An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Codify What “Great” Looks Like — Then Scale It with AI
Companies often struggle with performance gaps due to a lack of clear definitions for top performance. At Exemplary Performance, we study top performers and build Role Excellence Profiles (REPs) to define success. When we loaded a REP into a client’s AI system, it instantly makes best practices searchable, trainable, and scalable across the team. The result? Faster ramp-up, consistent excellence, and fewer surprises.
In today’s tech-driven world, artificial intelligence has become a key enabler of business success. But the question remains — how can businesses effectively harness AI to address their unique challenges while staying true to ethical principles? To explore this topic further, we are interviewing Jaime Torchiana.
Jaime Torchiana, President of Exemplary Performance and Marquis Who’s Who 2023 Listee, illuminates her clients’ paths to better business results. Instead of presupposing a canned solution to narrow the performance gap between your best and average performers, Exemplary Performance finds, extract, and scales what your best people do differently, turning your bright spots into a competitive advantage. The result? Faster time to proficiency, decreased training spend by up to 30%, and unparalleled business results. Jaime is passionate about working with top performers across various industries including retail, biopharmaceuticals, global banking, high-tech, media, sports broadcasting, and logistics. Since she can recall, Jaime has been fascinated with performance and brings her insatiable curiosity for excellence to her personal life, where she represents USA Triathlon Team USA as a 4x All-American Duathlete.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path in AI?
Thank you! I should start by saying — I’m not on an AI career path, per se. Our work has always centered on human performance: understanding what the best people do differently and helping organizations replicate that excellence at scale. That said, we believe the boldest and most innovative leaders are those who see AI not as a threat, but as a tool — one that can dramatically enhance productivity and unlock human potential.
To me, AI isn’t about replacing people — it’s about removing the friction in their day-to-day, automating the routine, and freeing up capacity so they can spend more time doing what makes them truly great. No one has it all figured out — we’re all learning in real time — but I’m passionate about how AI can be applied to accelerate performance across the board.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started working with artificial intelligence?
A great example came up recently in our work with a group of top-performing enterprise account executives at a major tech company. While studying them, we discovered that the very best weren’t just selling more, faster — they were using AI-powered tools in eleven distinct and creative ways that even their internal stakeholders hadn’t fully realized. It was a lightbulb moment.
You are a successful leader in the AI space. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Again, I’d say I’m more of a performance strategist than an AI leader. Our work centers on helping companies identify what top performers do differently — what we call a Role Excellence Profile — and then scaling that excellence across teams. Identifying true excellence can be challenging in the age of deep fakes. And we’ve found a few key traits make all the difference when it comes to applying emerging tools like AI in meaningful ways:
1. Curiosity.
The best performers we study are relentlessly curious. They don’t wait to be trained — they explore, test, and figure things out. Repeat! An enterprise selling manager utilized AI to summarize and rephrase performance management feedback for a direct report, considering their personality and previous responses to less-than-ideal feedback. No one told him to do that — he just wanted to improve his coaching conversation skills and have his insights land with maximum resonance. That kind of curiosity sets people apart.
2. Courage.
Trying something new — especially in front of peers — takes guts. One top performer we interviewed said, “I didn’t want to admit I was using AI at first. I thought people would judge me or think I wasn’t as smart.” But she leaned in anyway. Now she’s leading sessions inside her company on how to use these tools. Courage often comes before confidence.
3. Discipline.
Top performers don’t just dabble — they build repeatable systems. We’ve seen folks experiment with AI and then fold it into their workflow in a consistent, measurable way. For example, one high-performer created a structured process to use AI in pre-call prep, CRM updating, and pipeline storytelling. He wasn’t just disciplined — he was operationalizing his edge, creating a system so he could really focus on the customer interaction.
These traits — curiosity, courage, and discipline — are what we see time and again in our research. And when they’re paired with the right tools? That’s when performance goes from good to great.
Let’s jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you share a specific example of how you or your organization used AI to solve a major business challenge? What was the problem, and how did AI help address it?
One of the most exciting examples of using AI to solve a major business challenge came from our work with a global tech company that was looking to elevate the performance of their sales organization. We had created a detailed Role Excellence Profile — a blueprint of what the best account executives did differently — and once that profile was uploaded into their large language model, it changed everything.
