Bringing the Human Element to Tech
The story of our beginning is a common one: a couple of guys have an idea for a company and start it in the basement in one of their homes.
But when Ben Lorenz and Jason Magee started Human Element, it was because they knew they could bring something unique to the table. Not only did they want to build a tech company that was smart, agile, and did great work for its clients, they wanted to build the company around a set of core values that puts people at the center of everything it does.
20 Years Later, We're Still Here and Doing the Work.
From our humble beginnings to today with a staff across several states and countries, we have a strong foundation in our hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. We continue to deliver digital solutions and great results with our expert mix of strategy and design, eCommerce development, digital marketing, and analytics.
Remembering Ben Lorenz
Today, things look a little different than when they started. We lost our co-founder, Ben Lorenz, in December of 2025. Along with Jason, Ben was the life-blood of this company and his presence is still felt in our day-to-day work and in our mission.
Aside from Human Element, Ben was well known in the eCommerce community, speaking at conferences, leading partnered sales opportunities, and more recently, starting a podcast. He loved to talk and was good at it. He was smart, engaging, and the funnest guy in the room.
We had 21+ years of his vision and leadership and it wasn’t enough. You’ll see photos of Ben on this website as we honor his legacy by doing the good work for our clients and partners we always do, with him in mind.
We provide the technology expertise that helps transform our clients’ organizations by building the best human-centered digital experiences.
Core Values & Guiding Principles
Be a Problem Solver
We proactively identify challenges and bring ideas for solutions to the table.
Encourage Work/Life Balance
We foster an environment that encourages employees to pursue their interests inside and outside of work.
Keep the Bottom Line in Mind
We strive to be aware of how our work decisions impact our finances.
Respect for People and Ideas
We acknowledge and listen to our colleagues and clients with open minds and respect.
Take Ownership, Recognize Ownership
We empower our team by acknowledging our individual capabilities and the strengths of others, taking responsibility for our own contributions and creating opportunities for others to succeed.
Always Do the Right Thing
We owe it to ourselves, those we work with, and our communities to operate with moral standards that we can be proud of.
Always Look for a Better Way
We use agile, experimental, and innovative approaches to find efficiencies and new ways to achieve results.
Be Accountable
We take responsibility for all our actions and hold others to doing the same.
How We Use AI
When Ben and Jason started the company, they chose the name Human Element because it reflected the way they wanted to approach the business: Technology is great, but let’s remember to always keep the human element in mind.
With the recent rise of AI usage in all things tech, our mission of keeping people at the center of everything we do still holds true. First and foremost, we view AI as a tool and not as a replacement for people. We use it to help us do our jobs, but the strategy we use in our work is always human generated.
Our internal usage policy requires that our team use AI tools responsibly, ethically, and in a manner consistent with Human Element’s values, policies, and business objectives. We take security and privacy seriously and have guardrails in place to ensure we’re not sharing sensitive information outside of our organization. We also monitor our usage to ensure that we’re responsible consumers of energy.
For us, embracing AI means using technology to enhance what we do, while ensuring that human expertise, creativity, and relationships remain at the heart of everything we deliver.