Dan Wong is an expert in the fields of digital transformation, AI change management, and innovation – with over 20 years of experience in Greater China, Asia, and Silicon Valley. During Dan’s career, he has had both the fortune and misfortune of weathering successive waves of industry upheaval and dislocation. From these experiences, he has accumulated hard-earned lessons where practice often diverges from theory. Dan has been at the forefront of driving digital transformation at companies like Nokia (feature-phone to smart-phone transition), Samsung (hardware to software transition), and at MTR Corporation where he was GM of Global Innovation. Across all these initiatives, the most difficult part of change has always been the human dimension. As CEO of GIFT.ed, Dan is using the power of technology to provide courseware and employee engagement that unleashes the potential of organisations at scale.
Nowhere is the power of technology more evident than Artificial Intelligence. Yet applying AI in a way that moves-the-needle requires system-level thinking, an understanding of the practical pitfalls, and a rethinking of the way organisations operate.
Dan’s AI journey started in 2014 as CEO of startup Rokid. With a team that included 15 PhDs and postdocs, the company used machine learning to develop a voice recognition and smart home product. The AI product and voice platform was launched in a year and won the 2016 Innovation Award for that category at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Subsequently, Dan was an advisor to several startups applying AI technology to manufacturing, retail, consumer products, and other sectors. At MTR, Dan drove and implemented over 30 AI projects. He has direct insight into the power as well as inherent limitations and pitfalls of this technology.
Dan’s work has taken him across the globe: from Silicon Valley to Northern Europe to China to Korea to Southeast Asia. Business is the same everywhere, but the “way of business” is different. Dan has worked at pioneering Silicon Valley companies such as Excite@Home (broadband internet services) and Openwave (mobile internet) where he split time between the US and Tokyo. At Nokia, Dan ran a $1.9B USD business across Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and spent significant time in Finland headquarters. Later at Samsung, he split time between Beijing and Korea. Dan is now based in Kuala Lumpur as CEO of an EdTech startup with a higher mission.
Fully fluent in Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Dan is an Adjunct Professor at Shanghai Jiaotong University’s Antai School of Business, one of the top MBA Programs in Asia. He teaches a popular MBA course on AI, Product Management, and Product Innovation. Dan holds an MBA from Harvard Business School as well as BS Electrical Engineering and MS Materials Science from Stanford University.
