In this solo episode, Kevin hong share key insights from our executive webinar on sales hiring in founder-led businesses, featuring Yining Wang (serial entrepreneur who took a company public in two years) and Christian Schneider (CEO of File AI, a Series B enterprise SaaS company).

Their experiences reveal three critical insights that most founders miss: the environment mismatch between established companies and startups, the mindset that actually predicts success over credentials, and the trust problem that prevents founders from scaling through delegation.

I focus on the hiring decisions that separate founder-led businesses that scale from those that stall—and what it takes to identify sales entrepreneurs, not just sales operators, in uncertain environments.

If you're a founder struggling to make your first sales hire work, or if you're building a team in a high-growth environment, this episode will give you the clarity and framework you need to hire differently.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

"AI can mimic our voice, but it cannot capture our vision."

Burson WPP senior director Kaveri Roy on what happens when marketing agencies navigate the collision of artificial intelligence, cultural nuance, and global storytelling — and why "localization" is no longer about translation, but about co-creating with context to build campaigns that resonate across India, APAC, and beyond.

Based in Mumbai, Kaveri has spent 15 years at the intersection of marketing, communications, and cross-cultural strategy. From early content roles to planning and digital leadership at Fleishman Hillard and Economist Impact, she has helped both global brands and regional players navigate the realities of Asia's diverse markets: the cultural elasticity required to contextualize campaigns, the friction between Western frameworks and local meaning, and the hard truth that what works in Brooklyn rarely works as-is in Bangalore.

In this episode:

• Why cultural context is not a data set: how AI's Western bias shows up in tone, metaphor, and what "success" looks like

• The hidden cost of copy-paste campaigns: why Nike's "Just Do It" works in the West but P&G's "Thank You Mom" resonates deeper in collective cultures

• What ESG means across regions: in Europe it's regulation, in India it's inclusive growth, in Southeast Asia it's resilience and adaptation

• How to bridge HQ and regional teams: contextualize, don't just translate — and why co-creation with local teams is non-negotiable

• India's shift from creative back office to pilot market: the role of agility, cultural intelligence, and language fluency in shaping global campaigns

• Leadership in the age of AI: why intuition is not magic — it's curiosity, mental stillness, diverse feedback, and pattern recognition that machines cannot replicate

If you work across global and regional markets, lead brand strategy in culturally diverse ecosystems, or want a clearer lens on why AI cannot replace the human bridge of culture, this conversation will reshape how you think about marketing in a world that moves faster than planning cycles.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“Life is a matter of people.” Autoliv CTO Fabien Dumont on building sustainable performance across cultures, crises, and decades.

From quality manager in France to global CTO via a transformational China tour, Fabien breaks down how relationships, execution, and long‑horizon bets compound. We cover the shift from short wins to durable results, aligning with HQ without losing local relevance, and the decisions that only pay off years later.

In this episode:

• Turning China’s speed into global advantage

• “Feed, feed, feed” HQ: cadence, transparency, and trust

• Saying no, focus, and the career math behind tough calls

• How to reverse knowledge transfer and scale best practices worldwide

• Building teams that outlast market cycles

Fabien Dumont, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Autoliv

If you lead across regions or report to a global HQ, this one’s for you.

Follow the show and leave a rating to help more leaders find it.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In this short solo episode, I share key insights from a conversation I led with three senior APAC executives: Andy Wälti (former Head of China & APAC at Clariant), Howard Li (President of LPKF China), and Justin Sargeant (former APAC President at NielsenIQ).

Their experiences highlight three core pillars of effective APAC leadership: managing global HQ expectations, developing cultural agility, and building real global visibility across multinational organisations.

I focus on the signals that matter most today for APAC leaders aiming for stronger global influence, cross-border impact, and readiness for international executive roles.

If these themes resonate with your own leadership journey, this episode will give you the clarity and direction you need to move forward.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“China owns the supply chain - from a toaster to a rocket engine.” Greg Au Yeung, Managing Director and Head of China at Ingenico, joins Leaders in Motion to unpack how to lead through transformation in the world’s fastest payments market.

