GBA AI roadshow concludes in Shenzhen, connecting with IEEE’s Asia-Pacific innovation ecosystem

The finals of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Greater Bay Area AI Startup Roadshow have successfully wrapped up at the Shenzhen Human Resources Service Industrial Park. Officially endorsed by the IEEE R10 Ad Hoc Committee on Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEI), the event was launched and led by Qian Wang, an IEEE Asia-Pacific Entrepreneurship Ambassador and an IEEE Senior Member, and has been officially incorporated into ACEI's portfolio of regional innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives.

Designed as a professional AI technology incubation and selection platform for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the roadshow aims to discover high-growth-potential AI startups in the region and establish a standardized international channel for project demonstration, expert evaluation and cross-regional cooperation across the Asia-Pacific.

Qian Wang is a former judge for the Wu Wenjun Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology Award and an international judge for the Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence. Drawing on his in-depth industry experience and authoritative judging expertise in artificial intelligence, he led the overall event planning, structured the professional evaluation system, and facilitated cross-border connections with innovation resources across the Asia-Pacific, guaranteeing the roadshow's high standard of professionalism and credibility.

Rooted in the Greater Bay Area while open to nationwide participation, the roadshow received 135 valid startup proposals from Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Beijing and other major cities. The entries covered a wide spectrum of cutting-edge fields, including intelligent algorithm development, industrial digital transformation, and AI-driven innovative design. After rigorous preliminary assessment, four high-quality projects stood out and advanced to the on-site final competition in Shenzhen.

The finalist teams were founded by outstanding talents with elite backgrounds, including former Microsoft senior executives, graduates of master's programs at Harvard University and Tsinghua MBA holders. Following intense on-site pitching and expert review, four projects claimed top honors, covering the private deployment of integrated AI systems, AI-generated creative e-commerce solutions, AI-based obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis systems, and 3D intelligent platform technology for on-site applications. The winning projects have secured official nominations for the IEEE R10 Asia-Pacific regional selection, fully demonstrating the robust innovation vitality of the Greater Bay Area's AI industry.

The event gathered senior executives from leading AI enterprises, IEEE Senior Members and Tsinghua University postdoctoral researchers, who conducted in-depth exchanges on the commercialization bottlenecks facing emerging AI startups and delivered targeted, market-oriented development guidance based on actual industry needs. A representative of a participating startup commented that the roadshow goes far beyond a conventional competition, providing direct access to IEEE's global innovation resources and substantial support for the international expansion of local technology projects. The roadshow also gained strong support from Umar Farooq, an IEEE Asia-Pacific Entrepreneurship Ambassador, further expanding its international collaborative network.

"The debut of the IEEE GBA AI Roadshow in Shenzhen marks a solid step forward in integrating the Greater Bay Area's AI industry into the global innovation landscape," Wang said. "By adopting internationally standardized evaluation mechanisms and drawing on a connected Asia-Pacific innovation ecosystem, we strive to empower more local AI startups to go global and fuel the high-quality development of the Greater Bay Area's artificial intelligence industry."