Dr. Jun Peng is our Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Peng is responsible for overall strategic planning, business development, operations and management of the Group. Prior to founding the Group, Dr. Peng served as the Chief Architect at Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU, HKEX: 9888) in charge of the research and development of Baidu’s autonomous driving unit. Prior to that, Dr. Peng worked at Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL, GOOG), during which time he received the highest internal honor, the Google Founder’s Award. Dr. Peng obtained a bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University in the PRC, and a doctorate degree from Stanford University in the United States.
Dr. Tiancheng Lou is our executive Director and Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Lou is responsible for overall research and development, and management of product and technology initiatives of our Group. Prior to founding the Group, Dr. Lou worked at Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU, HKEX: 9888) from April 2016. Prior to that, Dr. Lou worked at Quora as a software engineer from January 2016. Dr. Lou served as an engineer at Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL, GOOG) from October 2012 to January 2016 and joined their autonomous driving unit. Dr. Lou is widely recognized as a top computer programmer, having been a 16-year medalist in the TopCoder competitions and a two-time champion of the global programming competition Google Code Jam. Dr. Lou obtained a bachelor’s degree in computer science in the PRC in July 2008 and a doctorate degree in computer science in computer science from Tsinghua University in June 2012.
Mr. Fei Zhang is our non-executive Director, and is responsible for providing professional advice to the Board. Mr. Zhang has been appointed as our Director since December 2017. Mr. Zhang has over 20 years of venture capital experience, with a focus in the areas of AI/cloud computing, social/digital media and entertainment, and electric vehicle/autonomous driving. He was a partner at Ceyuan Ventures in Beijing from 2004 to 2007, where he initiated and led several investments. Since January 2011, Mr. Zhang was a partner at 5Y Capital (formerly known as Morningside Venture Capital). Around 2016, he founded and has been a fund manager and the Responsible Officer of Neumann Advisory Hong Kong Limited, a SFC Type 9 licensed corporation. Mr. Zhang has been serving as a director of Kuaishou Technology (HKEX: 1024) since February 2014 and re-designated as a non-executive director since November 2020, where he is primarily responsible for participating in the formulation of business plans and strategic and major decisions. Mr. Zhang received his bachelor’s degree in engineering in automation and control from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, the PRC, in July 1994 and his MBA from the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai, the PRC, in May 1999.
Mr. Takeo Hamada is our non-executive Director, and is responsible for providing professional advice to the Board. Mr. Hamada has been appointed as our Director since October 2023. Mr. Hamada joined Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM (“TMC”)) in April 1991. Mr. Hamada was dispatched to Toyota Motor North America, Inc from January 2012 to January 2015, where he was responsible for electrical and electronic engineering development. Upon his return in January 2015, Mr. Hamada joined the IVI system development division, where he was promoted to general manager in April 2016. Mr. Hamada later served as the general manager of the connected management division from January 2021 to January 2022. He then joined Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd. in January 2022 and has been serving as the executive vice president since then. Mr. Hamada currently also serves as the project manager of TMC. Mr. Hamada obtained a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Kobe University in Japan in March 1991.
Mr. Jackson Peter Tai was appointed as our independent non-executive Director in November 2024 and is responsible for providing independent opinion and judgment to the Board. Mr. Tai has been serving as the independent non-executive director of WuXi Biologics (Cayman) Inc. (HKEX: 2269) since May 2023, the director of SEED Therapeutics, Inc. since June 2023 and the director of Novita Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since January 2023. He previously served as director of Mastercard Inc (NYSE: MA) from September 2008 to May 2023, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) from November 2013 to May 2023 and HSBC Holdings plc (LDN: HSBA, HKEX: 0005, NYSE: HSBC) from September 2016 to April 2023. Prior to that, Mr. Tai held various key positions in DBS Group Holdings Limited and DBS Bank Limited from 1999 to December 2007, including vice chairman, chief executive officer, chief operating officer, president and chief financial officer. Prior to that, Mr. Tai worked for 25 years in the investment banking division of J.P. Morgan & Co. Incorporated. Mr. Tai obtained a bachelor of science degree in management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the United States in June 1972 and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University in the United States in June 1974.
Dr. Mark Qiu was appointed as our independent non-executive Director in November 2024 and is responsible for providing independent opinion and judgment to the Board. Dr. Qiu founded China Renaissance Capital Investment, an alternative investment manager and promoter of private equity investment funds focused on Chinese and China-related businesses in 2005 and is its chief executive officer and founding managing partner. Prior to that, Dr. Qiu joined CNOOC Limited, a company principally engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil and gas and the shares of which are listed on the Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange (HKEX: 0883, SSE: 600938) from 2001 to March 2005, and served as the chief financial officer and senior vice president. From 2011 to May 2022, Dr. Qiu also served as an independent director at Best Inc., a logistics company the shares of which are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BEST). In addition to the aforementioned roles, Dr. Qiu was also the chairman of the audit committee of Best Inc. Dr. Qiu obtained a doctorate degree in decision science from the University of Texas at Arlington in the United States in December 1990, and a master’s degree in business administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States in June 1998.
Ms. Asmau Ahmed was appointed as our independent non-executive Director in November 2024 and is responsible for providing independent opinion and judgment to the Board. Ms. Ahmed currently serves as a director at QuinStreet, Inc. (Nasdaq: QNST) since July 2021. Prior to that, Ms. Ahmed served as a director, product management at Google LLC, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL, GOOG) from 2021 to April 2024, served at Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) from September 2018 to July 2021, and served as a senior director, customer program at Capital One (NYSE: COF) from September 2016 to March 2018. Ms. Ahmed founded Plum Perfect (which was launched in 2014) and was the chief executive officer of Plum Perfect prior to joining Capital One. Earlier in her career, Ms. Ahmed served at and was later promoted as a manager of Deloitte from July 2005 to September 2012. She has also been a member of the board of advisors of the Yale Entrepreneurial Society. Ms. Ahmed obtained a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Virginia in the United States in May 2000 and a master’s degree in business administration from Columbia Business School in the United States in May 2006.