Jincai FAN

China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)

“Tech-driven marketing entrepreneur and LGBT advocate architecting a more inclusive, market-powered future for China.”

Hometown: Shanghai, China

Fun fact about yourself:

• Community Architect: Co-founded and operated a premier LGBT hiking club in Shenzhen from 2020 to 2023, scaling a grassroots passion project into a vibrant community of over 3,000 members.
• Endurance Enthusiast: An avid cyclist who thrives on extreme physical and mental discipline; successfully completed a 260 km long-distance ride in just 10 hours, a testament to my commitment to high-altitude and endurance challenges.
• Proud “Cat Dad”: A dedicated “cat dad” to a diverse herd of four cats—a Ragdoll, an Abyssinian, a Siamese, and a British Shorthair—balancing a high-energy professional life with a very active home household.

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of Nottingham, BA(Hons) Finance Accounting and Management

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Mininglamp Technology (2718.HK), Senior Director in Product Commercialization

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? Eli Lilly Leadership Development (LDP) Program Summer Internship in Shanghai

Where will you be working after graduation? Eli Lilly, Senior Manager – MarTech

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• Scholarships: Wu Jinglian Business Leadership Scholarship (Top 2%); L.Y Global Leadership Scholarship (4/104)
• Awards: MBA 2026 Student Leader Award (3/104), MBA 2026 Contribution Award
• Marketing Co-Chair, Student Committee
• TEDX 2026 Marketing and Sponsorship Co-Lead

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? During our first week at CEIBS, our batch of 104 fiercely independent professionals voted on a class slogan: “Together Stronger.” Initially, looking around a room of ambitious but fundamentally disconnected strangers, the phrase felt like an empty promise. Determined to breathe life into those words, I took on the role of Marketing Co-Chair for the Student Committee to act as a cultural architect. By orchestrating five campus-wide flagship events and countless intimate gatherings, I worked to dismantle the invisible walls built by high-pressure academics, helping superficial networking evolve into genuine vulnerability where peers transformed into fierce advocates for one another.

The ultimate proof of this cultural shift was our Class Gift initiative—a unified, collective donation to the school that served as the physical manifestation of our once-hollow slogan. Watching us evolve from loose individuals chasing personal ROI into an unbreakable family leaving a shared legacy taught me the true meaning of leadership: it is not about standing at the front to direct, but about building the invisible bridges that empower a community to stand together.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? My proudest professional achievement is orchestrating a high-stakes career pivot: transitioning from an external tech vendor at a China-native AI startup to securing a coveted spot in Eli Lilly’s Leadership Development Program (LDP). Previously, as the youngest Senior Director at Mininglamp Technology, my success relied on acting as a “capability provider,” pushing Martech solutions to external brands. Earning my place at Lilly required conquering a formidable triple hurdle: adapting from a hyper-agile local startup culture to the complex matrix of a global MNC; standing out in a rigorous selection process against over 20 elite talents from top-tier global institutions like HBS, Wharton, and LBS; and fundamentally rewiring my mindset to become an in-house “capability builder.” This achievement is profoundly meaningful because it validates my courage to leave behind a fast-tracked tech career and proves my ability to successfully reinvent myself as an internal strategist driving long-term healthcare innovation

Why did you choose this business school? For me, CEIBS’s motto—”China Depth, Global Breadth”—was never just an institutional tagline; it was the exact blueprint for my career pivot. Prior to my MBA, I built my foundation at a native Chinese AI startup, mastering the hyper-agile, fiercely competitive local market. I already possessed the “China Depth,” but to successfully transition into an in-house leadership role at a global MNC like Eli Lilly, I desperately needed the “Global Breadth”. I chose CEIBS because it is the only business school that serves as a true bridge rather than just a classroom. It allowed me to leverage my grassroots understanding of the Chinese commercial landscape while equipping me with world-class, cross-cultural leadership frameworks, ultimately empowering me to seamlessly navigate and connect two fundamentally different business ecosystems.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? My favorite professor was Professor Hyun Young Park. Ironically, even though I had already built a career in the marketing industry, her class was the first time I actually studied the subject systematically. Before CEIBS, my knowledge was built entirely in the trenches, focused heavily on driving sales and executing isolated tactics. Professor Park helped me step back and see marketing as a complete, rigorous science rather than just a toolkit.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite MBA event is actually one we built from the ground up: the Graduation Module. At most institutions, graduation is a highly scripted, pre-packaged ceremony handed down by the administration. However, our cohort was given the unique autonomy to truly design the way we graduate. Serving on the organizing committee, I had the privilege of helping craft an experience that genuinely reflected our class’s collective identity and shared journey. Instead of simply walking across a stage to receive a diploma, we engineered a customized, immersive finale. It transformed a standard academic milestone into a deeply personal capstone, allowing us to define our own legacy and close this transformative chapter exactly on our own terms.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? If I could rewrite one chapter of my MBA journey, I would have pursued my academic exchange at COPPEAD in Brazil rather than HKUST. At the time, I chose HKUST out of pure pragmatism, strategically leveraging the location to optimize my job hunting. While that calculated decision paid off professionally, looking back, I realize that an MBA is a rare, protected window in life that shouldn’t be governed solely by immediate career ROI. I wish I had used that exchange opportunity to truly embrace the unknown. Throwing myself into the vibrant, completely unfamiliar business landscape of South America would have pushed me entirely out of my cultural and geographic comfort zone, reminding me that sometimes the greatest value of business school lies in the radical leaps rather than just the safe, strategic steps.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it? The most impactful case study during my MBA wasn’t a traditional financial model or a strategic breakdown, but a highly immersive, multi-party negotiation simulation taught by Professor Byron. Thrust into a high-stakes scenario fraught with conflicting agendas and asymmetric information, the academic theories quickly faded, leaving us to confront the raw, unpredictable nature of human behavior. The biggest lesson I learned wasn’t about simply claiming the most value or “winning” the argument; it was about how to systematically navigate through incredibly hard, emotionally-charged dynamics. Professor Byron demonstrated that true leverage doesn’t come from being the loudest voice in the room, but from the emotional intelligence to read unspoken subtext, de-escalate tension, and creatively align deeply opposed interests into a sustainable consensus.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? What I loved most about studying in Shanghai was the intoxicating blend of sheer vibrancy and the absolute freedom it offered. It is a city that constantly pulses with relentless energy and innovation, yet it never dictates who you have to be within it. Amidst the towering skyline and the fast-paced business environment, there is a profound, liberating space to simply be yourself. Whether I was exploring its dynamic neighborhoods or engaging with its diverse, cosmopolitan communities, the city provided a canvas where I could strip away professional expectations and authentically explore my own identity. Shanghai doesn’t just push you to achieve more; it gives you the vibrant freedom to discover who you truly are outside the classroom.

