John Stewart

Bio

John leads the Family Office industry at Armanino, where he specializes in providing tailored consulting and advisory services for family offices navigating the complexities of AI, robotic process automation (RPA), and strategic transformation. With a robust background in business, operations, and technology leadership across both Fortune 50 companies and entrepreneurial ventures, John is adept at fostering innovation and efficiency. His experience spans a diverse array of industries in addition to family office, including entertainment, technology, retail, non-profit, manufacturing, and financial services.

Prior to his role at Armanino, John founded Arctos Ventures, a consultancy focused on business strategy and innovation. He has also held executive positions at OnPrem Solution Partners, 20th Century Fox, and NBCUniversal, and is dedicated to mentoring and advising technology startups, helping them align their strategies with the evolving landscape of AI and automation.

Outside the office, John enjoys quality time with his two sons, embracing fatherhood through various activities. Originally from Philadelphia, he proudly supports his hometown sports teams with an unmatched passion.

John holds an MBA

Experience

Community

Advisory Board Member, Penn State College of Engineering
President’s Council Member, USC Marshall School of Business
Board Member, South Bay Credit Union
Co-Founder & Advisor, Suited (wellsuited.com, technology startup)
Mentor, Alchemist Accelerator

Education

University of Southern California
Penn State University

Experience

Arctos Ventures
OnPrem Solution Partners
20th Century Fox
NBC Universal

Honors/Awards

Alumni Achievement Award (2011), Penn State University

Q&A

My favorite clients are ones that really embrace innovation. I don’t mean radically upend their business, because evolutionary innovation is just as important as revolutionary. It’s clients who have vision and an “acceleration mindset” who get me most excited. Let’s not just check some boxes, let’s design what tomorrow looks like.

Growing up, I always played team sports, so to this day I’m fueled by being part of a team. I want to develop and help people reach their full potential. I’m high-energy and believe in transparency. I like to find a way to have hard conversations in a supportive and solution-oriented way. Let’s talk through the problem, find the gaps, polish the dirt off and get it fixed.

Watching my kids grow up and coaching them in sports. My world revolves around what they’re doing, and I’m always impressed by how quickly they process things and learn. My oldest son has special needs, and he’s the bravest person I’ve ever met. I see him never giving up, like when he wanted to play flag football and put the work in to make a touchdown. It was absolutely a proud dad moment.

Professionally, my proudest moment was joining a team of four and growing the practice to a 30-person team. We only got there by linking arm-in-arm with one another and having each other’s backs. And then to see team members grow into strategy consultant leaders was a moment of pride. I’m also proud that our strategy and transformation team’s leadership is predominantly women, because it shows that we are living up to the commitments we made to prioritize getting more diverse.

Learn the art of the story. You’re not just fixing a mechanical problem, you’re helping your client understand strategy and how solutions fit into their future success.

We get hired by a CEO or CFO because they have a problem that they don’t have the capacity to solve, whether due to time, resources or expertise. So, don’t just solve the problem for them. Learn to tell the story of what you’re doing and get buy-in from your client. This is a career that requires both IQ and EQ. You have to know your stuff and how to reach people.

It’s the people. It sounds cliché, but it’s sincere. When something is going on in my life whether challenging or exciting, it’s the people here who are the first to call me up and are there to share the moment with me. Projects come and go, but relationships last.