Experts in ICM Series: Tatiana Silverman

In our ICM Experts series, we sit down with professional leaders across compensation, operations, and GTM (Go-to-Market) functions to hear their perspectives on the biggest challenges and opportunities in incentive compensation today.

Tatiana Silverman is an accomplished leader in incentive compensation management with years of experience shaping and optimizing commission processes at Nolan Transportation Group. As a commissions enthusiast, she is passionate about innovation in the ICM space. In this conversation, she shares her best practices for maximizing operational efficiency in commission management.

Tell us a little bit about your career journey in ICM – how did you end up managing commissions in the first place?

Tatiana: My journey into incentive compensation management started when I joined a sales finance organization at a large international manufacturing and sales company. I had a great mentor who not only helped shape my approach to commission management but also gave me insight into how commissions used to be managed and how the industry has evolved. Once you’re in commissions, you’re in commissions—it’s a field that, while often thankless, is incredibly rewarding. Over time, my role expanded from commission administration to a broader focus on incentive compensation strategy, touching on compliance, HR, and business alignment.

When creating a structured commission process, what is your primary focus?

Tatiana: Ensuring timely and accurate calculations is always the top priority. But to get there, you need a well-organized and agile process. A structured commission process isn’t about rigid stability—it’s about agility. Since the only constant in variable compensation is change, we focus on centralizing data where possible, validating data sources, reducing manual tasks, and ensuring clear documentation. Once we establish confidence in our data, we then look for ways to automate processes while keeping necessary checks and balances in place.

What are some overlooked processes or systems that could benefit from increased operational efficiency?

Tatiana: One area that often gets overlooked is the connection between incentive compensation and performance management. By integrating ICM data into performance reviews, organizations can gain deeper insights into employee contributions and identify opportunities for talent growth and cost optimization. Another critical area is data integrity—manual processes can introduce errors and inefficiencies that compound over time. When implementing an ICM system, we discovered duplicate records in our legacy processes that had gone unnoticed for years. Fixing those issues improved our overall data reliability and reporting.

There’s no doubt that AI is a hot topic across industries and functions right now. Where do you see AI playing a role in ICM?

Tatiana: AI has potential in areas like data validation, quality assurance, and predictive modeling. For example, AI could assist in reconciling data sources, reducing manual quality checks, and detecting anomalies. Some companies are already experimenting with AI-driven incentive models, but adoption is still limited. That said, AI in ICM must be approached cautiously, especially with regulations emerging around data security and compliance.

What are some of the common challenges you've seen when managing commission data across multiple systems?

Tatiana: One of the biggest challenges is ensuring data consistency across different teams and systems. Missing data, inaccurate credit assignments, and misaligned data sets can cause major issues. For instance, if finance and compensation teams use different data sets for commission modeling, projected payouts may be completely off. Documentation, communication, and centralized data governance are key to avoiding these pitfalls.

Any advice for compensation professionals who are still working manually in spreadsheets? When does it make sense to uplevel to the next step?

Tatiana: ICM teams often get buried in manual calculations, leaving little time for strategic work. Automating processes allows teams to shift their focus from execution to evaluation — assessing how plans are performing and aligning them with business goals. While spreadsheets have their place, transitioning to a modern ICM system can significantly improve efficiency and accuracy.

In the era of efficient growth, how do you ensure that commission plan changes don’t lead to unintended consequences?

Tatiana: Cross-functional collaboration is crucial. When rolling out a new plan, we involve all relevant stakeholders—finance, sales leadership, HR, and operations—to ensure alignment with business objectives. Evaluating potential risks, gathering feedback, and maintaining clear documentation help us implement changes without disrupting performance.

What key metrics do you use to measure the success of your commission management process?

Tatiana: We look at several factors: user adoption of ICM tools, the volume of commission-related inquiries from sales teams, the accuracy and timeliness of payouts, and overall administrative efficiency. A well-optimized commission process should reduce the number of manual interventions while improving transparency and trust among employees.

Thank you for sharing your insights, Tatiana – we’ve appreciated hearing about your approach to commission management and how you’re driving efficiency in ICM.

Tatiana: Thank you! I appreciate the opportunity to share my experiences and hope they help others navigate their own ICM challenges.

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