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Black Lake CEO: Chinese Factories Skip Digitalisation to Deploy AI Agents Globally

ai-technology · 2026-10-12

According to Zhou Yuxiang, CEO of the Chinese software company Black Lake, manufacturers in China are skipping traditional digitalisation steps and are instead implementing AI agents throughout their operations. In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Zhou likened this transition to China’s previous move from credit cards to mobile payments, noting that numerous factories are opting to leap directly to AI without fully embracing conventional digitalisation. This shift is seen as a global adoption of agentic AI. Furthermore, it aligns with Beijing's "AI plus" initiative, which aims to incorporate artificial intelligence into 90 percent of China's economy by 2030. Black Lake aims to capitalize on this industrial shift as Chinese factories increasingly adopt AI-driven operations.

Key facts

  • Chinese manufacturers are bypassing traditional digitalisation and deploying AI agents across operations, according to Black Lake.
  • Black Lake CEO Zhou Yuxiang made the comments in a recent interview with the South China Morning Post.
  • Zhou compared the shift to China skipping credit cards and jumping directly to mobile payments.
  • The trend is described as taking agentic AI global.
  • Beijing's national "AI plus" initiative targets integrating AI into 90 per cent of China's economy by 2030.
  • Black Lake is a Chinese software firm.
  • The adoption involves deploying AI agents across factory operations.

Entities

Artists

  • Zhou Yuxiang

Institutions

  • Black Lake
  • South China Morning Post

Locations

  • China
  • Beijing

Sources