Joining our cast of industry elites, AmCham China is very excited to host Dr. Xu Mingqiang, CTO of One Commercial Partner, Microsoft Greater China, as one of our expert speakers at the 2018 Technology and Innovation Summit. For decades, Xu has been at the forefront of China’s digital transformation, aiding local companies and MNCs alike to revolutionize their businesses and turn towards the Internet.
However, digital transformation can be tricky when operating in such a specific business and regulatory environment as China’s. Despite this, Xu has found that the biggest barrier for multinationals has historically been, more than anything, their misconceptions and lack of fundamental understanding of the disruptive technologies necessary for transformation. Change has been difficult for many, and truly understanding the intersection of traditional strengths and emerging technologies has proved a formidable challenge.
Xu often met with resistance in terms of security concerns, citing mentality as the biggest obstacle for most MNCs. For example, many industry leaders simply could not imagine their data being safer with anyone but themselves. But Xu, through careful education, demonstrated that Microsoft’s Cloud service, and indeed, all Cloud services are now the frontier of data security.
“In addition to us being really diligent in defending and providing the security for our customers,” says Xu, “we’re also applying the latest cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to understand the internet traffic. So, when the AI detects a certain anomaly, it then provides a shield in front of the customer. This is the best approach Cloud vendors provide today.”
Transforming this commonly-held, resistant mentality was really the first key to digital transformation, according to Xu. Once there was an understanding of Microsoft’s core competencies in terms of data security, business insights, and newfound capacity provided by the Cloud, the revelations clients had in regards to the technology were endless.
“For example, Coca-Cola has this lid with a code that the consumer can scan, making them eligible for some new rewards, which Coca-Cola could track dynamically. They could see which regions had been participating, and they could change and adjust their digital marketing campaign on demand. This had never happened in the past. Before, it had always been only at the end of a campaign where results could be seen, and only then modifications be made. Now with Cloud, we can do this in real time, and it changes the way that campaigns are launched and managed.”
Xu describes that over the years, there’s often a five-year cycle in terms of technology adoption. For Cloud it took about five years, and Xu believes the same is next for Blockchain, citing endless examples of the technology’s application. “With Blockchain there will be some very interesting scenarios that will make it easier for the manufacturing companies to raise capital and to finance their projects, for example,” says Xu, “There is electronic trading of bonds, with Blockchain it actually removes all these data silos and it actually makes it easier to manage and monitor the whole process. The examples just go on and on.”
On September 20, Xu Mingqiang will join our C-Suite Dialogue at the 2018 Technology and Innovation Summit, explaining how he’s helped spearhead digital transformation in the past, and how he plans to keep doing so well into the future.
Join us for this momentous occasion as AmCham China celebrates its first Tech and Innovation Summit.
Click here for more information and register for your tickets