Founder and Managing Director
Tian Su
A scientist turned AI and technology executive with more than 15 years of taking AI from the first model to production at scale, in banking, retail and e-commerce, across the US, Europe and Asia.
About
User experience and technology first
Tian trained as a biologist, with a PhD from Yale, before moving into computer science and machine learning. That path still shapes the work: form a hypothesis, test it with real users, and let the evidence decide.
Tian has built AI teams and functions from scratch at 7-Eleven, Walmart and Zalando, and led product and technology for one of Europe’s largest e-commerce platforms. Tian starts from the customer and the user experience, then works through the data, the architecture and the operating model until the result shows up in the numbers.
Tian founded ST Holding Global to bring that experience to boards, owners and leadership teams. Today Tian leads the AI transformation of a private-equity-backed European retailer, from strategy and board reporting to the build of its first app, and advises a European media group on AI.
Career
Where the experience comes from
ST Holding Global
Founder and Managing Director · Berlin
Board, advisory and interim leadership roles in AI transformation, data foundations, technology transformation, and business growth through user growth. Digital products for growing businesses and new ventures.
Zalando
VP Product and Technology · Berlin · 2021–2026
Led AI, machine learning, product, engineering, research and customer insights across 25 markets, acting as the company’s Chief AI and Science Officer. Introduced a customer-first development framework, rebuilt personalised ranking, recommendations and semantic search, and launched the Zalando Assistant, one of the first generative AI shopping assistants in e-commerce. Founded the technology hub in Shenzhen and sits on its board. Chaired the GenAI Leadership Circle, advising executives and the board on AI strategy, ethics and regulation.
Walmart
Director of Data Science, Machine Learning and Analytics · Dallas · 2019–2021
Built Walmart’s AI and machine learning team and an end-to-end AI service for finance, supply chain, operations and customer analytics, working with teams in the US, China, the UK and Mexico. Established the company’s first model governance office.
7-Eleven
Head of AI, Machine Learning and Decision Science · Irving, Texas · 2018–2019
Founding member of the company’s first AI group. Built its first enterprise AI framework and products for personalisation, demand forecasting and store operations, and took them from proof of concept to rollout in months.
Bridgewater Associates
Investment Engineer · Connecticut · 2017–2018
Developed systematic trading signals and introduced machine learning methods to signal research.
Capital One
Senior Data Scientist and Data Product Manager · Plano, Texas · 2014–2017
Led data transformation work on big data platforms and built the bank’s first machine-learning recommendation engine, along with income, pricing and marketing models.
Education
Yale University
PhD, Immunobiology and Cancer Biology
Georgia Institute of Technology
MSc, Computer Science: machine learning, AI and robotics
Heidelberg University
MSc, Molecular and Cellular Biology
Peking University
BSc, Life Sciences
Recognition
Awards, speaking and writing
2025
One of Germany’s 23 most important women in AI, Manager Magazin and Harvard Business Manager.
2024
One of 30 emerging innovation leaders, Vordenker:innen 2024 by Boston Consulting Group and Handelsblatt.
2020
Top 30 women advancing AI in Texas, RE•WORK, and one of 12 women in machine learning to watch, Sama.
Speaking
Keynotes and panels at Shoptalk, Drapers Future Fashion Forum, EuroShop, AI Week Frankfurt, AI4 and RE•WORK, and guest on podcasts about AI.
Writing
Author of the Business of Fashion white paper “Generative AI in Fashion”. Scientific publications in Nature Immunology, eLife and the Journal of Neuroscience.
Fiction
Published fantasy novelist and literary translator.
How we work
One playbook, adapted to each company
Discovery before build
Start from the customer, the numbers and the team you already have.
Data before models
Put governed data foundations in place, then build AI on top.
Governance before scale
Security, privacy and the EU AI Act are designed in from the start.
Impact you can track
Regular demos, KPI reviews and benefits tracked against the plan.
Work with Tian
Raise the ceiling, every week.