Name: SCMP
Telephone: +852-2680-8888

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Advertising partner

[Sponsored Article]
Mike Gault, founder and CEO of blockchain business Guardtime, believes he may be unique among Kellogg-HKUST EMBA alumni, having been a member of three separate cohorts.
“I was in KH11, KH12 and KH13,” he explains.
Work pressures contributed to the delayed completion of his studies. At that time, he was establishing his tech company in Tallinn, Estonia, while working as a derivatives trader in Tokyo.
However, the deferments proved fortuitous, Gault says.
“If I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have met my former classmates who are now my colleagues,” he says.
Jian Tan, Guardtime’s general manager, China; and James Koo, the company’s president, Singapore; were both in KH12 with Gault, and the company’s president, Tim Fitzpatrick, was a classmate in KH13.
Gault cites his relationship with Tan – who graduated top of his class from Beijing University and has a PhD in computational genomics – as an example of how these professional connections can begin.
“He came to me during a class and said, ‘Hey, Mike, I love your technology; let me help you build a business in China’,” Gault says.
The Kellogg-HKUST EMBA programme offered the nascent business more than opportunities to recruit.
Gault says the classroom mix of top quality brains and a range of skill sets provided him with good ideas for ways to develop his business.
“All our group projects seemed to be about Guardtime,” he recalls. “People were looking for suggestions and I was able to volunteer and propose Guardtime as a good topic for group projects.”
The diversity of fellow-students’ backgrounds was a major reason to apply for a place on the programme, he says. “If you’re in finance for 10 years, you start to believe everyone else thinks like you.”
On the EMBA programme, Gault met students with different perspectives. “There were people who came from advertising or marketing, and these are not the kind of people you normally interact with in the finance industry,” he says. “They give you a much broader view.”
Now one of the EMBA’s distinguished alumni, Gault spoke to the management conference on the theme “Using Blockchain in Enterprise: Real Life Use Cases”.
He preceded his presentation by thanking the HKUST Business School’s Professor Steve DeKrey and EMBA programme director Judy Au for their patience with his prolonged participation in the programme.
Guardtime was founded in 2007, and now employs more than 150 people, but Gault plays down the fact it is the world’s largest blockchain company.
“I think we’re the only blockchain company that makes money and makes products,” he says.
However, the potential of the technology it specialises in is limitless and can transform the world, Gault says.
“The beauty of blockchain is that it’s such a horizontal technology it can go into any business,” he explains.
“Blockchain provides a mechanism for verification throughout the entire supply chain, from the first part that’s created, all the way through to the consumer.”
Blockchain can also help rid countries such as India of fake and dangerous medical products, and Guardtime is enabling patients in Britain to access their health care records via their phones, Gault says.
In the commercial world, the immutability of blockchain can guarantee process integrity and allow businesses to shed the costs related to functions such as compliance, audit and security.
Gault asks: “What’s every brand owner’s number one problem in China? It’s contract manufacturing overproduction, the grey market.”
With blockchain “you can prevent that”, he says. “You can provide a digital twin which is born on the very first day the product is created, link that to the product through its entire life cycle, and immediately detect grey market goods entering the supply chain.”
The Kellogg-HKUST EMBA alumni network is still supporting Gault and Guardtime, as the company’s growth is built on the forging of partnerships with new businesses and sectors.
“Once you’re part of that network, you can go on to the website and, if you’re interested in a particular vertical or you’re looking to get a contact in a particular business, the programme can provide that,” Gault says.


World-beating Kellogg-HKUST EMBA programme celebrates with “Leadership in an Age of Disruption” conference

Guardtime CEO Mike Gault thrives on Kellogg-HKUST EMBA programme’s fresh perspectives

How Kellogg-HKUST EMBA programme fast-tracked Nike’s Angela Dong

Kellogg-HKUST EMBA programme offers lifelong contacts and business lessons

20th Anniversary Celebration

Kellogg-HKUST EMBA

Business

Kellogg-HKUST EMBA programme sees students from many backgrounds form valuable network for future friendship, idea-sharing and business partnerships
