I would like to modify the AI follow package for my NPC companion so that he does not follow so closely.
How can this be done?

I am able to set the follow AI package.
I don't seem to be able to control the distance he follows me at.

Thanks for helping!

Open up the "follow" package and select the "Target" tab. In the bottom right-hand corner, there is a field labeled "Distance". Increase that a bit and your companion should back of. Average follow distances for vanilla AI packages are 500 or so.

I'm still having difficulty with this. When I open up the follow AI package for my companion and select the "Target" tab,
I see that the Target is my player... but I don't see an input field for "Distance." Instead, I have a "count" field.
I have tried changing the "count" from the 0 default to as much as 3333, but this has no effect on my companion's follow distance.
I'm trying to edit the "Vincente" companion to follow at a much greater distance. I'm using TESC 1.2

Thanks for helping!

The distance field occupies the same position on the dialog that a "count" field does for a Find package, so this makes me think the package type got changed. A Find package would make the actor try and talk to the player all the time which would definitely be too close! Don't get confused by the name of the package, which is just a label, look at the type at top right.