By integrating that intelligence into their internal systems, they were able to connect it to performance management, hiring guides, onboarding, and in-the-flow learning experiences. What made it powerful was that the best practices we captured weren’t static — they began to evolve through AI-powered iteration. In essence, the system started learning from itself.
The results were immediate. Time to competence was shortened, and the gap between great and average performers narrowed significantly, creating tangible impact to the bottom line. Reps could now use AI agents to review their territory plans, pull relevant data for client meetings, or even get coaching suggestions tailored to how they work best. It wasn’t just about technology — it was about freeing up great people to do more of what makes them great.
What are some of the common misconceptions you’ve encountered about using AI in business? How do you address those misconceptions?
One of the biggest misconceptions I hear is that using AI tools will expose your proprietary data or ideas to the outside world. People worry that once something is typed into a prompt, it’s floating around for anyone to access — or worse, that competitors could somehow benefit from your Intellectual Property (IP).
The reality is, when companies use enterprise-grade AI platforms that operate securely behind the firewall, their data isn’t going anywhere. It’s protected, private, and only accessible within the organization.
That said, it’s fair to acknowledge a different concern: inside visibility. Folks we study sometimes worry that leadership can track what individual employees are prompting or searching. While that’s technically possible, responsible organizations are managing this with clear guidance, transparency, and purpose — not surveillance.
The key is trust. When employees feel safe using the tools, and when those tools are fueled by top-performer insights — not just general data — they become performance accelerators rather than risk factors.
In your opinion, what is the most significant way AI can make a positive impact on businesses today?
In my view, the most significant way AI can positively impact businesses today is by amplifying human performance — especially among top talent. AI has the power to take the routine, repeatable, and time-consuming parts of someone’s role off their plate, so they can spend more time doing the high-value work only humans can do — thinking creatively, building relationships, solving complex problems.
But it gets even more exciting (and powerful!) when you pair AI with a clear profile of what “great” looks like in a role. If you know what your top performers do differently, and you embed that intelligence into AI tools, you’re not just automating tasks — you’re scaling excellence. That’s when you start closing performance gaps, accelerating time to impact, and creating a force multiplier across your teams.
It’s not about AI replacing people — it’s about AI elevating people. Especially when we design it to serve the way top people already work best.
Ok, let’s dive deeper. Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways AI Can Solve Complex Business Problems”? These can be strategies, insights, or tools that companies can use to make the most of AI in addressing their challenges. If possible, please share examples or stories for each.
1. Codify What “Great” Looks Like — Then Scale It with AI
Companies often struggle with performance gaps due to a lack of clear definitions for top performance. At Exemplary Performance, we study top performers and build Role Excellence Profiles (REPs) to define success. When we loaded a REP into a client’s AI system, it instantly makes best practices searchable, trainable, and scalable across the team. The result? Faster ramp-up, consistent excellence, and fewer surprises.
2. Automate Routine Tasks to Free Up Human Excellence
AI’s value isn’t just speed — it’s focus. One client of ours used AI to automate note-taking, follow-up emails, and internal research. That allowed their sellers to spend more time doing what made them great: listening, problem-solving, and building trust. Performance soared, not because AI replaced them — but because it removed the clutter that used to hold them back.
3. Turn Institutional Knowledge into a Competitive Advantage
Most companies lose priceless knowledge when top performers leave. Why not use AI to preserve and package their expertise — from how they prep for big meetings to how they build territory plans — and make it available to others through role-specific agents? AI becomes a living mentor, transferring excellence in real time.
4. Make Performance Support Available in the Flow of Work
Instead of pulling people out of work to train them, we help companies embed learning directly where it’s needed, when it’s needed. For example, one client tied AI prompts to their performance management system, so frontline managers could ask, “What should I coach John on this week?” and get guidance based on actual REP priorities. It’s personalized, dynamic, and instant support — without a formal training session.
5. Close the Gap Between Data and Decision-Making
We’ve seen companies collect oceans of data — but they still struggle to act on it. AI helps surface insights aligned to what matters most. Imagine a Manager asking their AI agent, “Which of my sales reps are least likely to hit quota, and what behaviors are driving that?” The answer can source suggestions and key tasks from the top-performer-driven Role Excellence Profile. That’s not just analytics — it’s action!
