IAN CHENG

What followed was a career across five industries and three continents, much of it spent building new sources of growth. At Dun & Bradstreet, he led a US$14 million acquisition in China and its post-merger integration, extending the business from credit risk into digital marketing. At Avery Dennison, the company was pursuing an ambition to grow revenue from US$6 billion to US$9 billion in three years, and he shaped its Asia growth strategy to match. He led seven M&A and strategic investment deals totalling around US$1 billion, including a co-investment alongside Cambridge Innovation Capital and Arm. Through his regional emerging-technology portfolio, he also brought in projects with Amazon, on the technology behind its first cashier-less store, and with Coca-Cola, on its "Share a Coke" campaign. As General Manager at LF Beauty, part of Li & Fung, he held full P&L responsibility for a US$800 million business of 2,300 people, and later led its separation as a standalone company ahead of its sale to private equity firm Hony Capital. At K11, he built a digital ecosystem connecting luxury retail, hospitality and lifestyle businesses.

Today, Cheng leads AI and automation at Jaguar Land Rover, working alongside senior leadership and the C-suite. He has orchestrated the digital capabilities behind a subscription EV charging ecosystem spanning 1.1 million charge points across the UK, Europe and North America, a cornerstone of the company's non-vehicle services strategy.

"AI takes repetitive tasks away, not jobs," he says. It is the conviction behind his view that business transformation must come before AI transformation.

Under the professional moniker Artificial Ian, he publishes The AI Executive Briefing for senior leaders and speaks at international forums hosted by the University of Cambridge, the Financial Times, The Economist and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Born in Hong Kong and based in London, he has lived and worked across mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and the United States, and speaks English, Mandarin and Cantonese. Cheng holds an MBA with Distinction in Corporate Strategy and Finance from London Business School and The University of Hong Kong, and completed executive education at Harvard University in business analytics and big data. Outside work, he is an avid reader and a wine collector.