The Torque Report
How small teams build AI-powered revenue engines — premortem-first, measured, and accountable to a number.
How Do You Interview for AI Skills When Every Resume Now Says AI?
Stop reading the resume for AI skills and ask the candidate to show you. A 20-minute live task on your own work, one question about a time AI was wrong, and one question about what they would not use AI for will tell you more than any list of tools. Here is why the resume line means so little, what you are really hiring for, how to run the live task, the three questions that separate users from operators, how to score the answers, and what the job description should say.
What Questions Should a Business Owner Ask an AI Vendor Before Signing?
Ask twelve questions in four groups before you sign: what the tool does with your data, how it fails and who finds out, what the contract really costs over three years, and how you get your data back if you leave. Here is why the sales demo is the wrong place to decide, the questions to ask about data, reliability, cost and exit, how to run a two-week test instead of trusting the demo, the answers that should stop a deal, and what to put in writing.
How Does a Family Business Bring Non-Family Employees Along When It Adopts AI?
Tell family and non-family employees in the same meeting, choose project leads by who runs the process and not by last name, give everyone the same training and access, and put in writing what happens to the time AI frees up. Here is why AI is harder in a family business, what non-family employees worry about, who should lead, what the owner should say in the first meeting, how to keep training fair, and how to know it is working.
How Should a Mid-Market Company Budget for AI Next Year? A Line-by-Line Answer for the CFO
Budget AI as five lines, not one: software subscriptions, implementation and integration, people and training, data and security, and a reserve for the pilots that will not work. Put the whole thing under one owner, tie each line to a named process and a baseline number, and review it quarterly against results instead of waiting for year end. Here is how big each line usually is, who should own the budget, how to handle the pilots that fail, and when it is time to spend more.
Should a Company Pay for Its Executives' Fitness? What a Leadership Team Gets Back
Yes, if you treat it as a performance system with a budget, a protected hour and a measure, not a perk in the benefits booklet. Here is why executive fitness is a business question, what a company should actually pay for, how to protect the time on the calendar, how to introduce it without making anyone uncomfortable, how to measure it, and why it matters more during an AI rollout.
Should Your Leadership Meetings Start With a Minute of Silence?
Yes, for meetings where the leadership team makes a decision. One quiet minute at the start lets each person finish the last conversation, read the decision on the table and arrive ready to think. Here is what the minute does, which meetings need it, how to introduce it to a skeptical executive team, the exact steps, how to tell whether it works, and why it matters more when AI prepares the meeting materials.
Does a Mid-Market Company Need a Chief AI Officer, or an AI Lead Promoted From Within?
Most mid-market companies do not need a full-time Chief AI Officer yet. They need one named AI lead with real authority, usually a respected operator promoted from within, with a 90-day mandate and a scoreboard. Here are the three situations that justify the executive hire, how to pick the internal lead, the first 90 days, where the role should report, and the mistakes to avoid.
What Is the Right First Job for an AI Employee in a Mid-Market Company?
The right first job for an AI employee is repetitive, happens many times a week, has a clear definition of done, and moves a number you already track: inbound intake, quiet-lead follow-up, first drafts of routine documents, or chasing the paperwork that holds up revenue. Here is the four-question test, the jobs that pass and the two that never do, the 30-day setup, and how to know it is working.
How Does a Family-Owned Business Write an AI Succession Plan for the Next Generation?
Treat AI as an asset that transfers with the company, not a project that belongs to whoever started it. A family business AI succession plan is a short written document that names who owns each AI system, where the data and logins live, what the tools are allowed to do, and how the next generation takes over without a gap. Here is the five-part plan, who should write it, how to handle the generation that built the company by hand, and the mistakes that turn a transition into a reset.
Should a Mid-Market Company Build or Buy Its AI Tools? A Finance-First Answer
Buy for anything a vendor already sells to companies like yours, and build only where the work is specific to how you make money. Run the decision on total cost over three years, including the people who maintain it, with an exit price for the day the vendor raises prices or disappears. Here is the three-question test, the cost lines most owners miss, how to structure the first contract, and when a build is worth the risk.
How Should a Business Owner Build Fitness Into a 60-Hour Week?
Treat fitness the way you treat cash: a small number you protect every week, not a project you start when things calm down. Three sessions of 30 minutes, scheduled like client meetings, protected by a rule for the weeks that go sideways, and measured by what it does to your decisions. Here is the operating model, the minimum that still works, how to survive travel and quarter-end, and how to bring it to a leadership team without making it a company program.
Should Business Owners Meditate? What a Daily Practice Changes About Running a Company
Yes, if you treat it as a decision tool rather than a wellness perk. Ten minutes of meditation before the first meeting gives a business owner a slower reaction to bad news, a cleaner read on what matters today, and fewer decisions made on reflex. Here is how to start, how to measure whether it is working, and how to bring it to a leadership team without making anyone roll their eyes.
How Do You Upskill a Mid-Market Team for AI Without Losing Your Best People?
