In January 2026, faculty and students from the EMBA (Chinese) programme completed a five-day immersive study tour to Stanford University and Silicon Valley, focusing on the theme of "Leading the Next Era of Innovative AI". This initiative strategically combined the expertise of leading Silicon Valley enterprises with Stanford's academic excellence, focusing on enterprise transformation and leadership development in the AI era. The programme provided students with a structured framework for innovative thinking and practical implementation pathways..
Dialogues with Mr Pritish Udgata (middle), Director of AI and Data at Adobe.
Organisational capability as the decisive factor in AI transformation success
During the opening sessions, our students engaged in direct dialogues with senior executives from global technology leaders including Google and Adobe with topics on “AI & future of operational and organizational transformation and Leverage AI at scale”. These exchanges helped construct a comprehensive methodology for enterprise transformation in the AI age, encompassing strategic, organisational, and executional dimensions.
Learning organisational transformation with Mr Satyajeet Salgar, Google’s Director of Product.
Students bring creativity, collaboration, and problem‑solving to life during the “Marshmallow Challenge”.
Students bring creativity, collaboration, and problem‑solving to life during the “Marshmallow Challenge”.The itinerary included visits to Venture Dock, an integrated innovation ecosystem founded by seasoned Silicon Valley experts, where students gained cutting-edge insights from several technology startups. The programme featured a series of impactful keynote presentations from distinguished speakers, including:
- Mr Evangelos Simoudis, AI expert, on “Unlocking the Power of AI for the Next Decade of Innovation”
- Mr Philip Rathle, CTO of Neo4j, on “Getting Your Data Ready for AI: The Knowledge Graph Paradigm”
- Ms Jia Li, Co-founder of LiveX AI, on “The Future of AI Agents”
- Mr Max Bukow and Mr. Hans Sandhu from The Agentic AI, on “Building a New AI Product”
These forward-looking discussions established a fundamental premise for the study tour: AI is not a replacement for human capability, but rather a powerful amplifier of human insight and creativity. True business value emerges only through effective synergy between human intelligence and technological systems.
Redefining innovation logic for the AI Era in Standford
At Stanford University's d.school, students undertook the course "Design Thinking in the Age of Artificial Intelligence", experiencing a profound conceptual and methodological transformation. The curriculum directly addressed a central paradox of the AI era: as technological execution accelerates, precise problem definition becomes more critical than rapid solution development.
Through immersive simulations including board-level decision-making scenarios and future foresight exercises, students developed systematic approaches to maintaining strategic clarity amidst technological uncertainty. Stanford's pedagogical philosophy of "Input over Output" guided students from pursuing incidental innovative outcomes toward becoming sustainable innovators equipped with systematic methodologies.
The participated students reflected afterward: "We previously tended to seek immediate solutions upon identifying problems. At Stanford, we learned to deconstruct problems first. While AI excels at finding answers, human wisdom lies in defining the right questions."
Immersive classroom at Stanford d.school
Connecting theoretical insight with industry practice
The study tour included substantial industry immersion. Students visited SAP's Silicon Valley campus to examine real-world challenges in enterprise-scale innovation and toured Plug and Play Tech Center, the top global accelerator that has nurtured companies including Google, PayPal, and Dropbox. Direct engagements with platform leaders, experienced investors, and growing startup teams provided firsthand experience of Silicon Valley's distinctive culture of rapid experimentation and open collaboration.
These experiences created a complete learning cycle that integrated academic reflection with practical application. Beyond exposure to cutting-edge technologies, participants developed a deeper understanding of multidimensional innovation factors, including technology commercialization, organizational adaptation, and cultural development.
Gaining real-world insights with Mr Ferose V.R. (middle), SAP Senior Vice President, Head of Product and Engineering Institute.
Learning from the top global accelerator in Plug and Play.
Developing future-ready business leadership
This study tour embodies the EMBA (Chinese) programme's commitment to cultivating next-generation leaders capable of navigating technological disruption and driving organisational transformation in an AI-transformed business landscape. Beyond exposing participants to technological frontiers, the study tour equipped them with systematic frameworks for innovative thinking and practical implementation capabilities.
Students’ feedbacks indicate the experience delivered more than updated knowledge and tools - it transformed cognitive patterns and leadership mindsets. In this era of accelerating AI advancement, this form of leadership - capable of connecting global innovation resources while balancing technological potential with human-centered values - represents a crucial competitive advantage for sustainable enterprise development.
The Fall 2026 Intake of the CityUHK EMBA (Chinese) Programme is now open for admission. We invite you to join our community and take the next step in your leadership journey! For more details, please visit the EMBA (Chinese) official WeChat account: 《招生简章丨香港城市大学EMBA（中文）2026秋季班全球招生进行中》
Students receive their study tour certificates at Stanford—marking not just a ceremony, but a defining milestone in their journey of learning and discovery.
Together at Stanford University—capturing a moment of shared dreams, learning, and unforgettable memories.