HKUST Alumni Artificial intelligence with real outcomes AI has become crucial to Inovance – since 2015, the company has used artificial intelligence to explore a wide range of industrial applications from quality checking of tiles to analyzing the purity of cooking oil; all the way to leading-edge coding and decoding that can help companies streamline their production processes. Inovance’s high voltage frequency converter, universal servo system, elevator human-machine interface are the first in China’s market, and many of its other products are among the leaders for the country. “AI is not the future, it is really the ‘now’. This revolution is critical because far from taking agency away from people, it is indeed giving it back to them. I believe that people will always be giving directions, and AI will be doing the hard work,” says Yi. Entrepreneurism rooted in HKUST experience Having completed an EMBA, Yi is always seeking to enter new markets and has a finely honed business mindset. In 2017, he also founded Value Capital, focused on investing in semiconductors, industrial software, intelligent manufacturing, new materials, and new energy sources, with the goal of empowering start-up technology companies to develop into global powerhouses. "Quality not quantity" is the ethos Yi lives by. Established a solid name for itself, Value Capital is recruiting only graduates of top universities with a master's degree or above, all supported by well-developed legal and professional teams. Yi’s EMBA program helped him mold his vision. “I gained a complete knowledge system on how to manage a company, cultivate industry vision, and lay a good foundation. A bonus was that during my studies I also became actively involved in marathons, exercise, and meditation, which was a significant change for me.” He also became passionate about social causes – from becoming deeply involved in the relief effort for the Ya'an earthquake in 2013, Yi has now established several foundations, including the Nanjing Li Zhi Yang Guang Xin Hui Xin Foundation, to support education projects for Chinese children. Showing his generosity, Yi made a significant donation to HKUST, establishing the Pan Yi Named Professorship in Business. This accolade recognizes professors at HKUST, encouraging talent cultivation, and supporting the Business School to grow its already stellar reputation. FEATURE AI is not the future, it is really the‘now’. This revolution is critical because far from taking agency away from people, it is indeed giving it back to them. Robots on the rise We begin our journey in Inovance ( 匯川技術), a worldleading automation machinery manufacturing company which has its own building in Shenzhen. The company makes robots for industrial applications. Listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2010, Inovance develops everything from elevators to plastics, electric vehicles, and robotics, producing a diverse range of goods from low voltage AC drives to intelligent controllers, industrial robots, electric vehicle inverters, light rail transit converters and industrial internet applications. Yi PAN (2013 EMBA) co-founded the company in 2003, having worked at Huawei and Emerson, both global leaders in industrial applications. Success came quickly – Shenzhen Inovance Tech went public on the Shenzhen A-share Growth Enterprise Market, and now boasts a research base in Suzhou with more than 20,000 staff. The company has quickly expanded its network to include research bases in Yueyang, Changzhou, Nanjing, Xi’an, Jinan and other cities, along with establishing a presence in Hungary and India. “The whole process has been absolutely incredible,”says Yi.“What we have been able to achieve in such a short time is remarkable,”he adds. While all of this seems so easy, the reality is that the early days of Inovance were marked by struggle. “We had limited capital and profits, so we worked hard to find the right talents who were going to come on board with good value and belief in our mission. After we went public, it was easier to get more talents onboard,” Yi says. 4 5
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