Asia Start: AI + Digital China Expedition is a 5-day immersive executive program designed to give business leaders and entrepreneurs a first-hand look at the AI revolution and digital transformation in China. This edition focuses on China’s digital ecosystem, taking participants on a strategic learning journey through Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen—four of the country’s most advanced smart cities and tech innovation hubs.
China is home to some of the leading AI companies in the world and is driving the artificial intelligence industry in Asia. With its digital economy projected to reach $1.2 trillion by 2025, Asia offers unparalleled opportunities for those looking to scale their business, tap into AI for business leaders, and understand China’s AI strategy and digital innovation ecosystem.
Throughout this program, you’ll gain exclusive access to companies at the forefront of AI technology in China, including Alibaba, Unitree Robotics, Meituan, Hitachi, Sanofi and Xpeng Motors. You’ll go behind the scenes to explore their AI development, digital platforms, machine learning for business leaders, and unique business models that are shaping the future of Asia’s tech landscape. Asia Start: AI + Digital China Expedition offers a unique opportunity to connect to influential players in China’s business ecosystem, including executives, entrepreneurs and investors enabling you to build valuable relationships and unlock exponential business growth in the region.
Alibaba is a global e-commerce giant with significant investments in AI, operating over 10 proprietary large language models and deploying AI to support more than 1 billion users across its platforms.
Unitree Robotics is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of consumer-grade quadruped robots. The company is especially known for its agile dog-like robots and has recently expanded into humanoid robots, combining dynamic motion control with affordability.
Meituan is a leading Chinese technology-driven retail company. As of late 2024, Meituan’s platform hosts approximately 362 million monthly active users (MAUs), positioning it among China’s most advanced data-driven service applications. As of May 2025, Meituan has a market cap of USD 57 billion.
Pharmaceutical company leveraging AI technologies across the drug R&D process, from target discovery to clinical development.
Xpeng, a leading Chinese EV manufacturer, has expanded into the frontier of AI-powered mobility, developing next-generation aerial vehicles with vertical take-off capability and strategic partnerships with giants like Volkswagen. Xpeng’s flying-car subsidiary, AeroHT, is valued at USD 2 billion and offers an inspiring blueprint for mobility innovation.
Manufacturer and service provider of high-end medical devices
Understand how China is pioneering new models of innovation through artificial intelligence, digital business innovation, and corporate digital transformation strategies that are reshaping global industries. Learn from a team of experienced faculty members with deep industry expertise.
Learn from behind-the-scenes dialogues with China’s top tech giants and digital ecosystems, including Alibaba, Unitree Robotics, Meituan, Xpeng Motors, learning first-hand how they are shaping the future of the creator and shared economy, global e-commerce, supply chain, healthcare and electric vehicles, etc.
Identify and establish key partnerships with leading companies, customers, suppliers, manufacturers and digital ecosystems across China and Asia to expand your global footprint.
Build valuable relationships with China’s disruptive innovators, gaining insights into their strategies for scaling businesses in a rapidly changing digital economy. Join China’s influential and increasingly globally connected business community.
This program is ideal for C-suite executives, decision-makers, innovation leaders, and founders looking to explore China’s business ecosystem, especially those interested in investing in China, expanding their business in Asia, or learning strategies to expand businesses through digital transformation. Join a diverse group of like-minded peers in engaging cross-cultural dialogues, fostering collaborative relationships, and uniting in a shared commitment to driving digital growth.
Typical profiles include:
Founder/Co-founder, CEO, Investors, Digital Transformation Leader, CTO, CDO, VP, Head of Strategy, BD Director, Director of Sales, General Manager, Advisor & Chief AI Officer
All fees quoted are exclusive of any value-added or other indirect taxes that may occur. The program fee includes tuition, teaching materials, lunch, two networking dinners, Taichi, and local and intercity transfers. The cost of hotel accommodation and international travel to and from China are not covered.
*Please contact the program manager for scholarship opportunities, alumni and group rates.
In the unlikely event that a program is cancelled, participants will receive a full refund of any tuition paid, or may choose to transfer their enrollment to a future session or another CKGSB open-enrollment program, based on availability.
Founding Dean and Dean's Distinguished Chair Professor of China Business and Globalization, CKGSB
Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of Information Systems, Executive Academic Director for Business Scholars Program and Director of the Center for Digital Transformation, CKGSB
Professor of Accounting, Executive Academic Director for Executive Education Programs and Executive Academic Director for MBA Program, CKGSB
It’s one thing to read about China, another to watch it on television — but it’s a completely different thing to experience it. The Asia Start program gives you not just the feeling, but the real-life experience. You also have the opportunity to meet CEOs from around the world, discuss different topics, and reflect on the lectures. I call it a true learning journey, especially through the meetings with companies. We discussed everything from different angles, economies, views, and experiences. It’s a powerful process where you learn a lot from top CEOs and entrepreneurs, and it truly inspires you — what to do in your business, how to work, and how to develop your company.
The connections with the companies here were, truly enlightening — the company visits were the best part of the experience. Coming from Brazil, we are geographically far away, and it had always seemed to me that it would be hard to enter the market and build good partnerships here. But now that I’m here, I realize we are more similar than I thought. I feel much more comfortable about building bridges between Asia, China, and Brazil.
I am leaving Asia Start inspired, full of ideas for our business, and with lots of thoughts in my mind. I definitely recommend everyone to be here. When you are a senior leader, it’s about what you get from the program — how it will help you be future-ready, how it will help you transform. And Asia Start is the one. I’m leaving the program satisfied, happy, inspired — but most of all, with one important message in my head: I have to come here every year to stay future-ready.
It’s a great opportunity to delve into Chinese culture and the Chinese way of doing business. I believe Asia Start is the best platform to truly understand both the culture and the entire ecosystem. Comparing it with all the other universities where I have attended executive education programs, I can say this is excellent — one of the best.
I believe in continuous learning, and I believe that in order to do good deals and make progress, you always need to better understand the other side. That’s why I decided to join the program and take the maximum value from it. It’s very fast-paced — I don’t see many better ways to extract information and gain a real feeling for the Asian markets in just one week than Asia Start. The professors are extremely professional and experienced. They are not only academic; you can feel they come from the business world and show you how things work in practice, which is incredibly valuable. There is also a very good cohort — you make friends for life. I think this is very important, because business and life are about people before anything else.
It was a very eye-opening experience because of what’s going on in China — how modern it is, how innovative, and how you can really feel the entrepreneurial spirit everywhere. You can see that the professors have enormous experience gained abroad, and they are bringing this experience back to China. It’s a wonderful combination of knowledge, experience, and the way they deliver the messages — in a very simple, easy-to-understand way. At the same time, the ideas are fresh and new. What I enjoyed the most was the combination: having lectures that make you think, and then seeing it all in practice during the company visits. We also had the opportunity to meet representatives of respected companies at dinners in a more informal setting. All of this made the program very valuable to me.
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