Bill Russo is the Shanghai-based founder and CEO of Automobility Limited, a strategy and investment advisory firm helping its clients to create the future of mobility. His over 35 years of experience include 15 years as an automotive executive in China and Asia and nearly 12 years in the electronics and information technology industries. He has worked as an advisor and consultant for numerous multinational and local Chinese firms in the formulation and implementation of their global market and product strategies. Bill is also currently serving as the chair of the Automotive Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. In his current role, Bill advises startups, corporations and investors on how to maximize their participation in China’s Automobility Revolution. Bill was previously the regional head of Chrysler in North East Asia.

Christopher Borroni-Bird is the author of “Sustainable and Affordable Mobility for All: Putting the Heart Back into Technology”; Founder, Afreecar LLC, a technical consultancy focused on future mobility and Senior Advisor to McKinsey and to EVage.

He is an expert on sustainable and affordable mobility for ALL the world’s people. This builds on his 25-year career leading advanced mobility initiatives at several major companies and universities as well as volunteering in sub-Saharan Africa.

With his consulting business, Afreecar, he is a senior advisor on future mobility to McKinsey and EVage (an Indian commercial EV startup) and is also sought out to provide independent technical due diligence on future mobility technologies and companies in vehicle autonomy, connectivity and electrification. Separately, Afreecar is also developing an e-kit that power assists non-motorized vehicles while also transforming them into mobile power sources, which has many applications in both the developing and developed worlds.

He served as Waymo’s Chief Engineer for Future Vehicle Programs and has been a Research Scientist at MIT Media Lab. From 2012 to 2017, he was Qualcomm’s VP of Strategic Development, responsible for wireless automotive solutions. Prior to this, he led GM’s Electric Networked Vehicle (EN-V), the world’s first drivable vehicles to demonstrate today’s accepted vision of future mobility (and extensively deployed at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo). He led GM’s Autonomy, Hy-wire and Sequel “skateboard” electric vehicle concepts, now widely adopted by the Auto Industry, and has 50 patents. He is co-author of “Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century”, with Larry Burns and the late Bill Mitchell (MIT Press, 2010). Before joining GM in 2000, he led Chrysler’s gasoline fuel cell vehicle development. He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame as a Young Leader in 2000, was one of Automotive News’ inaugural “Electrifying 100” in 2011, and was profiled by Motor Trend/Blackberry in the “Coding the Car” documentary and book series in 2023. He has over 50 patents.

Lei Xing is a co-host of the China EVs & More Podcast, independent industry analyst/consultant and EV/AV/mobility enthusiast.

In his previous role as chief editor of China Automotive Review based in Beijing, Lei covered the Chinese auto industry for two decades through various newsletters, the only tabloid magazine in English exclusively focused on the Chinese auto market, conferences and consulting services. Over the years, Lei has interviewed numerous CEOs of both Chinese and global automakers and is well connected throughout the industry.

Lei has Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an MBA from Babson College. He is currently based in Massachusetts in the U.S.

Yu Zhang is the founder of AutoForesight. He has 20 years China automotive industry and market research experience.

Prior to AutoForesight, Mr. Zhang was the Managing Director of a Detroit based global auto industry forecasting firm (CSM Worldwide) for 7 years, in charge of company operation, Greater China light vehicle forecasting, OEM strategy research & consulting. He was also the Director of Automotive Consulting business in Asia Pacific area for the combined operations of IHS/CSM in 2010.

Prior to joining the Detroit forecasting firm, he has worked as research chief for Automotive Resources Asia, Ltd. in Beijing for 5 years, where he led in-depth market studies for major OEMs, and personally interviewed more than 500 dealer sales managers/general managers, local auto experts across over 20 provinces.

He is a well-known, recognized expert in the Asian automotive industry. He is widely quoted in national and international publications. He is a long-term columnist of industry magazine –China Automotive Review and often presents at key forums.

He holds a B.A. in economics. Before entering the automotive research field, he has five years′ market research experiences in other industries.