Cover Kenny Lam, co-founder and co-chairman, Melo Foundation—featured in the Tatler Leadership AI Coalition (Photo: Ken Leung)
Kenny Lam, co-founder and co-chairman, Melo Foundation—featured in the Tatler Leadership AI Coalition (Photo: Ken Leung)
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AI breaks new ground every week. Six Hong Kong executives—from McDonald’s to J.P. Morgan—explain why AI literacy, humility, curiosity and “the human touch” matter more than ever
Working to address the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” of Hong Kong, Kenny Lam, co-founder and co-chairman of the Melo Foundation, says AI has only increased the urgency of their core mission.
“What we care about is the widening gap in society and the marginalisation of those who don’t get access,” says Lam, also the co-chairman of a leading investment firm—and a self-identified member of the “haves”.
Melo was founded in 2019 as Project Melo, a social enterprise, and became a government-licensed charity in 2024, when it rebranded to the Melo Foundation. Across its sub-brands Project Melo—and, as of August, the non-profit Teach For Hong Kong—the Melo Foundation offers under-resourced secondary school and undergraduate students in Hong Kong access to career development programmes and opportunities to converse with high-profile CEOs and executives “as equals”, Lam says. Now, the charity’s fellowship initiatives are evolving to address the “have-nots” facing unique challenges in keeping up with AI skills and future readiness.
“For any one of us to think about helping society adopt AI and minimising that gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’, there is a step before that, which is AI literacy,” says Lam. In 2025, Melo partnered with Preface to launch its flagship AI-5000 initiative in secondary schools, which involves an eight-hour curriculum on AI development, prompting and applications.
Not all teachers were immediately enthusiastic—according to Lam, some said, “Our students are wondering how to deal with AI”—but overall, the response has been positive. Today, more than 80 leaders support the platform, including Kam Shing Kwang, CEO, Hong Kong and chair, North Asia, of J.P. Morgan; and Preface’s founder and CEO Tommie Lo, also a co-chair of Melo. The group also includes global and regional figures like Dominic Barton, chairman of mining giant Rio Tinto.
Drawing in these CEOs gets to the heart of the foundation, named for the melo pearl—a rare type of orange gem formed inside sea snails—as students are the “gems” of society, says Lam. “The logo for Melo is a pearl in the middle, and two people facing each other,” he added in written comments to Tatler, “implying an equal, authentic relationship between the CEOs and the students”.
Read more: Meet Randy Lai: the McDonald’s Hong Kong CEO on leveraging AI for fast food experiences
As AI tools become more capable, says Lam, “It’s not just about having crazily smart AI agents that work together.” What will matter most to steer organisations, in his view, is the “human touch”, a combination of heart, context and judgment.
“To get the CEO to say yes to something, the official meeting is the last meeting,” Lam notes, pointing to the crucial “chats before the chats” that build consensus among team members. “It’s not just the person you want to influence; it’s the whole context you want to influence. [There’s] absolutely something that AI cannot replace, and that’s leadership.”
Read more: Meet Christine Ip: the UOB banking veteran and lifelong ‘early learner’ now embracing AI skills
What about the fear surrounding AI, particularly about the pace of progress and its toll on the environment? “We’re blessed that we have so many amazing geniuses that created this AI revolution,” Lam notes, but some are starting to “miss the plot” on what matters.
“We’ve reached a point where there’s too much salesmanship in the overall AI industry, in some parts of the world, that it leads to wastage and unhelpful scaling in investment,” says Lam. “There’s not enough thoughtfulness put into deploying capital where it should be.” He points to the possibility of “a stage of correction” preceding a period of growth—and that access to AI education, at least in Hong Kong, can help create a more balanced society in the long run.
In collaboration with Preface, a Hong Kong-based tech content and training company that helps people understand and navigate technology in today’s fast-changing world, Tatler presents the AI Leadership coalition: six industry heavyweights who are redefining what it means to lead today. Read the full cover story here.
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Cat Wang is an editor at Tatler Asia based in Hong Kong, where she covers business, wealth, innovation, and impact. Previously, she was a Forbes Asia reporter and assistant editor of the Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list, spotlighting startups and small companies on the rise across the Asia-Pacific. She began her career as a trainee reporter at the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s newspaper of record. Born in New York City, she graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a B.A. in political science.
