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A sense of fatigue is growing palpable among executives caught in the endless pursuit of enterprise AI. Awash with overpromising vendors, an underperforming market has some experts skeptical about AI's ability to deliver ROI. The tension is especially acute in sales, where visions of AI as a force multiplier tend to clash with the reality that human relationships are still key to closing deals.
To learn more, we spoke with Nick Parmar, the Vice President of Sales at Cognida.ai, an AI product studio for enterprise transformation. With years of experience as a GTM and sales executive, Parmar brings deep expertise and a solid track record of scaling AI initiatives at firms like Tata Communications, 8x8, and Vonage. To extract more value, he said, sales leaders must fundamentally rethink their approach to AI.
The human factor: The most effective leaders use AI to accelerate processes, not replace connection, Parmar said. "Advanced technology can help organizations operate and innovate faster. But the ultimate differentiator remains profoundly human. People buy from people they like." With so many solutions available, however, truly unique offerings are now rarer than ever before. Beyond the product match, chemistry must be present between companies for most business relationships to work.
Further complicating the matter are recent reports suggesting that a third or more of AI pilots fail to generate ROI. Here, Parmar's diagnosis was a strategic one. When POCs attempt to boil the ocean, he said, they also tend to fail.
Augment, don't replace: Instead of chasing trends, Parmar recommended working backwards. "Start with a desired business outcome. Then, look at the current stack and decide where to augment existing investments for meaningful ROI." Focusing less on technology and more on solving fundamental business problems will be key, he said. "The goal is not to rip and replace. Use AI to augment existing systems, not to overhaul them entirely."
The problem-first methodology Parmar described is central to what he calls 'practical AI.' To deliver on this promise, however, demands more than a mere philosophical shift. According to Parmar, the only way to cut through AI fatigue is by moving further away from the traditional consulting model of selling resources and closer toward a commitment to selling results.
Turning vision into value: From his perspective, the impact of this strategic vision will be most tangible in the day-to-day advantages for sales professionals. With AI acting as an intelligence partner, sellers can dramatically increase their effectiveness, Parmar said. As an example, he recalled a recent meeting where an LLM let him prepare in minutes what used to take an hour. Beyond speed, the deeper value was its ability to translate vision into impact. "Wordsmithing isn't something most people are really good at, but ideas are. If an LLM or an AI can help make your thinking clearer to other people faster, then why not use it?"
In a world continuously redefined at unprecedented speeds, blending scalable AI tools with human relationships is equal parts competitive advantage and survival strategy, Parmar concluded. "That's how fast AI is moving. We've never seen anything evolve so quickly. It's disruptive enough to change the dynamics completely."
