"Collective wisdom is more valuable than your own, therefore don't be afraid to call out for help"
Ms. Bianca Ho
Class of 2011
My name is Bianca Ho and I’m the co-founder and COO of WATI.io. I started my career at JP Morgan and consequently discovered my passion for technology; I therefore began my technology Business Development career at OneSky. There I met my mentor, Michael Hansen at Zendesk, and transitioned to work at Zendesk as the China Business Development Manager. I also met many VCs, in which one introduced me to Ken Yeung, my co-founder, and we started Clare.AI together.
Why did you want to go into the technology field?
When I was still a private banker, what I always read and got attracted to was the technology section of Wall Street Journal. So, I realized I am interested in technology much more than banking and financial products. After 3 years as an analyst, I realized my passion lies in technology. I also had a low opportunity cost to try. Meanwhile, I met my mentor, Michael Hansen at Zendesk, and transitioned to work at Zendesk. This is how I started off my transition to the technology industry.
What do you think is the next big thing for the tech industry, especially in chatbot technology?
Adoption is key. In other words, the next big thing is to make it democratized to anyone who can use it. In the past, it was very much like an exclusive club. For example, Taobao and many virtual assistants we use every day have many Doctors of Philosophy taking care of chatbot algorithms. For Siri, Alexa, there are a lot of professionals behind them who are listening to the conversation and correcting the bot's understanding of the conversation. A big part is how can SMEs adopt the technology in a manageable manner so that they can maintain the technology at a reasonable cost. That democratization would be a big part of the industry.
How did the GBUS program help with your career?
I found the Business Case Analysis class very helpful, it taught me how to make professional deliverables under time pressure. The consulting thinking process taught in the course really helped me poke holes with my thoughts, which can be applied in real life settings.
What are the biggest challenges in the tech industry?
The biggest challenge in this industry is learning fast enough, ultimately adapting your products to what the clients want, and understanding them well enough. These may be in the form of different names such as product-led growth, cloud, or AI, but at the end of the day, they are just tools to address the challenges.
What is the most important takeaway from GBUS?
My most important takeaway was that collective wisdom is more valuable than your own, therefore don't be afraid to call out for help. I know that in GBUS, everyone is so competitive. However, at the end of the day after leaving the program, the relationship that you have with the community will be the most important takeaway.
How did your experiences in the past help with your current role?
JP Morgan, due to its nature as a huge global organization, helped me to put into place the structure, processes and people to create an environment that allows this global engine to run. Onesky, on the contrary, taught me to be very resourceful and aggressive on your brand. Zendesk is not on JP Morgan's scale but it is still a large tech company with a team of experienced people that helped me learn about technology scaling. The functions that are necessary in a tech company are very different to those in banking. I learned bits and pieces of everything and also applied them at WATI.io.
Finally, your advice for the current students?
My advice is to get as much exposure as you can during your time in GBUS with the school as the platform. As an employer, I never look at your GPA, it does not matter to me, as long as you have the necessary skills to succeed in a certain role. I believe that these exposures that build your skills are much more important than the grades you get.
