Digital Twins: Your First AI Teammates - How to Build AI Simulators That Transform Work

Hello go-to-market leaders, strategists, and innovators! 👋 Thank you for dropping by to learn practical AI applications and gain strategic insights to help you grow your business and elevate your team's strategic value.

Quick Take

Why pay attention to digital twins right now? Because they help your team get more done, work consistently, and think strategically. A digital twin isn’t just another AI tool. It's your first real AI teammate.

• Digital twins are AI simulators that mirror how you think and work.

• Personal simulators get you value fastest and help you quickly build your AI skills.

• Creating a twin just needs clear inputs: your public content, strategic frameworks, lived experiences, and unique insights.

• There are five simulator types that support GTM teams: personal productivity, exec alignment, peer planning, customer insights, and influencer engagement.

• Teams building simulator ecosystems spend less time on routine tasks and more time on strategic work.

For those who prefer to consume information through audio, I've used Google's NotebookLM to transform this newsletter into a short podcast episode, featuring a natural conversation between two AI hosts. You can listen to the 18-min podcast here while driving, walking the dog, or doing chores. Once you hit play, give it just a few seconds then it will start.

Disclaimer: This podcast was generated by AI based on this written newsletter and reviewed by me to ensure ethical and responsible AI use. It's designed to provide an efficient, more inclusive way to consume information.

Research Backs Up What We're Seeing: AI Works as a True Teammate

Let’s look at what recent research tells us about how well AI teammates really work.. A recent study with 776 P&G employees shows that individuals working with AI performed just as well as traditional all-human teams.

This research confirms what we're seeing with AI teammates, including digital twins, in real life. AI also breaks down expertise barriers. It makes work faster. And people actually feel better working with AI partners. You can read more about the research in Ethan Mollick's article called The Cybernetic Teammate.

As we discuss how to build your first AI teammates, remember this isn't just theory. The science now backs up what forward-thinking teams already know - AI is more teammate than tool.

Now that we know AI teammates work, let’s talk about how you can start using them in your own team.

The Simulator Ecosystem

In my past newsletters where I discussed how I've helped teams grow from using AI as tools to working with AI teammates to managing AI systems, many of you asked: "Where do we start?"

Most people think about AI teammates like a social post writer, campaign planner, customer researcher, or proposal writer. Those are completely valuable roles. But if you're leading a team and just getting started, I believe everyone creating a digital twin of themselves is a great place to begin.

This makes a fantastic group exercise. Team members can even share their twins with each other to improve communication and collaboration. For GTM executives and leaders, this approach helps both you personally and your team collectively.

Digital twins or simulators ("sims") mimic specific thinking patterns and knowledge. They work alongside you as true collaborators, not just task helpers.

Let me break down five simulator types that create immediate value for GTM teams:

I built an interactive model showing how each simulator type works in real business scenarios, where you can explore knowledge requirements, and see sample conversations.

I created it using AI (Claude Pro Sonnet 3.7), and it's become one of my most requested resources. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Wondering where to start? Here's why creating your personal digital twin is a great first step.

My Sim: The Ideal First AI Teammate

Your personal simulator makes the perfect starting point for three simple reasons.

1. You already have what you need. You know your own content, style, and thinking better than anyone.

2. You can easily check if it's right. You know right away if your simulator sounds like you and thinks like you.

3. It helps you personally before you expand to your team. This builds your confidence and skills for bigger projects.

How I Built My Digital Twin (and How You Can Too)

Let me share my personal experience building and working with LizaGPT over the past year.

A few years ago, I joked about cloning myself. Now, with my digital twin, I kind of have and it’s changed how I work!

I started with a clear goal: I needed a thinking partner that understood my frameworks, writing style, and strategic approach. This would help me work faster and stay consistent across all my projects.

I gathered three main types of information:

1. Public content I'd created (published articles, newsletters, LinkedIn posts, talks)

2. My writing and communication style guide (tone, voice, what to avoid)

3. My strategic frameworks (templates, models, analysis approaches, AI use cases)

I even shared personal insights like my Myers-Briggs profile (EXFJ, X because I'm smack in the middle of N and S) and my immigrant journey story "A Child Immigrant's Tale: Raised by America and Keeping it Going" to help it understand what drives me at my core.

Below is a screenshot showing the instructions and knowledge built into LizaGPT. My instructions are straightforward and the knowledge consists of 20 files with the info I discussed above.

