John Steckel

President & CEO, AMERICAN SYSTEMS

John Steckel’s most significant recent achievement was AMERICAN SYSTEMS’ acquisition of Epsilon Inc. in August 2025. The acquisition added over 400 employee-owners to the company and expanded its capabilities in advanced digital transformation strategies and proactive data infrastructure management.

Through the acquisition, AMERICAN SYSTEMS now offers specialized services for select customers that apply commercial best practices and multi-tenant infrastructure within secure data centers nationwide, a key differentiator for the company.

AMERICAN SYSTEMS works closely with customers to reduce costs, streamline operations and improve efficiency while delivering innovative solutions. The company uses predictive modeling and AI to optimize manpower and staffing, applies digital engineering to reduce cycle time in systems development and decision-making, and makes infrastructure investments designed to lower long-term government costs and improve operational efficiency.

“John is doing a great job leading AMERICAN SYSTEMS through interesting times,” said Peter L. Smith, chairman of the board. “He continues to focus the company and our employee-owners on delivering cost-effective solutions that exceed customer expectations while ensuring our continued success pursuing sustained profitable growth. The recent Epsilon acquisition will expand our capability in important areas to better serve our existing customers as well as introduce AMERICAN SYSTEMS to new customers to whom we can bring our core capabilities.”

Why Watch

In 2026, AMERICAN SYSTEMS is focused on delivering high-end mission engineering and information engineering solutions to priority national programs. The company emphasizes applying advanced technologies such as AI, machine learning and digital engineering when and where they create real value for customers. Underpinning this work is a culture of accountability and ownership driven by AMERICAN SYSTEMS’ status as a 100% employee-owned company.

“I’m so proud to be part of AMERICAN SYSTEMS and be one of our approximately 2,000 employee-owners who support our nation, our customers and each other,” Steckel said.

Fun fact: Steckel considers himself an avid cyclist and has been riding seriously for over 40 years. While he jokes that winning a major race remains a dream, he takes pride in AMERICAN SYSTEMS’ sponsorship and participation in the Armed Forces Cycling Classic in support of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. As a Navy veteran, supporting the event holds special meaning for him, and the company will again sponsor the CCB Women’s Cycling Team at the race later this year.