Robotics · Physical AI · Product Leadership
I turn hard robotics technology into products people can deploy.
I’m Yong Qian, a product and operating leader with 20+ years in robotics, industrial systems, edge software, and AI. Most recently, I defined requirements, customer workflows, and delivery priorities for a humanoid robot program—work grounded in years of building companies, leading international teams, and solving problems on factory floors.
What I bring to the leadership table
Direction
Product judgment at company level
I connect customer value, technical reality, industrial design, delivery risk, and commercial priorities. The result is a roadmap the company can explain and execute.
Translation
Humanoid strategy grounded in use
I turn hardware and AI capability into a clear first job, defined task boundaries, data needs, acceptance criteria, and a path from demonstration to deployment.
Execution
Field experience behind the decisions
I have commissioned, debugged, and supported robotic systems in production. That experience keeps product decisions tied to safety, reliability, service, and customer trust.
Recent work
Humanoid Robotics Product Manager
Defined product requirements, customer workflows, and delivery priorities; connected target use cases with robot capability, task boundaries, and acceptance expectations.
Head of Products / Robotics Product Manager
Led product vision and roadmap work for humanoid robots, data-collector products, and the infrastructure needed to support them.
Part-Time Tutor
Teaching at the intersection of AI and fashion, and fashion and robotics.
From the robot floor to company-level product leadership
01 · Field judgment
Robotics deployment and production delivery
More than a decade at Stäubli and Frimo built a practical understanding of safety, reliability, cycle time, commissioning, customer acceptance, and production pressure—the foundation for judging whether a robot can move beyond the demo.
See the field work →02 · Company building
0-to-1 hardware, software, and AI products
Through JIEQI, OmniEdge, and DeepFashion, I worked across product definition, architecture, team building, commercialization, and international operations in connected hardware, open-source software, and generative AI.
See the products built →03 · Product leadership
Humanoid robotics and Physical AI
At JetX, Spirit AI, and related projects, I translated customer scenarios, robot capability, AI readiness, data loops, task boundaries, and acceptance requirements into product roadmaps and delivery priorities.
See the Physical AI work →This progression equips me to lead a specific robotics product and to operate at C-level across technology, product, teams, customers, and commercial outcomes.
Why this matters now
Humanoid robotics needs leaders who understand more than the demo.
The next stage of Physical AI will be won by teams that can connect AI, hardware, industrialization, customer workflow, field service, and economics. My career has moved through each of those layers—from robot service and automotive deployment to connected hardware, global software, applied AI, and humanoid product leadership.
Building a serious robotics or Physical AI business?
I’m open to C-level product and operating roles, board or strategic advisory work, and selected product leadership engagements.