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March 1, 2022Qi Lu
Qi Lu is a Chinese-American computer scientist and engineer born in Shanghai in 1961. He is a prominent figure in the technology area, where he has occupied prominent positions of multiple companies, including MiraclePlus, Y Combinator China, Baidu, Microsoft Bing, Skype, and Yahoo!. Lu grew up during challenging times in a rural village during the Cultural Revolution in China. He had little to no access to basic needs such as electricity or running water during most of his childhood. After attending school, he started his search for a better future for his family and obtained undergraduate and Master’s degrees in computer science at Fudan University in 1984 and 1987, respectively. He would later become part of this institution’s faculty.(1,2)
Rewarded Talent
During a conference in 1987 given by Edmund M. Clarke, a prominent American computer scientist, Lu showed him his interests and brilliance in the research projects discussed by Clarke. He encouraged him to pursue a Ph.D. program at Carnegie Mellon University.(1,2)
As a response to Lu expressing his concerns about not being able to afford it, several months later, he received a stipend to fulfill an out-of-reach dream, and he moved to Pittsburgh in 1988 with limited resources. He focused his doctoral research on distributed file systems to allow multiple users to share files on a computer network and earned his Ph.D. in 1996. Afterward, he worked as a Research Associate for two years.(1)
During a conference in 1987 given by Edmund M. Clarke, a prominent American computer scientist, Lu showed him his interests and brilliance in the research projects discussed by Clarke. He encouraged him to pursue a Ph.D. program at Carnegie Mellon University.(1,2)
As a response to Lu expressing his concerns about not being able to afford it, several months later, he received a stipend to fulfill an out-of-reach dream, and he moved to Pittsburgh in 1988 with limited resources. He focused his doctoral research on distributed file systems to allow multiple users to share files on a computer network and earned his Ph.D. in 1996. Afterward, he worked as a Research Associate for two years.(1)
Success-chain reaction
After completing his studies, Dr. Qi Lu achieved several positions in which he aimed for Internet-related projects like Research Staff Member at IBM Almaden Research Center and Executive Vice President of Engineering for Search and Search Marketing for Yahoo!. In the latter, Lu started working as a rank-and-file engineer; however, his career advanced promptly. He eventually managed a team of over 3000 engineers overseeing the development of Yahoo! ‘s web search, monetization platforms for e-commerce, and local listings of businesses and products. Afterward, Microsoft employed him as President of the Online Services Division. Still, after four years, he was promoted to Executive Vice President of Applications and Services Group, leading the company’s work on Bing, Skype, and Microsoft Office. Dr. Qi Lu has always had a perceptive mind and a particular vision for the future of computing, as well as the courage to seek it.
Based on that premise, he started working on Bot development alongside Artificial Intelligence projects for Microsoft AI. He played a major role in the technical structuring and design of the famous Satya Nadella’s strategy for Microsoft’s AI department.(1,3,4,5)
After completing his studies, Dr. Qi Lu achieved several positions in which he aimed for Internet-related projects like Research Staff Member at IBM Almaden Research Center and Executive Vice President of Engineering for Search and Search Marketing for Yahoo!. In the latter, Lu started working as a rank-and-file engineer; however, his career advanced promptly.
He eventually managed a team of over 3000 engineers overseeing the development of Yahoo! ‘s web search, monetization platforms for e-commerce, and local listings of businesses and products. Afterward, Microsoft employed him as President of the Online Services Division. Still, after four years, he was promoted to Executive Vice President of Applications and Services Group, leading the company’s work on Bing, Skype, and Microsoft Office. Dr. Qi Lu has always had a perceptive mind and a particular vision for the future of computing, as well as the courage to seek it. Based on that premise, he started working on Bot development alongside Artificial Intelligence projects for Microsoft AI. He played a major role in the technical structuring and design of the famous Satya Nadella’s strategy for Microsoft’s AI department.(1,3,4,5)
A minor setback for a major mind
In 2016 Dr. Qi Lu suffered a bicycle accident and left Microsoft. Due to his experience working with search engines and his remarkable work in Yahoo! and Microsoft, the towering Chinese technology company Baidu called for his services. He was hired as Group President and Chief Operating Officer in early 2017, being in charge of products, technology, sales, marketing, and operations. In 2018 Qi Lu started working for Y Combinator, a venture and funding company for startups with the idea of launching Y Combinator China. There was no better person than the innovative mind of Qi Lu for the task. Qi Lu’s intense work on research made him the organization’s favorite to become the next Founder CEO of Y Combinator China. However, the Y Combinator directors board decided to pull back the initiative due to directive and administrative problems. Qi Lu decided to use all the previous research done to found MiraclePlus, a venture capital company that has been running and enhancing the Chinese market with projects that go beyond the traditional seed-funding company policies.(4,6,7,8)
It all comes to data gathering
In 2017 Lu discussed his insight on AI in an interview with WIRED, sharing that “China has the biggest structural advantage in rolling out AI to global markets” and that Baidu has what it takes to conquer the world and its data. He also noted that the best way to optimize AI technology is to build ecosystems that enable innovation using stable economic models for developers and partners. Baidu’s importance in the AI network is that the “Baidu Brain” (hypernym for Baidu’s AI assets) is broader and has more information than Microsoft and Google could offer in the United States because of its structure and design. During his years of work, the AI industry in China steered toward a novel concept of separating the perceptual and cognitive layer of AI instead of merging them as other companies do. He mentioned that the key to digital intelligence development is to build autonomous systems “capable of acquiring knowledge, making decisions, and adapting to the environment.”(9)
Startup funding is not enough
As a product of the vast experience acquired in the technology industry and the recent growth in this “AI era,” Qi Lu is considered one of the most valuable assets in the MiraclePlus company. In this company, technical knowledge regarding computer science, solving problem ability, and entrepreneurship interweave to create concrete proposals, assessments, and ideas to potentiate exciting projects in China, an on-growing market with endless possibilities of success and rapid changes in both business models and marketing strategies.(8)
Superbly earned credit
Qi Lu’s accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. In 2010 he was named the 10th most creative person in the business industry by Fast Company, a “noteworthy computer software company executive” by Marquis Who’s Who. Qi Lu also owns, to the present, at least 40 U.S. patents.(10,11,12)
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