AI Adoption · Change Leadership · Toronto

Joel Vitorino

AI Adoption & Business Transformation Leader

Fifteen years helping organizations translate complex new capability into something their people actually use — across financial services, global brands, and emerging technology. AI is the same challenge.
I bring the same discipline.

Scroll

[ signal ]

Fifteen years in the space
between strategy and practice.

Across fifteen years of account and change leadership, the pattern I've seen most consistently isn't a technology gap — it's a people and process gap. The distance between "we're exploring AI" and "AI is embedded in how we operate" is covered by stakeholder trust, change management discipline, and the commitment to see change through — not by better tools.

That gap is where I've built my career — for regulated financial-services clients like Manulife, Mackenzie, IPC, and IG Private Wealth — translating complex capability into commercial action, building organizational readiness, and leading the cross-functional work that makes change actually stick. That experience transfers directly to AI adoption. If anything, it becomes more relevant.

What I Bring

Six areas
where I focus

[01]

AI Adoption Leadership

Diagnosing adoption barriers, designing pilots with real business targets, and moving organizations from "we should explore AI" to embedded, scaled practice — with measurable milestones at every stage.

[02]

Commercial Translation

I translate AI and marketing investment into the language senior leadership actually uses — revenue, margin, competitive advantage. Building a credible business case for adoption is as important as the adoption work itself.

[03]

Regulated-Industry Navigation

Most of my career has been inside regulated financial-services — compliance-heavy, governance-layered, with low risk appetite and scrutiny at every level. I know what adoption looks like when the guardrails are real, and I've developed the approach to work within them effectively.

[04]

Stakeholder Alignment

I build alignment at every level — C-suite framing, mid-management buy-in, team-level habit change — without direct reporting authority. Creating organizational momentum through influence rather than mandate is one of the most important skills I've developed, and it's central to how adoption actually happens.

[05]

Cross-Functional Direction

I direct creative, marketing, analytics, and AI-agent teams across concurrent client engagements. The accountability isn't limited to coordination — it's for outcomes. Multi-team orchestration at scale is where I've spent most of my career.

[06]

Strategy to Embedded Practice

I work across the full adoption arc — from executive framing and roadmap through operational implementation to day-to-day behavior change. The measure I care about isn't a strategy document. It's when the new way of working becomes routine.

Experience

15 years,
the hard accounts

2024-11 — PRESENT Investment Planning Counsel (IPC), IG Private Wealth

Founder / Fractional Marketing & AI Adoption Director

Steadfast Consulting

  • Drive AI-adoption strategy and roadmap for regulated financial-services clients — identifying commercial AI use cases, building stakeholder alignment, and leading adoption from pilot through embedded practice. AI Adoption
  • Act as primary change agent and strategic advisor for organizations navigating AI — translating technical capability into business-relevant action, managing the human side of change, and reporting progress to senior stakeholders.
  • Operate Steadfast as an AI-orchestrated consultancy: direct a team of AI systems and specialists to execute marketing, automation, and client-delivery work — personally owning strategy, relationships, and commercial outcomes.
  • First-hand proof of concept: built and run an AI-operated service business as a live demonstration of what AI adoption actually requires at the operational level.
2023-07 — 2024-11 Google, HP

Senior Account Director

Media.Monks

  • Owned end-to-end delivery for tier-1 tech accounts — orchestrating cross-functional teams, aligning to client KPIs, and directing complex scopes across Google and HP. Enterprise Scale
  • Directed significant budgets and multi-team scopes while maintaining P&L accountability and delivery quality.
  • Partnered with data and analytics teams to translate performance insight into strategic action for client organizations.
2017-09 — 2023-07 Manulife · Mackenzie Investments · IPC · IG Private Wealth · Adidas Global

