An Interview with Eli Potter
Eli Potter is a Silicon Valley technology executive who has advised more than one hundred and fifty companies on human values and converting technology into economic value.
She’s had the privilege of working alongside amazing role models at venture or private equity-backed startups and billion-dollar public companies. She has coached hundreds of executives, presented at dozens of conferences, and volunteered as a guest speaker at Carnegie Mellon University.
Her passion is helping organizations envision, design, demonstrate and sustain innovation and growth, anchored in ethical human values. She influences AI by modeling what matters: ethical choices, diverse data, and feedback loops that prioritize human well-being.
Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?
I grew up in Cold War Bulgaria with the belief that the world is shaped by the stories we tell and the role models we emulate.
The Beatles taught me English and I was inspired by the words of Dale Carnegie, who made me realize that people rise together.
As an intern, I started at Autodesk, an amazing human-centric design company, and I spent my formative eighteen-plus years there, with great people, culture, and role models. I’ve been blessed to also work at Coinbase and Insight Partners, all great companies.
Katie Couric in The Best Advice I Ever Got taught me to commit to something greater than myself and help others.
The documentary Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest, which chronicles the journey of Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, was a pivotal point in my creative and leadership journey, encouraging me to continue to keep going.
What inspired you to start writing this book?
A role model and a story of service.
I was at a mindset rewiring event in Napa geared toward executives in the technology, venture capital, and private equity sectors.
A Story of Service: I was moved by an investor’s story shared informally at the event about a philosophy of service—where a chance human introduction and a selfless act of stewardship led to a thriving AI product and a company merger.
The Core Observation: The writing began with the observation that “We need more role models at the human, organizational, and product level if we are to grow the next AI-enabled generation of humans and technology.”
Career Culmination: Writing the book became a ‘deliberate exhale’ that marked the culmination of the author’s entire career and the beginning of a new chapter focused on giving back and paying it forward, amplifying diverse voices, and elevating humans and technology.
Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?
The initial book title was HeroMash, which became the name of my company. It symbolizes the power of multiplication and networked influence of multidisciplinary humans.
The second iteration, which I pitched to publishers, was Wire 2 Model. That became The Mission and the Rallying Cry – Wire Humans and AI to be Role Models. The rallying cry emphasizes the need to define the stronger human role in the age of AI and ensure that AI learns from human values and behaviors worth replicating, not just results.
The next version was Role Modelship Habits, which became the website. The reliance on habits is crucial because forty percent of human actions are habits, not decisions. By focusing on these deliberate habits, authors and leaders can envision, create, demo, and sustain role modelship.
The Universe delivered all the pieces of the puzzle, such as the chance meeting that led to profound inspiration, underscoring my belief that everything has a purpose and the universe provides chances to pivot and become a role model.
The final title, Role Modelship: Multiply Your Impact to Influence AI, utilized the term ‘role modelship,’ which is defined as a neologism—a newly coined term. The publisher, Greenleaf, helped me coin this term. Role modelship represents a unique values and behaviors framework for solving human hardships and defines the essential relationship between five core disciplines: stewardship, fellowship, mentorship, leadership, and sponsorship. Ultimately, this framework is the answer to how we can influence and drive AI, organizational, or social change.
What books did you read (for research or comfort) throughout your writing process?
• The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama
• Brene Brown’s book Daring Greatly
• The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
• Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine
• Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More than They Expect by Will Guidara
• Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman
• Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
• On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
• Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel
• Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (cited, related to multidisciplinary humans)
• The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (cited, related to rare, unpredictable events)
What advice would you give your past self at the start of your writing journey?
Start in shorter forms, like short stories and poetry, to build skills and confidence in the longer forms.
What’s one thing you hope sticks with readers after they finish your book?
You can’t be what you can’t see.
AI can’t be what AI can’t see.
Becoming an intentional role model in the age of AI, encapsulated in the rallying cry: ‘Wire 2 Model,’ is a top priority.
AI is a giant magnifying mirror that reflects and magnifies the best and worst of humanity. Since AI cannot be what it cannot see, it is learning from human behavior, values, and biases encapsulated in the data leveraged to train it.
Your influence is inevitable; you must be intentional in setting the example. This deliberate approach to influence is summarized in the key wisdom of the book: “When they subtract or divide, we add and multiply.”
Role Modelship is the Antidote: It provides the human guardrails, ethical reasoning, and moral compass that AI currently lacks. The human role is changing in the AI race, and there isn’t a stronger role for humans than the role of role model.
A Call to Action: The times demand that humans, organizations, and products be wired to model five strategic human values and provide economic value for the benefit of our human future. Readers are encouraged to embrace their capacity to guide, uplift, and champion others and join the mission to inspire ‘one million acts of role modelship.’
A Commitment to Legacy: By modeling what matters—ethical choices, diverse data, and feedback loops that prioritize human well-being—readers ensure that the legacy encoded into AI serves humanity. The ultimate challenge is: “Be the role model you once needed. Be the role model we need now more than ever.”
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