Dr Tianshu Sun is Dean’s Distinguished Professor and Director of Center for Global Digital Transformation at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). He was Robert R. Dockson Chair Professor (with Tenure) at USC Marshall School of Business and Viterbi School of Engineering and also a Visiting Professor at MIT Sloan School. He serves as the Board Director and CEO Advisor for a range of top firms in China across technology, pharma, energy and manufacturing.

Tianshu has published over 60 papers in Top Journals and Conferences in Business and Computer Science. His current research examines the digital transformation of firms and the globalization of digital technologies, especially how global firms can leverage AI/GPT and big data to design digital business models and applications to drive growth across the globe. All of his research, in collaboration with leading firms such as Facebook/Adobe/Groupon, addresses how firms can use digital technologies, information systems and large-scale analytics in conjunction with big data and AI to improve data-driven business decisions and organizational innovations.

Tianshu has worked full-time in a variety of technology companies in US including Facebook, Adobe, Groupon and has consulted top firms and platforms in China like Alibaba, Ant Financial, NetEase, Cainiao Logistics. Tianshu has given over 100 invited talks at top institutes and conferences (Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Wharton, U Chicago, Carnegie Mellon Univ, NYU, UCLA, Tsinghua, Peking, HKUST, HKU etc) and received 16 Best Paper Awards/Nominations from international conferences in business and computer science and numerous grants from tech firms. Tianshu has taught digital transformation, big data, AI/GPT, and platform strategy across top universities like MIT, USC, CKGSB, Tsinghua, Jiaotong, and Fudan.

Richard Yang is a Senior Partner at Sinovation Ventures, a leading investment fund focused on global technology sectors. With 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur and institutional investor, he supports companies with significant social and commercial impacts, including AI-enabled scientific R&D, smart agriculture, and healthcare equality. Since 2019, Richard has led a team of 10 professionals, building a US$500-million portfolio across both venture and growth stages. Several of his investments, such as MediTrust, Megarobo, Insilico Medicine, and XAG, have grown into global sector leaders and unicorns.

Before joining Sinovation, Richard co-founded a social media company in 2005, which he later sold to a publicly listed company for USD 450 million. He also spent five years in private equity in China.

Richard holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis. He has a keen interest in sociology and history and actively supports charities focused on children's and women's rights.

Robert Xiao is the Director of the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network (EICN) in Beijing. He is responsible for engaging in high-level dialogues with business and political leaders, providing insights on global macroeconomic trends and policy directions for Fortune 500 decision-makers to support their macro layout and business development in domestic and international markets.

Prior to joining EICN, Mr Xiao held positions as a lecturer, senior lecturer, PhD supervisor, and Deputy Director of the Impact Finance Hub at Monash University and Deakin Business School in Australia. His research mainly focused on the fields of corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, and economic and financial policy analysis related to the Chinese and US markets. He has authored multiple publications in Financial Times Top 50 Journals and been awarded major research grants jointly by the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and Chinese Academy of Social Science.

An educator at heart, Mr Xiao has always maintained a passion for tertiary teaching. He has more than a decade of experience teaching business courses, including Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Finance, and Bachelor of Commerce programmes at leading universities.

Mr Xiao obtained his Ph.D. in Finance from Monash University and graduated with honours (B.Com. Hons) from Monash Business School in 2008 as the highest-achieving student in his cohort. He has won multiple awards from Australian universities, including the Australian Postgraduate Awards granted by the Australian Federal Government.