Fat Kit Lau (Philip)
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
“Seasoned global leader internalising East-West mindsets, bridging technology and business to build a better world.”
Hometown: Hong Kong
Family Members: I am fortunate to have a very close family who always stand by me, especially my wonderful mother, Angela. I also owe a great deal to my late father; his influence remains at the core of who I am today.
Fun fact about yourself: I chose to study abroad rather than pursue professional taekwondo training at 18, but I believe I could have competed at the Olympics had I decided to continue training professionally. That decision, and the subsequent self‑belief, has shaped who I am. It has also given me limitless energy. Every time I walk into the gym, I still enjoy training as if I were in my twenties. I bring the same mindset to learning: having completed my EMBA, I have already begun a master’s degree in neuroscience.
Undergraduate School and Degree
PhD, Engineering (Semiconductor Laser Devices), University of Cambridge, UK
BEng (Hons) Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Bath, UK (First Class Honours; ranked first in department; IEE Prize Winner)
Where are you currently working?
Company: Stanley Black & Decker
Role: Vice President of Engineering & Technology, Asia
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles:
Outstanding Graduate Award
Performer at class party
Panel speaker on leadership
Volunteer executive coaching for MBA students (Outside CEIBS)
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I’m most proud of finishing with the second‑highest GPA in a cohort of 100 exceptionally talented executives and being named the winner of the Outstanding Graduate Award. I joined the GEMBA programme determined to forget about marks and simply enjoy the journey; this high GPA was really the cherry on the cake as it validated my mindset of always doing my best in whatever I do. The Outstanding Graduate Award required a strong academic performance, but the final recipients were chosen by a cohort vote. That peer recognition means the most to me; it tells me I contributed to our community, not just to my own results.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I’m most proud of being consistently resilient for over a decade. I began my career as a doctoral researcher in Cambridge, UK, moved into industry as a research engineer in Scotland, and today I serve as Vice‑President of Engineering and Technology at a US‑headquartered company with annual revenues of US$15 billion. Step-by-step, I have worked in six cities and four industries, progressing from individual contributor, to leading a team of five, to leading an engineering organisation of 1,200 across five countries. At first glance my career trajectory may appear to be a smooth upward curve, but beneath the surface it has been full of tough, often unimaginable challenges. Through each transition, I have focused on staying resilient and doing my best in every situation. Most importantly, I have shown many colleagues that you can win at scale while caring for people and consistently doing the right thing.
Who was your favorite MBA professor? To be very honest, I appreciate every professor who taught me at CEIBS. That’s why I say my CEIBS experience far exceeded my expectations. Each professor worked hard to create an outstanding learning environment, and I left every module inspired, with new practical ideas I could take straight back to work. As a result, I gained real confidence in new disciplines, such as marketing and finance.
If I must pick one, it would be Professor Chao Liang, who supervised our Capstone Project for almost ten months. That extended engagement naturally made her impact more visible, but it also revealed her strengths. What makes Professor Liang stand out is how grounded and genuinely supportive she is.
Slightly past the midpoint of the project, our team hit a wall: we had identified multiple issues and solutions, but the analysis felt fragmented and lacked a coherent logic flow. In a meeting where we basically gave up and wanted to move on without resolving this, Professor Liang asked for a moment to pause and think. She then suggested anchoring our work in the basic economics of demand and supply, and explained why. That simple, powerful reframing gave the entire team an “aha” moment. The capstone is arguably one of the most important parts of the EMBA journey; having a supervisor like Professor Liang made all the difference. As a final golden cherry on top, we received an A for our capstone project, one of the very few in our year.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? CEIBS stood out among the business schools I considered, and not by a small margin. I wanted a school that truly puts the student experience first and can attract top executives. I was looking for both uncompromising academic rigour and genuine fun. Although I did thorough research before deciding, my actual experience far exceeded my already high expectations. Everyone I met – our professors and dedicated class staff – did their utmost to create an exceptional learning environment.
As a business school in China with a real global vision and reputation, CEIBS attracts senior leaders from within and beyond China. I also valued the global, on‑the‑ground perspective of the overseas modules, meeting people and seeing contexts you simply couldn’t arrange on your own. “China depth and global breadth” isn’t just a slogan: the GEMBA programme genuinely lives it.
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? The beauty of studying an EMBA is that you can work closely or even “live” closely with over 100 classmates with different personalities, cultures, personal backgrounds, work experiences, and disciplines. This is very different than what you can experience in any normal working environment or even your wider adult life. This experience allowed me to deeply appreciate the power of diversity. It almost forces you to be open-minded and thoughtful in your communications so that every message can be delivered and received efficiently and effectively. I could feel that difference when I came back to my normal daily work environment. That is the innate value of GEMBA: such diversity enhances your own creativity, adaptiveness and respect for alternative approaches to any given problem.