Building Your Own Digital Twin

If you're ready to build your own digital twin, here's how to get started using ChatGPT:

1. Click on Explore GPTs from the main page of ChatGPT, then click on Create, then Configure

2. Name your GPT and briefly describe it

3. Type your instructions and upload knowledge files

4. Click the + sign under the Create/Configure bar to upload a profile photo or have DALL-E create one

5. Test your digital twin in the preview window and tweak as needed

6. When satisfied, click the Create button and choose your sharing settings

Remember that you need to maintain and manage it on an ongoing basis. New OpenAI features and algorithm changes can potentially change how your custom GPT performs. Plus you and your needs change too.

To make updates, simply click on the down arrow next to your GPT's name and select Edit GPT. Make your changes, test them, and hit Update.

Once your twin is set up, it’s important to find the right balance between your strengths and your AI teammate’s.

Before we get into how your AI teammate complements your strengths, there’s one more piece that most people skip. The instructions makes all the difference.

Write Better Instructions: The Real Key to a Useful Digital Twin

Most people upload a few documents, write a sentence or two of instruction, and hope for the best.

But your instructions are the difference between a digital twin that’s helpful and one that’s transformational.

Over the past year, I’ve refined LizaGPT’s instructions into something that does much more than help me write or summarize. It helps me think better. Work faster. Catch blind spots. And pressure-test ideas before they hit the real world.

Here’s a simple structure you can follow to create high-quality instructions for your own twin:

Your digital twin is more helpful and way more fun when it has a little personality. Let it reflect yours.

Here’s a real line from mine:

“Most of all... have a sense of humor and have fun. Insert a joke here and there. It's ok to be bold, salty, and spicy just like a bowl of Chex mix.”

Here's bold, salty, and spicy LizaGPT. ;-)

You’ll get the most value and build more confidence in creating AI teammates by writing your own instructions. Enjoy the learning process. When you succeed, you win. When you fail, you learn. Believe me, I've had my equal share of AI failures but that's a huge part of understanding how to best work and guide AI.

Watch the full demo + walkthrough of how I built and use LizaGPT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io0wqnRh-rU

The Human-AI Balance: Complementary Strengths

After over a year working with my digital twin, I've learned that we balance each other well.

My human limitations:

• Some days I'm tired, frustrated, or overwhelmed

• I forget and can only process so much at once

• Life happens – college tours, sick kid, caring for elderly parents

How LizaGPT helps me:

• Processes information quickly when decisions are needed

• Organizes my thinking and jumpstarts my work

• Helps me stay my best professional self during personal challenges

But LizaGPT lacks what makes me human – the fire in my belly, the source of original strategic thinking, my passion for elevating GTM functions' strategic value, ensuring diverse voices are heard, and using business as a force for good. It doesn't have my lived experiences, my human judgment, or my ethical compass.

What I've found most surprising is that LizaGPT has never been just a productivity tool. Even in the most tactical execution tasks, it's a true thought partner that makes my ideas better. Starting from a blank slate used to be daunting – now I have a judgment-free sounding board for early ideas.

Of course, LizaGPT still needs:

• Guidance and checking

• Regular maintenance and management

• Accountability (I'm ultimately responsible for results)

The key is finding the right balance where we each contribute our unique strengths.

My Real Life Conversations with LizaGPT

Here are a couple of my chats with LizaGPT. You'll see how it responded based on my instructions as well as knowledge I've given it about my thinking and my work.

1) Content Drafts Based on My Frameworks and Strategy

2) Identifying Jobs to be Done and AI Teammates Aligned to Strategic Initiatives

Digital twins help teams stay connected. A content marketer built a twin before maternity leave to share her expertise with teammates. A leader created one that explains her decision style and communication preferences to new team members. Both twins bridge knowledge gaps and strengthen connections, not replace people.

The impact on my productivity has been dramatic. Tasks that once took 2-3 hours now take 45 minutes. More importantly, my work is more consistent and often higher quality because I can focus on the parts where my vision for what's possible, human creativity, strategic thinking, and judgment add the most value.

I've had the pleasure to work with Carol-Lyn Jardine, SVP of Marketing at Dice/DHI Group Inc, build a team with human and AI teammates. Here's the case study and playbook for this real life human-AI org. She explains how digital twins transformed her marketing organization:

"We started building digital twins as an experiment, but they've become critical team members. What began as 25 humans and 20 AI teammates has grown to 26 humans working alongside 35 AI teammates, including several sims.

