Asia Start is an immersive AI and digital transformation program for business leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors, combining a four-day Core Program with an optional two-day Extended Immersion in Shenzhen. The core experience takes you through Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, with faculty sessions and company visits focused on China’s AI and digital economy.
China is a major force in global AI development. Stanford’s 2026 AI Index reports that China leads in AI publication volume, citations, and patent grants, while the performance gap between leading U.S. and Chinese AI models has effectively closed.
Through faculty-led learning and direct exposure to China’s digital ecosystem, you examine how AI and digital technologies are being applied in business and consider how those approaches could inform growth, investment, and transformation in your own organization.
The Extended Immersion is an optional two-day add-on in Shenzhen, running directly after the Core Program on November 6–7, 2026, or April 23–24, 2027. It is designed for participants looking to connect with potential investors or strategic partners, as well as those more focused on hardware, robotics, and advanced manufacturing than on platforms and software. Shenzhen, often called the Silicon Valley of China, provides a close-up view of the companies and industrial capabilities behind these sectors.
The immersion adds visits to DJI, a global leader in consumer and industrial drones, and Pony.ai, an autonomous driving company developing and operating robotaxi technology. You will also take part in the Investment and Partnership Pitch Event, connecting directly with Chinese entrepreneurs, executives, investors, and potential business partners to explore opportunities for collaboration, investment, and international growth.
| Core Program | With Extended Immersion |
|---|---|
3 lectures | 4 lectures |
5 company visits | 7 company visits (incl. DJI and China’s leading autonomous driving unicorn - Pony.ai) |
3 cities | 4 cities (incl. Shenzhen, the Silicon Valley of China) |
- | Investment and Partnership Pitch Event |
Professor: XIANG Bing
Faculty session: AI Driven Transformation and its Potential Implications
Company visit: ByteDance
Company visits: Xiaomi and JD.com
Professors: LI Yang and SUN Tianshu
Faculty sessions: AI Powered Social Media Marketing; AI Business Architect & AI Agent Strategy: Frontiers and Examples from China
Company visits: Deep Robotics and BrainCo
Extended Immersion
Company visits: Pony.ai and DJI
Extended Immersion
Professor: ZHANG Weining
Faculty session: AI Agents-Powered Organizational Transformation
Additional program activity: Investment and Partnership Pitch Event
Download the Asia Start brochure for the full schedule, including dates, times, venues, and other program details.
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, including ByteDance, Xiaomi, JD.com, Deep Robotics, and BrainCo, 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.
Connect with Chinese investors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders to explore new collaborations, partnerships, and growth opportunities during an exclusive investor & strategic partnership pitch event
Asia Start includes visits to leading companies across technology, AI, e-commerce, consumer electronics, neurotechnology, and autonomous mobility. Five company visits are included in the Core Program, with additional visits available as part of the Extended Immersion. We intend to arrange each company field study with the following structure where appropriate:a company tour, Management Presentation, a Q&A dialogue, and a networking opportunity. Hosts in previous editions have included the Vice President of Alibaba Cloud Group, the General Manager of Tencent Cloud Europe, and senior leaders at BYD and JD.com.
Asia Start is designed for senior decision-makers seeking deeper insight into Asia’s digital economy, emerging technologies, new market opportunities, and AI-powered digital transformation.
Typical participant profiles include:
Asia Start has no formal entry requirements, and admission is based on a review of your application. You do not need previous experience doing business in China to apply. The program is delivered in English and is designed primarily for founders, executives, investors, digital transformation leaders, and other senior decision-makers.
Asia Start combines faculty insights, direct exposure to leading technology companies, and opportunities to connect with executives, entrepreneurs, and investors. The program is designed to help you better understand China and Asia’s digital economy while identifying opportunities for growth, collaboration, and digital transformation.
You will leave with:
Founding Dean and Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of China Business and Globalization, CKGSB
Associate Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean for MBA Program, 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
ZHANG Weining, Professor of Accounting, Executive Academic Director for Executive Education Programs and Executive Academic Director for MBA Program, CKGSB (Advisor to Tencent, Alibaba, etc.)
* Only as part of the Extended Immersion
I’m very happy with the program. I don’t see many better ways to extract information and the feeling of the Asian markets in one week. The professors are extremely experienced — you feel they’re from the business, not only academic — and the cohort is excellent: you make friends for life.
Based in India, the perspective you get of China isn’t unfiltered. These perspectives are quite unique from what we read or get influenced by from Silicon Valley.
After meeting top leaders at ToJoy, JD.com, Tencent and BYD, I’m leaving the program very satisfied, very inspired — and with a clear message: I have to come back here every year to stay future-ready.
China is now the global reference for how to implement AI and bring real return on investment within company processes. It was an excellent program to get inside these companies, their mindset, and how they get a return.
Seeing Unitree and what they’re doing with robotics will help me innovate how we use robotics to improve operating-room efficiency — preparing for and executing procedures, to improve patient outcomes.
Asia Start is unique. We meet companies like Alibaba and the automotive brands, and their perspective is totally different from Europe — the scale, the implementation, the cost. I can’t find anything comparable in Europe.
We’ve been buying fabrics from China for many years, and I came to get to know my suppliers better and feel where Chinese culture is now. It has been a wonderful experience — I’m really impressed by what’s going on here, and I now know how to deal with my suppliers a lot better.
For someone like me, who’s been living abroad for a long time and lost connection with China, this short program is the perfect way to reconnect — to catch up on the latest technology, the politics, and what’s really going on, from different angles and different places.
I’m fascinated by AI’s impact on organizations, and right now, if you want to understand AI, you have to understand AI in China. I’m very happy to be here, witnessing change at a tremendous pace.
It’s one thing to read about China, another to watch it on television — and a completely different thing to experience it. Asia Start gives you that real-life experience, with professors who are involved in China’s biggest companies and bring real business examples into the lectures.
There’s no substitute for seeing things with your own eyes. Going to Unitree, Tencent, Alibaba and BYD, meeting the executives and asking the tough questions — I can now talk about it with so much more authority.
The professors are very sophisticated and outstanding, and they teach through real case studies — how Chinese companies tackle challenges in the global arena. For any overseas business that wants to come to China, knowing how to satisfy Chinese regulations and demand is essential.
This was my first multicultural program, and it’s wonderful — you understand the perspective of people from very different cultural worlds. It also helped me eliminate some stereotypes I had. Diversity is always a plus.
Having attended Harvard and Johns Hopkins, I have extremely high expectations of academic presentation. The teaching component of this program far exceeded my expectations and was fully in line with my previous educational experience.
What made Asia Start special is that it wasn’t only academic — it was a truly immersive experience. It gave me an understanding of how companies in Asia are quickly adapting to the AI era.
The program is very diverse — a high-tech EV factory, vertical farming, a medical-devices company, huge e-commerce businesses. Something different every hour, every day. It gives you a real, huge perspective.
I’m amazed by the suite of company visits. Some of these top companies are very hard to access, so I was impressed by CKGSB’s network in giving us back-of-house tours. Hearing directly from top management is priceless — you can’t get it from reading or a TV interview.
Compared to all the other universities I’ve attended for executive education, this is excellent — one of the best. The professors are very well prepared, with strong real-world experience.
What I enjoyed most is the combination of lectures and seeing it in practice when we visit the companies. We also meet representatives at dinners in more informal settings. The whole mix makes this program very valuable to me.
The cohort itself was very inspiring — it was great to have a week with all those people. And the connections with the companies were enlightening — being inside Tencent and JD.com. That was the best part.
CKGSB has been EQUIS-accredited since 2015 and received five-year EQUIS re-accreditation in 2021. We also received our initial AACSB business accreditation in 2021.
As of August 2026, our community includes:
Complete the online application in English. CKGSB’s Admissions Team reviews your professional background and learning objectives, typically within one to two working days. If accepted, you receive a participation confirmation letter and invoice; your place is confirmed once CKGSB receives the signed letter and full payment. A logistics guide follows before the program.
Hotel accommodation is not included in the program fee and must be paid for separately. After enrollment, CKGSB provides a logistics guide with recommended hotels and intercity travel arrangements to help you organize your stay.
Yes. Asia Start is delivered in English, and interpretation is provided if a guest speaker does not speak English.
Asia Start is a fixed-format program for entrepreneurs, executives, and investors focused on China’s AI and digital ecosystem. Its mandatory four-day core program runs across Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, with an optional two-day Shenzhen extension.
Intelligent China is a longer, 12-day executive program delivered through three four-day modules, with a more concentrated focus on AI, electric vehicles, robotics, and advanced manufacturing. Participants may complete all three modules or select individual modules.
China Immersion is designed for organizations, particularly business schools and their MBA and EMBA cohorts. Its duration, locations, language, content, and company visits can be customized around the organization’s objectives.
No. Completing Asia Start gives participants access to the CKGSB Global Community, but it does not by itself confer CKGSB Alumni Status. Alumni Status is earned after completing 22 program days, or 128 course hours, within three years.
Sometimes. Pre-reading may be shared before the program depending on the faculty and edition, but there is no required preparation at the application stage.
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