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education?My lovely Executive MBA journey hit its first roadblock even before it began. Just before the course started, I was promoted to an exciting and important role leading the largest regional engineering organisation in my company. My new line manager, the Head of Global Engineering, strongly suggested I defer the EMBA. I could not hide my disappointment that I had spent a great deal of time preparing for this next step, but I recognised his advice was for my benefit; he wanted me to succeed in the new role.
As a result, I asked CEIBS for a deferral. That one‑year deferral turned out to be a gift: it gave me and my family the time to recognise how important the EMBA was for my personal growth. With that clarity, my family were 100% behind me, even though it meant a significant reduction in our time together.
The new role placed me on the region’s core management team supporting the regional President. I had 360‑degree exposure to a multi‑billion business and saw first‑hand what running the business is really like. Just as importantly, I became one of the region’s senior executives, accountable for many significant business decisions.
I came to believe, as many people say, that everything happens for a reason. What first felt like a setback proved to be the right arrangement for me, by the grace of God.
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? First, be candid with yourself about why you want an executive MBA now and what outcomes you hope to achieve. Then research rigorously: speak with several schools, compare programmes, and discuss the commitment with your family and employer to ensure the timing is right. Choose the programme that best fits your goals, learning style, and circumstances. Once enrolled, treat the whole experience as your classroom: prepare well, contribute actively, and invest in relationships, projects, and overseas modules. This may be your final stint in formal education, so enjoy it and get the most from it. Arrive open‑minded, challenge old assumptions, and be patient. If you truly immerse yourself and stay receptive, the inspiration and change will come naturally.
What was your biggest regret in business school? None. In hindsight, I happened to start my EMBA at exactly the right moment in my career and life, with the experience, knowledge, maturity, and financial resources to make the most of it. From the outset I assumed the right attitude: do my very best within the shifting constraints of work and family, that was the only promise I needed to make to myself. I kept an open mind, learned widely, and built genuine friendships. I relished studying and living alongside my classmates, much as we did at university. In the end, I gained a wealth of new knowledge, fresh inspiration, and several lifelong friends. Given that outcome, I have no regrets.
What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? One of the strengths of CEIBS is that they constantly make sure their courses remain wholly relevant to the evolving realities of modern business. In a dedicated module, a professor taught us about using data to make decisions, but intentionally added a practical session which involved building a customer service style AI chatbot with one of the latest LLM and AI development platforms. This hands-on learning was concise, yet extremely useful as we learned how to build a chatbot from scratch and refine the app accordingly.
I also attended an AI-focused elective in which we visited the two top AI model and platform providers, Alibaba and Baidu, a provider of AI chips, and also a company that successfully converted itself from a human-centric company to a heavily AI-assisted enterprise on their journey of moving towards being AI-led. The company shared with us their entire journey and the thought process behind the transformation.
One can always imagine how to do something based on logical assumptions, but being able to hear directly from expert practitioners, people who actually went through the journey with all its curveballs and hidden traps, proved to be extremely useful. At work, I applied some of their approaches during our own AI transformation efforts.
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? The in‑person experience. For me, the inherent value of an EMBA is absorbed through working with great people: professors, classmates, and the wider school community. I wanted the intensity of studying and living alongside senior executives who are committed to growing together as a cohort. I valued face‑to‑face case discussions with leading professors and classmates, the momentum of several consecutive days together each month, and the trust and candor that can only develop in the room. Beyond content, the residential format creates accountability, stronger networks and the serendipitous conversations that spark ideas. For all those reasons, an executive MBA was the clear choice.
How did you finance your EMBA and what did you do to make tuition and associated costs more affordable? After speaking with the HR VP of my company at the time, I learned there was no continuing‑education scheme at executive level (schemes exist for managers, senior managers and directors, and possibly senior engineers). To obtain support I would have needed a special arrangement but as a personal principle, because pursuing an EMBA was my own initiative, I chose not to ask for an exception from the company to fund it. That said, as a leader I always encourage my team to apply for company support, because a good organisation invests in its people, perhaps I hold myself to a different standard.
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? I view my career as a platform to contribute positively to the world. Day-to-day, that means creating a people‑centered, win‑together culture with my team, colleagues, suppliers, and partners. More broadly, it means improving customers’ lives by designing and providing outstanding products. In line with that ambition, a specific long‑term goal of mine could be to serve as CEO of a large multinational with customers spread across the globe.
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