From Hong Kong developer to global executive, Greg breaks down how to switch sectors, manage HQ alignment, and lead with clarity amid geopolitics and AI disruption.

We cover why mobility is the ultimate executive edge - across cities, sectors, and skills - and how to build teams that stay relevant in a volatile decade.

In this episode:

• Why China became both the lab and factory for payments innovation

• Managing HQ risk appetite, compliance, and “bias vs. education”

• Building R&D hubs that survive policy swings and market shocks

• Mobility as a moat: city, sector, and skill resets across decades

• AI’s double edge for leaders, teams, and the next decade of finance

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Welcome to Leaders in Motion, the podcast where global executives explore how to lead, adapt, and thrive in the age of transformation.

Hosted by Kevin Hong, Partner at LYC Partners and Co-founder of The Council, this show dives into how leaders navigate disruption, build resilient careers, and balance global strategy with local execution.

In each episode, Kevin sits down with senior executives across industries to uncover real stories of career reinvention, cross-cultural leadership, and AI-driven transformation.

You’ll also hear leadership insights distilling frameworks from leadership webinars and expert panels actionable tools for today’s C-suite and tomorrow’s emerging leaders.

If you’re a global executive or an ambitious leader seeking clarity and strategy for your next move, this show is for you.

----------

🎧 Follow the show now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

📧 Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.
✍️ If the topics resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization—assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

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Leaders in Motion is a podcast by LYC Partners, produced by Mélanie Hong, creator and producer of strategic podcasts for leaders and organizations shaping the future. Music credits :

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“In China, three-month-old insight can already be outdated.”

Kantar advisory partner Ye Han on what brand strategy really looks like when the market moves faster than your planning cycles — and why “brand excellence” is no longer a marketing function, but a company-wide operating system that links strategy, product, experience, and people.

Based in Beijing, Ye Han has spent two decades helping both international and Chinese companies navigate the realities of China’s consumer ecosystem: the speed of innovation, the friction between China and HQ decision cycles, and the hard trade-offs between agility and long-term brand equity. She also shares what she’s seeing as Chinese champions move outward — from product-first expansion to building global brand management systems.

In this episode:

• Why China forces a different definition of agility (and what “18 months vs 4 months” means in practice)

• The hidden cost of moving fast without strategy: how companies become copyable when brand equity is missing

• What “brand excellence” means now: consistent experience across touchpoints, employees, and corporate strategy

• How to reduce HQ–China friction: principles stay global, relevance goes local

• Chinese companies going global: the mistake of buying awareness without building meaning + linkage to category

If you work across China and global HQ, lead brand or strategy in fast-changing markets, or want a clearer lens on why transformation fails when systems cannot keep up with reality, this conversation will recalibrate how you think.

Follow the show and leave a rating to help more leaders find it.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“Online? Offline? They cannot be separate — consumers don’t care where they buy.”

Omnichannel operator Loïc Réthore on why most transformations fail when they start with tech instead of vision, people, and governance—and how strong operating discipline stops channels from competing with each other and starts protecting margin and customer experience.

From building brands across APAC (Japan, Greater China, Australia) in senior roles spanning Jurlique, Dyson, DFS, L’Oréal, LVMH, and Unilever, Loïc shares what actually travels across markets: cultural agility (“read the air”), active listening, and leaders who combine high skill with low ego.

In this episode:

• Why omnichannel is a vision + governance problem before it is a platform problem

• The pricing and promo calendar discipline that prevents channels from undercutting each other

• Travel retail vs domestic: keeping the story consistent while changing store design and execution

• Centralized vs localized models: how category and product reality determine the operating design

• Mobility and cultural agility: why international careers still require curiosity, EQ, and real-market immersion

If you lead across markets, manage channel conflict, or want a cleaner playbook for building resilient growth in volatile regions, this one will sharpen your instincts.

