DAVID T JIANG



understanding humans might be the Next frontier of AI

CEO and Co-founder of Heura Lab



Entrepreneur, Investor, Professor, and Former Global Investment CEO





Current Mission: My current work emerged over decades of leading investment organizations, technology ventures, and public policy initiatives. I repeatedly observed the most consequential outcomes were rarely determined by intellect alone. These decisions were shaped by human psychology and behavior: trust, identity, values, culture, beliefs, leadership.


Global Leadership: I began my career managing multi-billion hedge-fund and pension portfolios. Then spent two decades leading global investment firms across North America, Europe, and Asia. I successfully led the turnaround of PineBridge Investments (AIG Investments) following the Global Financial Crisis, overseeing more than $75 billion in assets across investment teams on 5 continents. Before that, I led the growth of BNY Asia Pacific business to $55 billion in assets. There, I co-led our efforts with Sovereign Wealth Funds globally, worked with governments and institutional investors across one of the worlds fastest growing regions.


Building and Investing: Since then, I have founded and invested in technology companies, served on corporate and non-profit boards, and advised and taught at Harvard University and UC Berkeley. Across these experiences, I have remained motivated by one goal: how can technology, institutions, culture, and human understanding contribute to long-term societal progress.



The Questions that have guided my work



Rather than defining my career by industries or job titles, I think of it as an exploration of a handful of enduring questions.





How Can Technology Improve Society



Throughout my career, I have been drawn toward technologies that create broad societal impact. My interests have included financial technology, advanced materials, renewable energy, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and computational models of human behavior. Technology matters most when it expands human capability rather than simply increasing efficiency. The question is never whether we can build something. It is whether we should—and whether it ultimately improves people's lives.



How Do Humans Make Decisions



Every important outcome begins with a human decision. People rarely make decisions through pure rational calculation. They balance beliefs, emotions, incentives, identity, relationships, experience, and uncertainty. Understanding those hidden processes may become one of the most important frontiers for artificial intelligence. This question sits at the heart of my work at Heura Lab.



How Do Civilizations and Cultures Learn and Evolve



Having lived and worked in 7 countries, across the United States, Asia, and Europe, I have seen how different societies approach education, innovation, leadership, and community. No culture has all the answers. Progress often comes from learning across cultures while preserving the values that make each unique. This interest has led to work in education, public policy, international exchange, and cross-cultural philanthropy.



How Can Institutions Change



Markets, governments, universities, nonprofits, and corporations are among humanity's most powerful inventions. Yet institutions succeed or fail because of people. My years leading global investment organizations and serving on corporate and nonprofit boards have convinced me that institutional performance depends on incentives, culture, trust, governance, and the quality of collective decision-making. I remain fascinated by how institutions adapt—and sometimes fail to adapt—to changing environments.​



writings, courses, lectures, research, ideas








frontiers of AI



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Investing in Technology



  • Small Cap Contrarian Investing for the Individual Investor
  • Small Cap Growth Investing for the Individual Investor
  • Renewable Energy Investing
  • Lessons in FinTech Investing
  • Options, Futures, and Derivatives





Global Perspectives



  • Geopolitical Technology Competition: Roots and Limitations of Asian Economic Power
  • The Influence and Limitations of Sovereign Wealth Funds
  • New Frontier: Cross-Cultural Innovation

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entrepreneurial insight



  • Leadership in Silicon Valley and Wall Street
  • Organizational Lessons in Turnaround Management and Culture Change
  • Thinking and Building for the Long-Term

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beauty, art & meaning



  • The Squared Circle, a documentary film
  • Why Music Matters
  • Raising Successful Children: Curious, Kind & Joyful
  • Love and Relationships in the Age of AI







currently exploring



  • World Models vs Transformer Architecture
  • Unintended Consequences of Technology
  • Reading: David Reich's "Who We Are and How We Got Here"
  • Reading: Samuel Johnson's "The History of Rasselas"


EUDAImonia: What is a life well lived?






Beyond my work, I continue to seek experiences that satisfy my curiosity, appreciation for craftsmanship, relationships, musical expression, inner peace, and sense of wonder. These pursuits have included learning to stargaze, fly, sail, Latin dance, play instruments, and filmmaking—and, most importantly, raising my children.

I have experienced immense joy from traveling to more than 80 countries, discovering healthy local foods, being in the presence of live music, and have found that it is always with people that I share these experiences that create memories that endure.

These experiences remind me that cultivating deep relationships is not only an intellectual pursuit, it is something deeply vulnerable, practiced through giving, open conversations, creativity, movement, exploration. They also remind me to center my life around people, never underestimating the gift of the person in front of me.

I suspect that a meaningful life is built not only from a string of achievements, but from a lifetime of learning, relationships, and contribution.











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San Francisco, CA 94105