Management Team

Dr. Jun Peng co-founded Pony.ai in 2016 and currently serves as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to co-founding Pony.ai, Dr. Peng served as the Chief Architect of Baidu from 2011 to 2016, where he was in charge of the R&D of Baidu’s autonomous driving unit. Prior to that, Dr. Peng worked as a software engineer at Google between 2005 and 2011, specializing in back-end and front-end advertising systems. Dr. Peng obtained a bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University, a master’s degree from the State University of New York-Buffalo, and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Dr. Tiancheng Lou co-founded Pony.ai in 2016 and currently serves as a Director and Chief Technology Officer. Prior to co-founding Pony.ai, Dr. Lou worked at Quora and Baidu. At Baidu, he was recognized as the youngest Principal Engineer. Prior to that, Dr. Lou worked as an engineer at Google from 2012 to 2016, joining the autonomous driving unit in his last year there. Dr. Lou holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a Ph.D. in computer science from Tsinghua University. Dr. Lou is well-known as a top computer programmer and is a 10-year medalist of the TopCoder competitions and 2-time Google Code Jam champion, a global programming competition.

Dr. Haojun Wang joined Pony.ai in 2016 and currently serves as Chief Financial Officer. He also heads the human resources team. He is responsible for corporate financing transactions and oversees financial planning and management matters. Prior to joining Pony.ai, Dr. Wang worked at Baidu as a software architect and then a senior software architect from 2014 to 2016. Prior to that, Dr. Wang worked at IBM as an advisory software engineer from 2009 to 2014 and worked at Shanghai Online as software engineer from 1998 to 2001. Dr. Wang holds a bachelor’s degree in information engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and a Ph.D. in computer science from University of Southern California.

Mr. Ning Zhang has served as a Vice President since 2017. Mr. Zhang serves as a Vice President, General Manager of Pony.ai’s Beijing R&D Center and Head of its autonomous driving system. Prior to joining Pony.ai, Mr. Zhang worked at Google as an engineer from 2014 to 2017. He studied under the tutelage of Academician Yao Qizhi (the only Turing Award winner in China) and was a member of the first Yao Class of Tsinghua University. He received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Tsinghua University and a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Waterloo in Canada.

Mr. Hengyu Li joined Pony.ai in 2017 and currently serves as a Vice President. Mr. Li established Pony.ai’s Beijing R&D center from scratch and is currently overseeing its robotruck business. Prior to joining Pony.ai, Mr. Li worked at Baidu as a senior engineer in its advertisement search and autonomous driving unit from 2008 to 2017 and was awarded the 2013 Baidu “Million Dollar Prize”. Mr. Li holds a bachelor’s degree in electronics and information technology from Sichuan University and a master’s degree in communication and information system from Sichuan University.

Dr. Luyi Mo joined Pony.ai in 2018 and currently serves as a Vice President. She is responsible for overseeing Pony.ai’s Guangzhou and Shenzhen offices as well as its robotaxi service and operation. Prior to joining Pony.ai, Dr. Mo worked as a senior software engineer at NetEase, specializing in game engine development. Dr. Mo holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Zhejiang University and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Hong Kong. During her time in university, Dr. Mo was the first female world champion from China since 1977 at the 35^th Annual ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals in 2011.

Tian Gao Esq. joined Pony.ai in 2021 and currently serves as a Vice President and Chief of Staff. He works closely with Pony.ai’s Chief Executive Officer in furthering Pony.ai’s corporate strategy, corporate finance, commercialization and other important company initiatives. He also heads Pony.ai’s global legal and public relation teams and serves as General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Directors. Prior to joining Pony.ai, Tian Gao Esq. worked at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s New York and Beijing offices from 2010 to 2021, serving as an associate and then as a counsel. Tian Gao Esq. holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Renmin University of China, a master’s degree in law from the University of Pennsylvania, and a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago. Tian Gao Esq. is a member of the New York Bar.