Li Yao

Lead the North American product strategy, roadmap, and lifecycle management for mission-critical chilled water systems supporting AI, hyperscale, colocation, and enterprise data centers. Develop long-term product and technology strategies by leveraging market research, voice-of-customer insights, competitive intelligence, and emerging semiconductor and AI chip technology trends. Collaborate across engineering, sales, operations, and strategic partners to deliver innovative, sustainable cooling solutions that address the increasing power densities and thermal challenges of next-generation digital infrastructure.

Played a pivotal role in transforming early-stage innovation initiatives into commercial opportunities by spearheading market trend analysis and developing strategic business development plans. Created detailed financial models to support decision-making and resource prioritization, and identified and engaged over 20 key clients to effectively articulate value propositions of Corning’s proprietary glass platforms. This led to the development of innovative solutions for customers in high-growth vertical markets.

Successfully extended Corning Gorilla Glass product line by strategically developing and launching a product portfolio tailored for consumer electronics applications by leading market research, segmentation, and product strategy, resulting in a $90M annual sales increase. Collaborated with cross-functional teams to create and validate product value propositions. Partnered with the sales team to engage with OEMs and deliver persuasive sales presentations. Led a $1.4M joint project with industry-leading supply-chain partners to strengthen collaboration, enhance the ecosystem, and support new product launches. Led the establishment of a thriving emerging multi-million-dollar innovation business of Gorilla® Glass-based products featuring special surface treatments. In charge of customer engagement, P&L, product development, application engineering, creation and management of supply chain, and product marketing.

Managed a $25M industrial assembly tool portfolio with comprehensive P&L accountability, consistently exceeding sales and profitability objectives. Spearheaded the successful launch of numerous new products through a rigorous stage gate NPI process by collaborating with global cross-functional teams and applying KPI for post-launch assessment. Drove S&OP and AOP activities. Achieved product cost reduction through VA/VE and rationalized the portfolio through SKU reduction to improve operational efficiency and boost profit margins.

Directed a product marketing team in executing comprehensive marketing, pricing, and training strategies for the regional assembly tool and capital equipment business with full P&L responsibility. Achieved an impressive 25% annual sales growth for two consecutive years. Created a dedicated solution center for automotive assembly projects, and led a high-performance team of 10 across functions of project management, cost estimating, design, operations, hardware/software testing, and service functions that resulted in a substantial sales increase for the associated products.

Directed a team of 5 sales professionals dedicated to the success of the international business expansion of the company's high-precision Printed Circuit Board (PCB) machining tools of the company. Strategically cultivated relationships with channel partners and actively engaged key OEM customers. Implemented initiatives that resulted in a 40% annual sales growth and achieved substantial market penetration in critical PCB markets, including Korea, USA, Japan, and Germany.

Managed a $20M Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) product line at JDSU, the global leader in optical modules and testing instruments with full P&L responsibility. Played a key role in product roadmaps, development, and NPI for telecom, cable TV, and data communication application. Secured numerous design-ins and design wins with strategic OEMs such as Cisco, Siemens, Lucent.

MBA

M.Sc. Metallurgical Engineering