smaller, innovative organizations risk being drowned out by giants like OpenAI and Salesforce. "If we don’t stand up, AI will be shaped without our input," he warns. "It’s vital we influence AI with unbiased content that reflects our true motivations and desires—so the future isn’t decided for us, leaving us on the sidelines."
