Deep Dive with Hive - Jerry Huang, C0-founder and CEO of Profet AI
Profet AI is one of Hive Ventures’ earlier investments, and a company that Hive Ventures has worked with extensively. Profet AI was founded by three white-collar workers who changed careers in their middle ages. From their early stages, Hive Ventures has been with them all along the way. We are honored to have Jerry Huang here to answer Deep Dive’s questions and talk about his journey.
Questions for the Deep Dive with Hive Series
NAME: Jerry Huang
1. Short Introduction of yourself and your startup：
Ans:
I am Jerry Huang, Co-founder & CEO of Profet AI. Previously, I worked in global software companies such as IBM, SAP and PTC and other companies in the manufacturing industry for 20 years before starting my own company, Profet AI. In 2019, as AI had just begun to proliferate, we found that the reliance and utilisation of AI in the developing manufacturing industry in Greater China have separated from overseas mainstream AI software. The ability of the manufacturing industry to adopt these stronger technologies will be key to outperforming our competitors. Plug-and-play features and local customer service with quick and agile research practices are at the core of our development, which has led to numerous awards since our beginning and remains our core advantage.
2. What inspired you to develop your idea into a startup?
Ans:
The manufacturing industry of Greater China has gradually risen to the top of the supply chain pyramid, giving us the best field and expertise to test the viability of our ideas. Six months prior to our inception, we interviewed 20 CXO-level executives in technological manufacturing, and interacted with a few international consultancy organisations, with 90% support for our business model, leading to the launch of our enterprise!
3. What’s the biggest challenge you faced when starting a company and how did you overcome it?
Ans:
We started our first business two years ago. It was chaotic and messy — we invested too much time and resources into sales and neglected our back-end commercialisation process. We knew we had a lot to learn then and so we joined an accelerator programme and found our footing again.
We believe in learning from the best in the industry. In our Pre-A funding stage, we had the honour of meeting well-established organisations like Hive Ventures who supported us in entering the international software market and taught us to dare to dream of bigger and bolder futures.
4. What is your dream and aspirations for the company going forward?
Ans:
I want Profet AI to grow into a global AI software company. Our AutoML platform allows more people to become competitively skilled in AI, contributing to our continued growth and dominance at the apex of the supply chain pyramid.
5. Who is your role model, or Which public personalities have you been inspired by in your startup journey?
Ans:
My role model is Elon Musk as I hope that Profet AI can shake up the entire software industry like what Tesla had done in the automotive industry.
6. What keeps you awake at night?
Ans:
The future direction of AI and customer experience keeps me up at night. Although AI does not have technological boundaries, I believe that I have an advantage compared to my competitors — I am closer to my customers. AI development does not exist independently from customer development, and the greatest common divisor between the two is the key to our competitive advantage, with persistent research and development part of our daily routine that is key to allow us to ascend to the global stage.
7. What is your motivation that keeps you going every day?
Ans:
Feedback from my customers and the market, both positive and negative, is my greatest motivation to improve and excel.
8. What is your strategy when things don’t turn out the way you expect?
Ans:
My team is my think tank whenever I have questions or face difficulties in growing as a company. If not, I would turn to my investors and fellow entrepreneurs for advice.
9. What is the biggest difference you see from the start of your journey to where you are today?
Ans:
I believe that the company is different in its execution and our eagerness to improve. In the past, bulk of the work fell on my shoulders. As the company grew, we could produce more in the same amount of time, improving our efficiency and production value. I often tell my team that it would be problematic if we didn’t have any problems, and that we should embrace any issues we face. This eagerness to improve and solve problems has slowly integrated into our company culture, which makes me very proud.