Account Director

OLIVER Marketing

  • Led multi-platform, integrated change programs across Canada and the U.S. — senior relationship ownership across regulated financial-services and global brand accounts simultaneously. Financial Services
  • Built and mentored a team of 4 account managers — driving professional growth, clear priorities, and seamless delivery across a multi-account portfolio.
  • Directed "Merry Carolers" (Manulife Bank) — an integrated change in brand communications strategy that earned CMA Bronze + CHIP Gold recognition.
  • Launched "Better Together" (Mackenzie Investments) — a new brand platform that repositioned Mackenzie's market presence and advisor-facing identity.
  • Pioneered "DogeCan" (AXE) — one of Canada's first Web3/blockchain-integrated brand campaigns. Early evidence of the pattern: help an organization adopt an emerging technology as a business and brand asset. Emerging Tech Adoption
2015-11 — 2016-12 First Choice Haircutters · Philips · BMW

Account Supervisor

The Autumn Group

  • Delivered fully integrated campaigns exceeding $1M combined budget; generated $500K+ in new business from existing accounts.
  • "Be the Face of FCH" — national contest driving 1M+ impressions, 8K+ entries. Summit Silver, 2016.
2015-05 — 2015-11 Ford Canada

Account Supervisor

The Blue Hive

  • Managed $10M regional Tier-2 budgets across Ontario; oversaw MLSE and CTV "Toy Mountain" sponsorships.
2011-09 — 2014-04 Hyundai Canada

Account Executive

Innocean Worldwide

  • Launched the first nationwide Hyundai retail FSI initiative ($500K budget).
  • Executed "Hyundai Style" Facebook campaign tied to the NFL halftime sponsorship featuring PSY.

Additional: Freelance Digital Producer (Hyundai, Subway, 2017)  ·  Senior Account Manager, Australia (Subaru, Emirates, Siemens, 2014)

15 Years of Commercial
Change Leadership
5+ Regulated FS Clients
Advised & Directed
$10M+ Transformation Programs
Budgets Directed
3 Industry Awards
for Strategic Leadership
1 AI-Operated Consulting Practice
Steadfast, Active since 2024
$500K+ New Business
Generated from Existing Accounts
The Case

Regulated FS —
where adoption gets hard

Most of my career has been inside financial-services organizations that take compliance seriously, move cautiously, and need a strong business case — and genuine senior alignment — before they change how they operate. That context shaped how I approach change leadership, and it's directly relevant to AI adoption.

The clients where I've spent the most time — Manulife, Mackenzie, IPC, IG Private Wealth — operate with significant governance overhead, risk-averse senior leadership, and legacy process deeply embedded in how they work. Driving meaningful change in that environment takes a particular kind of discipline. It's the one I've been developing for fifteen years.

Steadfast · 2024–present

AI Adoption in Practice

Currently directing AI adoption strategy and roadmap for two financial-services clients — IPC and IG Private Wealth — from use-case identification through stakeholder alignment and embedded practice.

OLIVER · 2022

Early Emerging-Tech Adoption

Directed "DogeCan" — one of the first Web3-integrated brand campaigns in Canada. The pattern: help an organization treat an emerging technology as a strategic commercial asset, not a side experiment.

OLIVER · 2017–2023

FS Relationship Depth

Six years advising Manulife, Mackenzie, IPC, and IG Private Wealth at the senior level — building trust in a sector where trust is the hardest thing to earn and the first thing to be demanded.

Media.Monks · 2023–2024

Tier-1 Tech Account Direction

Owned end-to-end delivery for Google and HP — the organizations that are building AI and equally need leadership on how to adopt it internally and communicate it externally.

Recognition

Industry
awards

Bronze
CMA Awards, 2019

"Merry Carolers" — Manulife Bank integrated campaign

Gold
CHIP Awards, 2019

"Merry Carolers" — Manulife Bank integrated campaign

Silver
Summit Awards, 2016

"Be the Face of FCH" — First Choice Haircutters promotional campaign

Education

Formally trained,
field-tested

Business / Marketing

Toronto Metropolitan University

B.Comm — Marketing Major, eCommerce Minor

Applied Comms

Centennial College

Diploma — Advertising Account Management

[ available · remote canada / us ]

Let's talk.

Open to senior AI transformation and change leadership roles — commercial strategy, adoption programs, regulated-industry clients. Canada or the US.

Send a Message