Industrial AI
The next competitive advantage is not AI. It is industrial knowledge.
General intelligence becomes useful on the factory floor only when it understands engineering constraints, operating context and the cost of being wrong.
Industrial AI · Manufacturing · Leadership
Building intelligence that works where manufacturing happens.
I am Steven Gao, founder and CEO of IndustrialMind.ai. I write and speak about industrial AI, engineering systems and what it takes to turn frontier technology into factory-floor results.
Selected thinking
Notes from the intersection of AI and industry.
Short, direct observations shaped by building systems, working with manufacturers and operating across different industrial cultures.
Execution
Do not wait for perfect manufacturing data.
A useful model built on imperfect data reveals exactly where sensors, master data and process ownership need to improve. Shipping creates the roadmap.
Leadership
Digital transformation fails when organisations cannot absorb change.
Technology is rarely the limiting factor. The harder work is giving engineering leaders permission to challenge legacy processes and own measurable outcomes.
On stage & in conversation
Ideas tested in the rooms where industry gathers.
Selected keynotes, curated tracks and interviews on how industrial AI moves from possibility to operating reality. Open an engagement for the full context and related coverage.
Keynote speaker
14th VDMA China Mechanical Engineering Summit
The Paradigm Shift in Global Manufacturing: From Digital Twin to Direct Customer Value
View engagement ↗
01Featured guest
Handelsblatt Disrupt
Will AI soon solve the problems you had to solve at Tesla?
View engagement ↗Podcast · German02Track curator
QCon Shanghai 2025
The Manufacturing Revolution Driven by Large Models
View engagement ↗Curated conference track · Mandarin03Featured speaker
ThinkInAI · AI Technology Night
A Global View of Industrial AI
View engagement ↗Community talk · Mandarin04Invited speaker
STARTUP AUTOBAHN · ARENA2036
Deep Industrial Knowledge and the Next Chapter of Manufacturing
View engagement ↗Founder story · English05Also participating in Antler Embark US and the Gestamp digital manufacturing ecosystem.
About Steven
Engineer by training. Operator by experience. Founder by conviction.
Steven Gao (Zhitao Gao) is the founder and CEO of IndustrialMind.ai, building AI manufacturing engineers for factories around the world.
His perspective combines his experience as a founding leader of Digital Transformation at Tesla, years spent studying and working in Germany, and hands-on work scaling manufacturing intelligence across regions.
He focuses on a practical question: how can AI understand complex engineering work well enough to make people and factories meaningfully better?
Speaking & thoughtful conversations
Bring a factory-floor perspective to the room.
For keynotes, panels, podcasts and substantive conversations about industrial AI, share a little context below.