You upskill a mid-market team for AI by tying training to one real process, teaching managers first, giving every role a clear picture of what its job looks like with AI in it, and measuring adoption by work completed rather than courses finished. Here is the 90-day plan, the roles to start with, and the three mistakes that push good people out the door.
How Do You Measure the ROI of AI in a Mid-Market Company?
You measure the ROI of AI in a mid-market company by picking one revenue or cost number before the project starts, recording a 30-day baseline, and comparing it at day 90 against the full cost of the pilot. Here are the four numbers worth tracking, the three that mislead, and a one-page scorecard a CEO can run without a data team.
How Does a Family Business Adopt AI Without Splitting the Generations?
Family businesses adopt AI successfully when the founder generation owns the customer promise, the next generation owns the pilot, and both agree in writing on one project, one owner and one measure. Here is a 90-day plan for family-owned companies, the three arguments that stall most of them, and how to settle each one.
How Much Does an AI Rollout Cost a Mid-Market Company, and Where Does the Money Go?
An AI rollout at a mid-market company has four cost buckets: software, integration, people time and governance. Software is usually the smallest. Here is what each bucket typically costs for a company with 50 to 500 employees, why the people line gets left off the budget, and a sample 90-day budget you can adapt.
How Do Wealth Managers and RIAs Use AI Without a Compliance Problem?
Wealth managers and RIAs use AI safely by keeping it on the operational side of the business, keeping a licensed person between the AI and the client, and writing the rules down before the first tool goes live. Here are the five uses that pass a compliance review, the three that do not, and a 30-day plan.
How Does AI Intake Work for Insurance Agencies, and What Should It Handle First?
AI intake for an insurance agency is a system that answers every inbound call, form and message within seconds, collects the details a producer needs to quote, and routes the lead to the right person with a complete file. Here is what it handles, what it should not handle, what it costs, and how to roll it out in 30 days.
What Is a Deepfake Verification Phrase, and How Does It Stop Wire Fraud?
A deepfake verification phrase is a private word or question that confirms a caller is who they say they are before any money moves. It costs nothing, takes 20 minutes to set up, and defeats cloned voices and video. Here is how to pick one, who needs it, and how to roll it out.
How Do You Write a One-Page AI Usage Policy for a Mid-Market Company? (With Template)
A one-page AI usage policy tells employees which AI tools they may use, what data they may never paste into them, and who approves exceptions. Here is the full template, the six decisions behind it, and how to roll it out in a week.
What Is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), and How Is It Different From SEO?
Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of making your business the source that ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot cite when someone asks a question. Here is how it differs from SEO, what to change on your site, and how to measure it.
AI Chatbots for Business: Every Fox 5 Segment, Explained
AI strategist Chris Dessi has explained AI chatbots, ChatGPT and AI-driven jobs on Fox 5 New York throughout 2025. Every segment, embedded, with the practical takeaway for business owners and executives.
Deepfakes, AI Governance and the Grok Investigation: What I Told Fox 5 Executives Need to Know
Every Fox 5 New York segment Chris Dessi has done on deepfakes, AI governance, the Ofcom Grok investigation, the Pope's AI encyclical, Meta's policy changes and data privacy, embedded with the action a company should take.
What 15 Years of Calling Platforms on Live TV Taught Me About Evaluating AI Vendors
Chris Dessi called the Facebook IPO, Twitter's growth problem, Pinterest, Snapchat, Vine, Tinder, Meerkat and Tumblr on FOX Business, CNBC, CNN and Fox 5 between 2011 and 2016. The clips, what he got right and wrong, and the four-question test he now uses on AI vendors.
Brand, Reputation and the Viral Moment: What Live TV Taught Me About Speed
The AP Twitter hack that moved the Dow, the KitchenAid tweet, fake followers, Sharknado, Alex from Target, the Miracle on the Hudson tweet. Chris Dessi's Fox 5, FOX Business, Bloomberg and MSNBC segments on brand reputation, with the response playbook he gives clients now.
Chris Dessi on TV: Every AI Segment on Fox 5 New York (2025–2026)
The complete library of Torque AI founder Chris Dessi's AI segments on FOX 5 New York, 2025 to 2026: chatbots, deepfakes, AI in schools, self-driving cars, the TikTok deal, Meta, the Grok investigation and more. Each clip embedded.
What Is a Revenue Engine? (And Why Most Small Firms Don't Have One)
A revenue engine is a measurable, repeatable system that turns attention into customers without depending on any one person's hustle. Here's the five-part anatomy, what it costs, and how small teams build one with AI.
Premortem-First Marketing: Map the Failure Before You Spend the Budget
Premortem-first marketing means writing down exactly how a campaign will fail — before spending a dollar — then building the plan against that list. The method, the common failure modes, and a worked example.
How Law Firms Actually Use AI for Client Acquisition in 2026
Where AI genuinely works in law-firm marketing and intake — instant response, qualification, nurture, review generation — where it's dangerous, and a realistic starting stack for small and mid-size firms.