Alvin Foo on China Speed, 18-month product cycles, Europe’s execution problem — and why the future should be “China and Europe,” not “China versus Europe.”
Interview with Nan Zhong, ex-Bytedance, ex-UBER.
Im Gespräch Van Long Tu und Ralf Haller
Two Operating Systems. One Future?
A response to Jochen Sengpiehl’s excellent article “The China Shock. This Is Only the Beginning.”
The West debates the category. China creates the supply chain.
This is not a one-way conference.
Each session includes time for interactive Q&A and direct discussion with our speakers and technology leaders from China, Asia, Switzerland and Europe.
Bring the questions that matter to your company :
The goal is not just to hear expert perspectives — but to give participants the opportunity to ask their own strategic questions and get practical answers.
We will discuss opportunities across areas including :
Successful collaboration requires trust, transparency and clear governance.
Topics include :
Understand:
This event is neither pro-China nor anti-China, nor does it promote any single country or market.
Its purpose is to foster an open, balanced and fact-based discussion among experienced business leaders.
Asia is not one homogeneous technology market. China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and other Asian economies offer different strengths, opportunities and challenges.
We believe that informed dialogue is the foundation for good strategic decisions.
The event opens with a 20-minute Executive Competitiveness Briefing presenting the latest global developments in:
Forget the headlines. We start with a practical look inside China's technology ecosystem: the companies, entrepreneurs, investors, platforms and enormous domestic market driving one of the world's fastest-moving innovation environments.
The question : What is fundamentally different — and what should Swiss executives understand about it?
Beyond DeepSeek and the familiar names, a new generation of Chinese AI companies is emerging.
Who are the players? Where are they technologically strong? How do they compete — and where could collaboration with Swiss companies create value?
The question : Which Chinese AI players should be on our radar?
Products developed in months. Relentless iteration. Rapid customer feedback. Fierce competition. Fast decisions.
What is behind China's extraordinary innovation velocity — and which parts of this operating model can European companies actually adopt?
The question : What can Swiss companies learn from China Speed?
China is moving rapidly from digital AI into Physical AI — autonomous vehicles, robotics and intelligent machines operating in the real world.
Neolix provides a concrete example: autonomous delivery vehicles already operating at scale —and potentially coming to Switzerland.
The question:What happens when autonomous systems move from pilots to infrastructure?
AI is moving from answering questions to executing tasks.
Tencent offers a view into what happens when AI agents meet one of the world's largest digital ecosystems — and what enterprises can learn from deploying AI at enormous scale.
The question:What does the next generation of enterprise AI look like?
China has developed a rapidly expanding ecosystem of powerful foundation models — many available as open-weight models.
What can they do? How do theycompare? And could Chinese models become a realistic additional technology option for European enterprises?
The question: Do European companies need a second AI ecosystem?
China's advantage is not simply lower cost or more engineers. It is an operating system built around speed, experimentation, manufacturing capability, brutal competitionand rapid scaling.
An insider's perspective on how that system works.
The question: Which parts of China's innovation machine can Switzerland learn from — and which cannot becopied?
Move beyond the abstract debate.
Which technologies and industries offer realistic opportunities for Swiss–Asian collaboration? Where are the complementarities? And where should companies remain cautious?
The question:Where can collaboration create genuine competitive advantage for Switzerland?
The US technology ecosystem has been Switzerland's dominant international technology reference point for decades.
But as China and Asia build globally competitive capabilities in AI, robotics, autonomous systems, batteries, EVs and advanced manufacturing, should Swiss companies develop a second technology ecosystem?
The panel tackles the difficult questions:
Collaborate or compete?
What can we learn from China Speed?
Where can Chinese technology strengthen Swiss competitiveness?
What about trust, IP, regulation and geopolitical risk?
And what should Swiss CEOs actually do next?
What did we learn about the players, China Speed, technology collaboration and the implications for Swiss competitiveness?
And most importantly:
What should we do differently on Monday morning?
Meet the speakers · Explore partnerships · Experience the technology
High-Tech Connect brings together global technology leaders and Swiss decision-makers to explore the most important shifts in AI, digital infrastructure, and industrial technology.
The event is built around three central questions.
We will discuss opportunities across areas including :
Successful collaboration requires trust, transparency and clear governance.
Topics include :
controlling machines
optimizing production in real time
managing energy systems
running physical operations
This event is designed for:
Heads of Operations
Heads of Manufacturing
CTOs / CIOs (industrial companies)
Robotics & automation leaders
Energy & infrastructure executives
➤ Not a generic AI audience
A clear view of how AI is used in real-world systems
Understanding of Asia’s deployment speed and approach
Practical insights into implementation challenges
Concrete ideas for your own organization
➤ No hype. Only execution.
High-level keynotes
Asia × Europe comparison sessions
Moderated discussions
Networking with senior peers
➤ Focus: clarity, not volume
A curated selection of:
High-impact startups
Real deployment cases
Proven industrial AI solutions
➤ No pitching. Only relevance.
