Hey CSMs, don't act like a robot! - What AI can’t do (yet)

There’s a strange sort of comfort in being reminded that you’re not entirely obsolete, especially when the headlines keep suggesting otherwise.

If you work in Customer Success, SaaS, or any role where “strategic” often means juggling ten tools, three priorities, and a customer call all before lunch, you’ve likely had a moment where you wondered if ChatGPT was coming for your job. Let’s be honest, in some cases, it is.

But here’s the good news I remind my team, and myself, often: for all its dazzling capabilities, AI is still woefully underqualified for the real work that makes CS teams indispensable. Below are a few things it still can’t do, and why that’s a massive opportunity for those willing to lean in and lead.

1. It can’t navigate organisational politics

You know what doesn’t show up in a CRM dashboard? That the new VP has a chip on their shoulder. That the budget owner is close friends with your competitor. Or that half the team is “using” your product while secretly running a workaround in Excel.

AI doesn’t read the room, but you do. And that’s not soft-skills fluff. That’s strategic leverage.

Human advantage: Context, influence, knowing when to push, and when to pause and schedule another call. This is where experienced CSMs can coach junior team members on the why behind the what.

2. It doesn’t understand misalignment, only mismatched data

AI can flag a 23% usage drop. What it can’t do is connect the dots between a confusing product release, an untrained L&D team, and the client sponsor’s sabbatical in Bali.

AI sees patterns. Humans see people. You know when it’s time to escalate, or when a quiet coffee conversation can solve more than a ticket ever will.

Human advantage: Judgement, relationship capital, understanding that success isn’t always what’s in the contract, it’s what the client believes success looks like that day. That’s coachable wisdom, not code.

3. It can’t build trust

People buy from people. People stay because of people. And people renew because they trust that when things get messy (which they always do), someone is in their corner.

AI doesn’t inspire loyalty. It doesn’t troubleshoot at 10 p.m. It won’t ask, “How are you, really?” in a bad quarter.

Human advantage: Trust, empathy, consistency in chaos. These are the bedrocks of mentorship, and they’re what differentiate a vendor from a partner.

(Insert Blink-182’s “Stay Together for the Kids” here, because your client relationships shouldn’t fall apart under pressure either.)

4. It can’t tell the story that gets you budget

AI can generate dashboards packed with usage stats, skills metrics, and NPS trends. But who weaves that data into a compelling story for renewal, expansion, or executive alignment?

Storytelling still wins hearts and budgets. Especially when it’s delivered with nuance, humour, and insight tailored to the 17 stakeholders who need to hear it 17 different ways.

Human advantage: Influence, narrative, emotional intelligence disguised as slide decks. This is a strategic skill that leaders should be actively developing across their teams.

5. It doesn’t know what it doesn’t know

When a client says, “We’re about to enter a big transformation,” AI won’t ask: “Digital, cultural, or the kind where everyone panics and nobody logs into any learning systems?”

You will.

You’ll ask the next question. You’ll see the red flags. You’ll prepare the team. And most importantly, you’ll stay curious. That instinct can’t be prompted, scripted, or scaled.

Human advantage: Curiosity, nuance, the ability to dig deeper when things feel off, and coach others to do the same.

Final thought: AI is the assistant, not the architect

AI is evolving fast, but it still needs a human at the helm. It can accelerate insight, automate tasks, and spotlight signals. But it can’t turn information into impact on its own.

That’s where you come in.

If you can wield AI and still do what it can’t: read context, build trust, tell stories, ask better questions - you don’t become less valuable. You become indispensable.

Where do your uniquely human skills shine brightest? Let’s compare notes - drop your thoughts below.