The productivity gains were immediate, but the strategic impact was even more powerful. Our sims help us test messaging across different personas before launch, anticipate executive questions, and maintain consistent strategic thinking even during our busiest periods.

The investment question wasn't even an issue - about $2,000/month for ChatGPT Team and Claude Pro across our marketing team. We saw ROI from our very first use case that delivered value far beyond this cost. When a technology saves your team hours every day while improving quality, the business case makes itself.

For marketing leaders just starting out, personal sims are the perfect entry point - they create quick wins while building the skills your team needs for broader AI adoption."

As you start working with your twin, you might hit some bumps. Here’s how to avoid common issues.

Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)

As you build your first sim, you might run into these issues:

• Inconsistent outputs - Start with focused knowledge inputs for specific use cases rather than trying to build a sim that does everything at once. Iterate based on actual use.

• Getting team buy-in - Start with a personal success story. Show how your sim helped solve a real problem, then offer to help teammates build their own.

• Maintaining the simulation - Schedule regular updates (monthly or quarterly) where you add new content and adjust instructions based on what's working.

Important: Never use Personally Identifiable Information (PII), sensitive, or confidential information when building sims. Always check your company's AI policy and your AI model's guidelines. Privacy and security must come first in any AI project.

Let’s look at specific ways different roles can use digital twins and how it can improve your brand.

Role-Specific Applications and Personal/Company Brand

• For Marketing Leaders - Sims can help test positioning before market launch, optimize content strategies, and align marketing frameworks across distributed teams.

• For Sales Leaders - Sims are good for objection handling practice, proposal refinement, and turning weaknesses into offense in competitive responses.

• For Customer Success Leaders - Sims can improve onboarding processes, test support responses, and help identify expansion opportunities through simulated customer interactions.

Audrey Chia, Founder of Close With Copy and personal branding expert, shares how her digital twin enhances her client work:

"My digital twin has been transformative for both my business and my clients. It helps me maintain consistent quality across projects while I focus on strategy and creative direction.

What surprised me most was how it improved my personal branding work - my AI twin can analyze a client's existing content to identify their authentic voice patterns, making our branding work more precise and impactful.

For anyone starting out, feed your simulator both your best work and your thinking process behind it. The magic happens when it captures not just what you create, but how you think about creating it."

Personal branding is an exceptional use case for digital twins. And it's not just personal, it's powerful for your company too. Because a company's people, especially its leaders, are its brand.

As personal brand strategist Victoria Tollossa says:

"Today, we’re deep in the attention economy. It's not what you know. It's not even who you know. It's who knows YOU."

Trust is the new currency. But trust isn’t built in just one place anymore. AI (and people) form opinions based on signals from everywhere: your content, your reviews, media mentions, employee voices, even what others say about you.

Use your digital twin to help you communicate your unique thinking and experience at scale. Shape your brand actively. Don’t just let it happen. And whatever you do—don’t be invisible.

Your Digital Twin Challenge

Ready to give it a try? Here's your challenge this week:

1. Create your first personal simulator - Pick one specific area where you need consistent help. If you already have a digital twin, great. Try making it better!

2. Test it out - See how your digital twin performs on a real task. Make any adjustments needed.

3. Share your experience - Consider posting about your experience on LinkedIn using the hashtag #MyAITwin. Your insights on what worked, what surprised you, and the value you discovered could inspire others to start their own AI journey.

The future of human-AI teamwork starts with simple experiments like this. Let's start small, learn quickly, and build together.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, you might find value in my previous pieces that build toward this concept:

• A Leader's Human-AI Org Transformation Playbook - How a lean team transformed into a human-AI powerhouse

• AI Is Redefining GTM Jobs - The evolution from tool users to teammates to orchestrators

The Practical AI in Go-to-Market newsletter is designed to share practical learnings and insights in using AI responsibly. Subscribe today and let's learn together on this AI journey!

For those who prefer more interactive learning, explore our applied AI workshops, designed to inspire teams with real-life use cases tailored to specific go-to-market functions.

Also check out this team transformation case study and step-by playbook of how we helped transform a lean GTM team into a human-AI powerhouse with human and AI teammates.

Or, if audio-visual content is your style, here are virtual and in-person speaking events where I've covered a variety of AI topics. I've also keynoted at many organization and corporate-wide events. Whether through the newsletter, multimedia content, or in-person events, I hope to connect with you soon.