How can smaller businesses or startups, with limited budgets, begin to integrate AI into their operations effectively?
Great question, as we are in the small business camp! Companies of similar sizes don’t need massive budgets to start using AI effectively — they need clarity and focus. At Exemplary Performance, we always start with this principle: Don’t start with the tech — start with the role.
First, identify a role key to the success of your organization — usually it’s the most customer-facing. Think about the specific tasks or decisions that make the biggest difference in that role’s performance. Once you know what “great” looks like, you can ask: “Where are people wasting time? What’s repetitive? Where would AI save someone 30 minutes a day or make a smarter recommendation in the moment?”
That’s where AI can begin to shine — and you only need one or two use cases to get started. For example, a small sales team could use free or low-cost AI tools to write prospecting emails that reflect the language and tactics of your best salespeople. A startup founder could use AI to analyze investor decks, find gaps, or generate prep questions. You don’t need to automate everything. You just need to relieve your top people of the routine, so they can do more of what they’re uniquely great at.
So I suppose the key is: Start small, but aim smartly. Use AI where it directly supports the work that drives results. You’ll build confidence, generate ROI quickly, and be ready to expand.
What advice would you give to business leaders who are hesitant to adopt AI because of fear, misconceptions, or lack of understanding?
We may have stated it already, but I’d encourage business leaders to embrace AI as a tool to enhance decision-making, not replace it. Start small, experiment, and educate your teams to see how it can complement human expertise and drive performance.
In your opinion, how will AI continue to shape the business world over the next 5–10 years? Are there any trends or emerging innovations you’re particularly excited about?
I’m not a futurist by any means and sometimes my head explodes when I think about the potential of AI! I do believe that AI will become less of a standalone tool and more of an embedded partner in how we work — at the “office” and at home. Over the next 5–10 years, I see it driving smarter decision-making, hyper-personalized customer experiences, and performance support that’s integrated seamlessly into daily workflows — anticipating and addressing needs and reducing the time it takes to solve problems. I’m especially excited about AI’s role in surfacing what top performers do differently — then scaling that insight across entire organizations. It’s not just about automation; it’s about amplification of human potential.
How do you think the use of AI to solve business problems influences relationships with customers, employees, and the broader community?
Remember the early days of chatbots and primitive AI when we encountered them in customer support scenarios — it was AWFUL! We yearned for a more empathetic and human interaction. As AI has improved, I believe it can strengthen relationships by providing personalized experiences, customized orders, and more efficient solutions for customers. For employees, it will enhance productivity through smarter tools and reduce or eliminate the tasks most find boring or mundane. And it can foster community engagement by enabling more informed decision-making. When used ethically and transparently — and that’s a big one for me — AI can build trust and drive collaboration, improving outcomes for all stakeholders.
How can our readers further follow you online?
Thanks, Chad. I can think of a few ways.
Follow and connect with us on LinkedIn! Email me your thoughts on this article at jaime.torchiana@exemplaryperformance.com. Subscribe to The Positive Deviant Newsletter for more performance thinking delivered right to your email inbox from LinkedIn.
And for more information on the Role Excellence Profile process, readers can purchase a copy of our book, Exemplary Performance: Driving Business Results by Benchmarking Your Star Performers from Amazon or our website.
This was great. Thank you so much for the time you spent sharing with us.
Always a pleasure! I’m grateful this marks our fourth or fifth collaboration and I look forward to many more!
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein is a seasoned entrepreneur with 25+ years of experience as a Founder and CEO. While attending Ohio State University, he launched his first company, Choice Recovery, Inc., a nationally recognized healthcare collection agency — twice ranked the #1 workplace in Ohio. In 2013, he founded [re]start, helping thousands of people find meaningful career opportunities. After selling both companies, Chad shifted his focus to his true passion — leadership. Today, he coaches founders and CEOs at Built to Lead, advises Authority Magazine’s Thought Leader Incubator.
Jaime Torchiana of Exemplary Performance On How Artificial Intelligence Can Solve Business Problems was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.