Analyst, writer, and storyteller

I’m Grace Shao, the founder of AI Proem and an independent analyst and writer on AI business and strategy across China and Asia-Pacific. I’m also an inaugural fellow of the Hong Kong Global AI Governance Hub at the University of Hong Kong.

I began my career as a tech and business journalist in Asia, and then moved into strategy, working for and with major tech companies including Alibaba, PayPal, Kuaishou, and Lenovo. Then at FGS Global, a leading strategic advisory firm, I focused on tech companies’ cross-border positioning, capital markets activity, and C-suite advisory.

Today, I run AI Proem, a newsletter, podcast, and research platform on the business and strategy of AI. It is followed by more than 13,000 readers across big tech, AI startups, venture capital, public markets, policy, and journalism.

My analysis has been cited by Bloomberg, Fortune, TIME, AFP, the BBC, Reuters, SCMP, and Rest of World, and I’ve written for Bloomberg, Fortune, The Diplomat, and the Economist Intelligence Unit.

I’ve been interviewed on Bloomberg’s Odd Lots and Bloomberg TV, BBC Radio 4, the Big Technology Podcast, High Capacity and many more. I have spoken at industry and investor events, including SuperAI and the Société Générale and UBS investor conferences, and been an invited speaker at universities including Tsinghua, Peking University, and HKU.

Bridging the culture and knowledge gaps between the West and China has always been personal. Growing up moving between Mainland China, Canada, and the U.S. every few years, I was always the new kid lost in translation. Storytelling became my way of connecting with people and making sense of the world, and it took me from the Alberta School of Business to Tsinghua University and Columbia Journalism School.

That same drive led me to leave a corporate career and build AI Proem, in the hope of helping investors, policymakers, and builders understand the tech landscape with more nuance.