A. J. Chianese

About A. J. Chianese

I\'m Chief Operating Officer at The Raine Group, where I oversee all operational aspects of a global merchant bank with over $3 billion in assets under management. My path has combined legal expertise with operational leadership - I spent five years as Raine\'s General Counsel before transitioning to COO, and prior to my time at Raine practiced private equity fund formation and M&A at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.What drives my work: I\'m interested in how organizations operate effectively, how technology enhances human capabilities, and how capital gets deployed toward outcomes that matter. At Raine, I\'ve focused on building systems that make the firm more capable - from designing better governance structures for decision-making, to deploying AI thoughtfully, to building custom operational tools. The question I\'m always asking is: how do we improve today on what we were doing yesterday?Looking ahead: I\'m increasingly drawn to organizations working on foundational challenges - infrastructure that makes economies resilient, manufacturing that maintains technological capability, systems that enhance rather than diminish human agency. I care about work where the question isn\'t only \"does this generate returns?\" but \"does this make us more capable as a country and as individuals?\"Background: I studied Philosophy and Political Science at Amherst College before law school at NYU. That philosophical background – informed by both ancient and Catholic intellectual traditions – shapes how I approach problems: looking for first principles, questioning assumptions, thinking about second-order effects, and keeping human dignity and global stewardship at the center.Outside work, I\'m a husband and father to two daughters. I\'m conversational in Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese (trying to learn Japanese when I can manage it), an avid trail runner, and read as much as I can (philosophy, theology, history, politics/policy, economics, literature). I’m increasingly interested in questions at the intersection of technology policy and economic competitiveness, and in the challenges of maintaining individual and social purpose as AI and automation reshape our relationship with work.Always happy to connect with people working on interesting problems.

Experience

1. Chief Operating Officer

   The Raine Group

   Jan 2024 — Present · NY, US

Education

• Amherst College

  Bachelor of Arts - BA, Philosophy and Political Science

• New York University School of Law

  Doctor of Law - JD

• Regis High School

  High School Diploma

• University of Oxford

  Study Abroad, Philosophy

  2004 — 2004