Follow the show and leave a rating to help more leaders find it.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Autonomy isn’t independence — you earn freedom by serving the brand.” Luxury beauty leader Guilhem Souche on why the best global-to-local leaders win trust by delivering results and protecting the Maison—and why product-first localization beats “one-size-fits-all” every time.

From launching Lancôme Absolue and Génifique, to leading across Asia in roles spanning L’Oréal, LVMH (Dior), and Coty, Guilhem shares what actually travels across markets: a simple filter for every plan—good for sales, good for image, brings something new.

In this episode:

• The global⇄local filter that simplifies decision-making: sales, image, novelty

• Why product-first localization (textures, tones, routines) moves the needle before media or pricing

• The bridge leader’s job: educate HQ early, align on a common language, and build two-way ownershi

If you lead across HQ and markets, build brands in fast-moving regions, or want a clearer playbook for turning local wins into global adoption, this one will sharpen your instincts.

Follow the show and leave a rating to help more leaders find it.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In this short solo episode, I unpack practical lessons from real AI implementation work drawn from our September 2025 executive webinar, “AI Implementation: Governance, Strategy, and Practical Applications.”

Building on cases from executive search, manufacturing, retail, and regulated markets, I focus on three pillars of effective AI adoption today: human‑centered AI applications, disciplined implementation frameworks, and governance as a genuine competitive advantage rather than a box‑ticking exercise.

I share what actually works inside organizations: how to segment workflows, start with narrow use cases that deliver visible ROI, redesign KPIs, and put people at the center of AI transformation so that technology augments rather than replaces human work.

If you are leading AI projects, responsible for digital transformation, or positioning yourself as an executive in the AI era, this episode will give you clear lenses, concrete examples, and sharper questions to guide how you build and lead AI initiatives in your own organization.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In this short solo episode, I unpack practical lessons from a July 2025 executive webinar I co‑hosted with Cosmoprof Asia on “Beyond China: Unlocking Asia Pacific’s True Beauty Potential.”

Drawing on insights from leaders across analytics, retail, and brand strategy, I break down three critical dimensions of APAC growth today: treating China as a deliberate strategic choice (not an assumption), building real localization capabilities across Southeast Asia, India, and other key markets, and designing resilient, multi‑year investment strategies that align headquarters expectations with on‑the‑ground reality.

I focus on what this means for brand leaders and APAC executives making hard calls about where to double down, how to localise, and what kind of leadership and teams it actually takes to win in the region’s most competitive markets.

If you are shaping APAC strategy, leading a regional business, or managing your own next leadership move in this region, this episode will give you clear lenses, concrete questions, and a more realistic roadmap for choosing where — and how — you can truly win.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

"Trust happens when expertise meets warmth." Ipsos leader Javier Calvar on why curiosity, determination, and empathy build careers that last—and why impact beats activity every time.

From London to Shanghai during the WTO boom, then back to London, and now leading in Hong Kong, Javier breaks down 30 years of staying with companies long enough to compound results. He reveals the framework that's guided every move: serve clients first, grow teams second, let revenue follow. We explore the mistakes that taught him most—like the taxi ride moment when he forgot to celebrate a win—and why timing, visibility, and building equity matter more than politics when senior roles open up. Javier also gets real about leading through VUCA markets, reinventing relevance post-COVID, and why Asia's agility gives it an edge the West struggles to match.

In this episode:

• The three traits that compound careers: curiosity, determination, empathy

• Why impact beats activity: clients, teams, then revenue follows naturally

• The trust equation: credibility + warmth = the foundation for leading teams

• Timing and visibility for promotions without playing politics

• The taxi story: why you must celebrate wins before coaching for improvement

• Shanghai 2002: riding the WTO boom and the opportunities fast growth creates

• VUCA reality: leading through uncertainty, reinvention, and market shifts in Hong Kong

• Why Asia adapts faster: agility as cultural DNA vs. Western pace

• Greater Bay Area opportunities and staying relevant when markets transform

• AI's double-edge: efficiency vs. enhancement, and why human intelligence still wins

If you lead teams across cultures, want to build a career that compounds, or need to navigate uncertainty without losing your center, this one's for you.

