freedPEOPLE!? - Kenneth Lee, Co-Founder & CPO

The Journey

"I wanted to do something more and make an impact on the market," reminisces Kenneth Lee, our Co-Founder and CPO of his entrepreneurial motive, before founding FreeD Group.

Embarked on his career as an IT consultant, after a few years working for banks and corporates, Kenneth decided to take a career break to seek life and career inspiration and met Abel, one of his dearest friends from Canada, in Hong Kong.

Prior to COVID-19, traditional and group travel still dominated many markets. Kenneth and Abel realised that the market needed a more innovative data-driven disruptive travel tech solution that potentially solves some of the pain points the industry has been trying to overcome. Spotting the commercial potential in AI Digitalization and ChatCommerce solutions, they went to Silicon Valley to learn more about the fundamental of building a customer–centric digital power hub and secured the first round of funding backed by the legendary 500 Startups (the 3rd Hong Kong-based startup admitted into the 500 Startups accelerator program). Packed with invaluable knowledge and passion, they returned to Hong Kong and launched the company’s first personal eConcierge Service, marking the beginning of Kenneth's entrepreneurial journey.

There's no playbook on how to develop the right product for your business model. However, it's essential to adapt to the world's evolving trends while managing the expectations and needs of different stakeholders. In 2019, they spotted the industry's vast demands for digital transformation and data-driven commercialization. They decided to leverage their AI and machine learning edge to develop AI-driven smart commerce solutions targeting enterprises. The full-suite AI-driven solutions have opened up many market potentials and accelerated the company's continued growth.

Today

Today's consumers discover brands and products on multiple channels and expect personalised shopping experiences. "Everyone knows how to grow their business and acquire customers with their marketing strategy, but they have fewer ideas on how they can leverage this customer relationship", added Kenneth. That is where FreeD's AI-driven marketplace CVM (Customer Value Management) solution comes in, advising enterprise clients on how to maximize return on available market & consumer database supported by FreeD’s data analytics, then transfer raw data points to sophisticated meaningful product recommendations and personalized recommendations that directly paradigms consumers’ day-to-day behavioural values. With this infrastructure, enterprises can engage and encourage end-customers to an enriched ecosystem of a personalised experience and ancillary products.

Tomorrow

As the CPO of the company, Kenneth puts great emphasis on customer feedback. Gathering insight from clients and their end customers continuously and efficiently remains vital while creating high-quality products embedded with trending technology. To him, innovation is something that changes end users' behaviour. "When we create something new that we call innovation, we must constantly ask ourselves whether these new innovations bring values to the customers," said Kenneth. “The only proof of this is the numbers, how much customers spend on the new platform, how often they spend, how often they return to the channel and make purchases etc. These key metrics guide the team in delivering a better and more innovative product to the clients.”

Fun Fact Questions

• What are the gadgets or apps that you can't live without? LinkedIn. To hire people for my team #WeAreHiring
• What is your favourite book, podcast or newsletter that you’d like to recommend? I read many books about Quantum Mechanics. How the world is moving at the numerical level is fascinating to me. I like to seek insights into my personal philosophy, my life journey and the universe from these books.
• ?What is your favourite workplace memory? The excitement from the team when we successfully launch the product and see the immediate reaction from the market. We always host small parties or dinners to celebrate these launches, and it’s happy to see that everyone in the team is excited and talks about how they contribute to this project.

About Kenneth

Before co-founding FreeD Group in 2016, Kenneth had over 12 years of experience in Data warehousing, Big Data and AI-driven digital solutions for IT, Finance and Travel Industries. Previously he revamped and applied the newest governance to data warehousing solutions for HOOPP, CPPIB, Manulife Financial, TD Canada Trust and CPPIB, one of the largest pension fund companies in the world.?

Kenneth holds a BSc (Honours) in Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo.