Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley · March 18, 2026 Shenzhen Bay Innovation Center

Keynote · Practical Pathways to Educational Equity and Community Collaboration

Yunbo Gu · Chairman & CEO, Silicon Valley Cultural Association (SVCA) Member of the College Board and CSIET. Spent fifteen years as ELA and ESL department head in Arizona’s largest public school district. Dedicated to reducing educational inequality and guiding students from diverse backgrounds into STEM and AI career paths.

Panel 1 · AI in the Enterprise: Transforming How Businesses Operate and Compete

Joseph G. Rios, PhD · Founder & CEO, Dakodit (Moderator) Stanford PhD in International Comparative Education. Led AI English learning tool design at Google, directed entrepreneurship programs at Columbia Business School, and led global employee development at Intel.

Ken Chester Jr · CEO, Anthropilot Serial entrepreneur and Cornell I-Corps alumnus. Co-founded Anthropilot (AI-assisted robotics) and Vybd (agentic commerce). Previously founded CultureMesh, promoted by the U.S. State Department and adopted by multiple foreign embassies.

Alexander Sukhanov · Co-Founder, FastshotAI Co-founder of Fastshot (YC F25) and former infrastructure architect at Cisco / Cisco Meraki. Over 8 years of experience in high-load systems, microservices architecture, and AI application development.

Akash Mahajan · Senior Analyst, McKinsey & Company Master of Design Innovation from UC Berkeley. Background spanning engineering, design thinking, and business strategy with research experience at IIT and NUS. Specializes in translating AI and design innovation into business solutions.

Donald Cheng · Founder, Mosaic Technologies Over thirty years of executive experience across deep tech and manufacturing. Led a $575M+ supply chain transformation at Applied Materials. Managing partner of ACSIOM Capital, focused on systems-driven enterprises across supply chain, real estate, and AI infrastructure.

Yulia Stepanova · Technical Product Specialist, WhatsApp Former Technical Product Specialist at Meta’s WhatsApp. Over fifteen years of QA experience across iOS, Android, and web, with prior roles at Facebook, Google (Google Photos), and Apple.

Keynote · Site Selection & Expansion Strategies for Retail Brands Entering the U.S.

Scott Lifschultz · Founder, Evolve Retail Advisors Over thirty years of retail commercial real estate experience. Clients include MIXUE, Equinox, Hilton, Marriott, HSBC, CVS, and NIO. Previously served as NIO’s Head of U.S. Real Estate.

Panel 2 · Key Decisions & Survival Playbook for Global Brands Going Offline in America

Elsie Wang · Co-Founder, Hibee (Moderator) Experienced in entrepreneurship, community collaboration, and brand partnerships. Previously at MiraclePlus, Industrial Securities, and Hengtai Securities.

Kathy Wang · CEO, Broadar Master of Design from UC Berkeley. Provides AI and digital growth solutions for leading brands including Driscoll’s and TARANIS. Winner of Red Dot, iF, and SXSW Innovation Award. Four-time MIT Reality Hackathon champion (2017–2020).

Sophia (Fei) Wang · Head of Marketing & Strategy, Stealth Startup; formerly at Thermo Fisher Scientific, PerkinElmer, Danaher, Saint-Gobain Over eighteen years of global marketing experience. Deep expertise in integrated marketing, digital transformation, and data-driven growth across major international corporations.

Woody Hu · Business Director, IntelliPro Head of IntelliPro’s New York Region and first Greater China Partner of a multinational executive search firm. Over a decade of high-end recruitment experience in the consumer sector.

Sarah Shan · Regional Operations Manager, TARANIS Manages the full lifecycle of TARANIS U.S. stores from site selection to daily operations. Specializes in building replicable and scalable overseas store systems across multiple markets.

Milly Cheung · Director, Lee & Associates Over twenty years of premium real estate experience across China and the U.S. Focuses on helping overseas companies establish offices and retail spaces in New York.

Panel 3 · Brand Storytelling, IP Synergies & New Growth Engines for Cross-Border Brands

Viola Shu · Financial Literacy Educator (Moderator) M.S. in Integrated Marketing from NYU. Previously Senior UX Researcher at Kuaishou Technology, leading user research and data-driven product design decisions.

Allen Yang · Founder & CEO, Red Harp Union Serial entrepreneur providing go-to-market solutions for global brands such as Anker, Dreame, and Amazfit. Former President of Bayline E-commerce (acquired by BlueFocus), ranked top three in China. Founded VIPStore.com with backing from Intel Capital and Macy’s.

Rachel Li · Director of Partnerships, East Goes Global Over six years in sports and entertainment marketing. Worked with the Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Dwyane Wade, and Westlife. Led campaigns including IShowSpeed’s China tour and Westlife’s WeChat concert.

Jonathon · Founder, Topify.ai LLM researcher at Stanford University. Core contributor to open-source AI agent projects including MetaGPT, with papers published at ICLR and other top conferences.

Frank Huang · Founder & CEO, FÓKAI Duke Fuqua MBA. Previously in brand development at Hasbro and Universal Pictures, then joined NIO and Rivian for North American market expansion. Now leads FÓKAI, delivering global IP licensing solutions for consumer brands.

Topics Covered

• Where to prioritize AI investment when entering the U.S. market

• The gap between an AI demo and a real business case

• Site selection logic and lease negotiation for a first U.S. store

• When and how online-first brands should move offline

• Talent strategy and operational foundations for a first store

• Building a brand narrative for global audiences

• What celebrity, IP, and creator partnerships actually deliver

• How AI agents are reshaping marketing and growth systems