Former head of GenAI at Microsoft Asia has focused on machine intelligence in previous research
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenShi HuangPublished: 12:00pm, 14 May 2026Li Hongzhi, an award-winning former head of GenAI at Microsoft Asia, has joined Tongji University, one of China’s leading universities.Li started his first job at technology giant Microsoft immediately after obtaining his PhD from Columbia University.For more than 10 years, he worked at Microsoft Research – the company’s subsidiary responsible for basic and applied research in computer science, software engineering and hardware design.
Li was the head of Microsoft AI Asia’s GenAI Group before joining Tongji.
According to the university, Li recently returned to China and is a distinguished tenured professor at its Institute of AI for Engineering.
