Built on Iron, A Brilliant Harvest Podcast

Shawn Skaggs didn't set out to run one of the largest Agco dealerships in the southern Plains. He stumbled into the equipment business 25 years ago after a phone call from a friend and never left. Today, as CEO of Parallel Ag, he leads a 255-person organization spanning 17 locations across seven states, formed through the merger of Livingston Machinery and AG Solutions Group. What kept him wasn't the iron; it was the people.

In this conversation, Remi and Shawn dig into what it actually takes to blend two dealership cultures into one. Shawn talks about the two-day facilitated meeting that brought both leadership teams into the same room, the moment they stopped sitting on opposite sides, and what happened when they realized they all wanted the same thing. He also shares his thinking on how to keep the small-town trust of a local dealership alive inside a multi-state organization: it comes down to who shows up to the Christmas parade.

The conversation touches on technology, staffing, and the challenges that keep dealership leaders up at night, like what happens when your most experienced technicians retire and take 30 years of institutional knowledge with them. Shawn is candid about where Parallel Ag is on the AI journey, what tools he's personally building with, and why he draws a clear line between what he'll build himself and what demands a mission-critical partner. His answer to what separates the dealerships that will thrive? It's not the color of the iron; it's the customer experience.

Grab your copy of The Equipment Dealer's Guide to Creating an AI-Powered Customer Experience at BrilliantPowered.com or using the link below.

Shawn Skaggs is the CEO of Parallel Ag, one of the leading Agco dealerships in North America. Formed through the merger of Livingston Machinery and AG Solutions Group — with AC McCartney added shortly after — Parallel Ag now operates 17 locations across seven states in the southern Plains and Midwest, with approximately 255 employees. The dealership carries Agco brands alongside a broad portfolio of short-line equipment.

Shawn has spent 25 years in the equipment industry, beginning as a walk-in sales associate at Livingston Machinery and working his way to CEO. A self-described farm kid with an animal science degree, he brings a people-first leadership philosophy to a business navigating dealership consolidation, a tightening equipment market, and rapid technology change. He is also a hands-on AI adopter, building internal tools for Parallel Ag while partnering with Brilliant Harvest on mission-critical customer experience technology.

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