Follow the show and leave a rating to help more leaders find it.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

"You've got to take control of that journey yourself." Former Nielsen APAC President Justin Sargent on why cultural intelligence, career ownership, and human leadership matter more than ever.

A snap decision in a traffic jam became a 25-year journey across six countries. Justin breaks down what he learned leading teams from Sydney to Shanghai, bridging HQ and local markets, and turning relationships, adaptability, and intentional career moves into sustainable performance. We cover the shift from waiting for direction to owning your development, reading cultural cues that others miss, and why vulnerability and openness unlock trust faster than authority ever will.

In this episode:

• The motorway moment: how one decision launched an international career

• India's "say-do ratio" and the art of bridging global HQ with local brilliance

• China's "meeting outside the meeting" and what leaders miss when they don't adapt

• Why cultural intelligence is the difference between short-term compliance and long-term results

• Career ownership: filling your own gaps instead of waiting to be developed

• Leading virtual global teams and getting people excited when you don't manage them directly

• Why change and transformation demand cultural intelligence more than the status quo

Justin Sargent, Founder, Justin Sargent Advisory | Author, Beyond Borders, Beyond Belief

If you lead across cultures, manage global teams, or want to own your leadership trajectory, this one's for you.

Follow the show and leave a rating to help more leaders find it.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In this solo episode of Leaders in Motion, Kevin Hong breaks down the core framework from the first Global Executive Advantage workshop, featuring insights from three experts: Barry (career insurance), Mélanie (executive branding), and Lei (strategic networking). The result is a practical model for building career resilience in volatile markets.

Kevin explores the three pillars of resilience:

• Career Insurance: A disciplined approach to assessing your assets, preparing scenario plans, and reducing concentration risk so you can act in weeks - not months - when conditions shift.

• Professional Branding: How to communicate expertise, leadership posture, and values with consistency and intention, so opportunities find you across industries and borders.

• Strategic Networking: Moving from passive contact collection to proactive, reciprocal relationships that expand influence and create opportunity long before you need it.

Kevin closes the episode with a one-hour actionable playbook to strengthen your career resilience immediately.

If you're a global executive navigating uncertainty and want a clear path to stay relevant, visible, and adaptable, this episode gives you a framework you can apply today.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In this solo episode, Kevin Hong shares key insights on why Chinese New Year creates so much friction inside international companies — and what strong China leaders do differently.

CNY is not just “seven days off.” Operational work slows down. But relationship work accelerates. That gap is where most HQ misunderstandings start: HQ either keeps pushing (and mistakes responses for consent), or goes completely dark (and signals absence in a relationship-driven moment).

Kevin breaks down three practical insights that most global teams miss: availability is not the same as safety, operations can pause while relationships must stay active, and the right approach is planned, personal outreach — warm, specific, and non-transactional — followed by a prepared re-entry plan when work resumes.

If you lead across China and HQ, manage partners in China, or want to build trust without burning out your team, this episode will give you a clear way to handle CNY without damaging the relationships that actually make the business run.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

"I just want to build a company like Google. That was very naive. But that was my passion."

Google engineer turned founder Sega Cheng on what happens when you leave the Valley to build an AI startup in Asia — and why the hardest part of the journey was not learning new skills but unlearning the DNA of deterministic code to lead with probabilistic uncertainty.

Based in Taiwan, Sega spent six years at Google (Mountain View and Taiwan) working on Android before co-founding iKala in 2012. Fourteen years later, iKala serves over 1,000 enterprises across Asia-Pacific with AI adoption platforms and operates Kolr, the world's largest influencer marketing platform with data on 300 million creators. From cloud infrastructure to AI-powered marketing, Sega has navigated multiple pivots, five funding rounds, and the reality that building a team in Asia with Silicon Valley speed requires finding traits most education systems do not cultivate: adaptability, bottom-up initiative, and tolerance for shipping imperfect products.

