Jay Graves is a consultant, coach, and speaker whose career spans service as a U.S. Army Intelligence Officer and corporate executive leadership. A recipient of multiple Stevie® Awards, he brings more than 25 years of experience leading teams, developing strategy, and helping organizations improve performance.

In the Army, Jay’s responsibilities ranged from strategy and mission planning to leading soldiers and coordinating with international partners. His assignments across multiple countries, including a deployment to Iraq, required him to navigate cultural differences, build relationships, and make decisions in complex environments. Training in behavioral psychology, human intelligence, and interviewing deepened his understanding of motivation, trust, and human behavior.

He carried that foundation into corporate leadership at Roche, connecting strategic priorities with commercial operations, leadership development, and team performance within a global organization. Those experiences shape his consulting today: understanding the broader context, asking focused questions, and helping leaders translate strategy into coordinated action.

Experience Put Into Practice

Jay founded Pathfinder to help organizations strengthen their leaders and teams and build the conditions for sustained performance. His work spans organizations from startups to Fortune 500 companies, and he serves as a strategic advisor to venture-backed companies.

He developed the CLEAR™ framework around five dimensions of organizational performance: Culture, Leadership, Engagement, Adaptability, and Recognition. His Human Intelligence Selling™ program draws on military human intelligence (HUMINT) experience, formal interviewing and elicitation training, and executive sales leadership to strengthen customer conversations.

Jay holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University. He is certified in DISC, CliftonStrengths, and Predictive Index.