In this episode:

• Why the Valley-Asia gap is not about technology, but about digital transformation readiness — and how that gap created iKala's first business model

• The hidden cost of technical founder → CEO transition: from writing code to allocating resources, from deterministic logic to probabilistic leadership

• How to hire for adaptability in top-down cultures: why CVs are now useless, what open questions reveal, and why Sega listens more than he talks in interviews

If you are a technical founder navigating the shift to CEO, building teams across Asia-Pacific markets, or trying to balance Silicon Valley speed with local talent realities, this conversation will reshape how you think about leadership, hiring, and what it takes to scale a startup when systems break at borders.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁.” Jenny Lai, President & CEO for Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau at Bluebell Group, a platform that helps luxury and lifestyle brands enter, scale, and perform across Asia, on the most persistent misunderstanding global HQ teams bring into the China luxury conversation — and why “China” is never one consumer, one city, or one playbook.

Jenny’s career arc is unusually “full-stack”: from strategy (McKinsey) to building Michael Kors Greater China from the earliest days, to senior leadership at Louis Vuitton and Versace, and now managing a multi-brand portfolio across categories. The throughline is not glamour. It’s operating speed, decision rights, and the hard work of translating global brand intent into local execution.

In this episode:

• 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗤–𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: not “tension,” but alignment on brand direction plus autonomy, resources, and trust to execute locally

• 𝗪𝗵𝘆 “𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮” 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: sub-economies, cultural variance, and execution realities that don’t travel well from a slide deck

• 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮’𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱: easy to understand in theory, difficult to act on if your “last visit” was 12–24 months ago

• 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲: experience-driven luxury, niche fragrance, “daily luxuries,” and why big brands may return differently than the 10–15 year growth era

• 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄: not technical skills — character: resilience, agility, and the appetite to build in a market that no longer guarantees easy growth

• 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀: why the path differs by category, and why “digital-native” strength still has to meet offline execution and brand building in-market

If you lead a brand across borders, manage APAC growth, or sit between global intent and local realities, this conversation will sharpen how you think about market nuance, talent, and operating speed.

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🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

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Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“China is not just the biggest auto market. It is where the industry’s pace, consumer expectations, and innovation frontier are being reset.”

In this episode of Leaders in Motion, Kevin Hong sits down with Pierluigi Visotti, Managing Director and Founder of Ulysses, to unpack what China’s automotive acceleration means for Western OEMs, and what cross-border leadership really requires when the market moves faster than headquarters can process.

Pierluigi shares his journey from Italy to nearly a decade in China, the early misconceptions he had to unlearn, and the on-the-ground signals many global teams missed, even while being present in-market.

In this episode:

• Why China’s EV rise became a true turning point, and what it did (and did not) solve for profitability

• The real reason Western OEMs missed the shift: culture, attention, and disconnected HQ–China operating models

• What “new generation” consumers actually want: experience, digital continuity, and a car that behaves more like a device than a machine

• Why copying China will not work, and why the only sustainable response is innovation rooted in local consumer truth

• The leadership model that scales across borders: mixing teams, rotating talent, and building real decision flow between HQ and region

• Luxury auto’s durable edge, and the new pressure coming from “premium at an affordable price” players

If you lead across regions, build in China, or compete with China-driven innovation at home, this conversation will sharpen how you think about speed, strategy, and operating reality.

---

🎧 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your executive inspiration and learn how global leaders think ahead, move faster, and lead smarter.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to exclusive insights and all the details about the Leaders in Motion Academy, our executive program.

If the topics discussed resonate with your own leadership challenges or the conversations happening in your organization - assessing international leaders, aligning global and local teams, building capabilities across regions. You can reach us at LYC Partners to set up a consultation.

--

Produced by Bonjour Podcast (Melanie Hong), Leaders in Motion blends storytelling, strategy, and data-driven insight, giving today’s leaders a roadmap to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges and lead with intention.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.