What business leader do you admire most? The business leader I admire most is Ma Ke, the visionary designer and founder of the social enterprise “Wuyong.” While most corporate leaders are defined by aggressive commercial scaling, I am deeply inspired by her courage to step away from mainstream success to champion the marginalized. By dedicating herself to protecting vanishing traditional handicrafts in rural China, she proved that true business value isn’t just about profit—it’s about compassion and “benefiting all living beings.”

Her journey profoundly resonates with my own core mission to support and empower the LGBT community in China. Inspired by her philosophy of taking concrete action to uplift overlooked populations, I run a grassroots LGBT community in Shenzhen. By organizing a tremendous variety of outdoor activities, I focus on creating safe, vibrant, and inclusive spaces where individuals can authentically connect and thrive away from societal pressures. Just as Ma Ke uses her platform to give visibility and dignity to forgotten artisans, my goal is to foster a resilient support system that champions belonging. She taught me that the highest form of leadership is community building: having the bravery to translate your convictions into tangible environments where marginalized voices can simply be themselves.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? At CEIBS, the integration of AI has moved beyond simple technical training toward a philosophy of “Teaching with AI, engaging with AI, but Standing Out from AI.” Rather than viewing it as a replacement for human judgment, the curriculum is designed to treat AI as a high-velocity co-pilot that requires an expert navigator. This approach has shifted our classroom dynamics from traditional problem-solving to high-level strategic steering.

The most profound insight I gained is that in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) environment, AI can process data at scale, but it cannot navigate nuance, ethics, or vision. The program has trained us to realize that as AI commoditizes technical output, the true premium shifts back to uniquely human traits: emotional intelligence, cultural empathy, and the courage to make decisive calls when the data is conflicting. I’ve learned that leadership in the age of AI isn’t about competing with the machine’s speed, but about being the steady hand that steers it toward meaningful, human-centric outcomes.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire?  The classmate I most admire is Rex Chen, whose entrepreneurial grit and vision were single-handedly responsible for the resurrection of INNOVATEChina. After the platform had been dormant and almost forgotten for several years, Rex didn’t just restart it; he completely re-engineered its value proposition for a new era of business.

What truly impressed me was his ability to bridge high-stakes corporate complexity with top-tier academic talent. In 2025, he successfully brought global giants like Michelin and Roland Berger to the table, tasking elite students from the world’s leading business schools to solve their toughest strategic dilemmas. Watching Rex navigate these intense dynamics taught me that true leadership isn’t just about a great idea—it’s about the relentless execution required to breathe life back into a legacy and turn a “tough business question” into a transformative opportunity for an entire ecosystem.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? While many have a list of various goals, I have one singular, career-defining mission that encompasses my entire professional ambition: To pioneer a native, market-driven infrastructure for the LGBT community in China. I firmly believe in the transformative power of commercialization over pure advocacy; therefore, my goal is to unlock the immense, untapped consumption potential of this demographic as a recognized driver of national economic development.

Rather than simply importing global DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) templates, I want to build a localized commercial ecosystem where the LGBT market is seen as a strategic asset. By demonstrating the undeniable economic logic of inclusion through data and market success, I aim to achieve systemic dignity and visibility for the community. For me, this is not just one goal among many; it is the ultimate intersection of my marketing expertise, my belief in the power of the market, and my dedication to creating a more inclusive future for China.

What made Jincai such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“As the Associate Dean and Director of the MBA Programme at CEIBS, I have the privilege of observing how individual students shape the collective DNA of our cohorts. What makes Mr. Jincai Fan an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026 is not merely his academic or professional acumen, but his profound embodiment of servant leadership and his relentless dedication to community building.

In a highly competitive MBA environment, it is natural for students to become hyper-focused on their individual career trajectories. Jincai, however, actively chose a different path. He was the proactive glue that united his batch. Recognizing the immense pressure his classmates were under, he consistently put the collective well-being of the cohort above his own self-interest. It was a testament to his authentic, grounded approach that he was selected by his own peers as a student leader. Upon graduation, he was granted the “MBA Student Leader Award,” voted by the MBA students themselves as well as the “CEIBS MBA Contribution Award,” to recognize his exceptional contribution made to the CEIBS community.

Beyond our immediate MBA cohort, Jincai served as a vital catalyst for the broader CEIBS community. He possesses a unique ability to inject vibrancy and energy into any environment. He did not allow the Class of MBA2026 to remain in an isolated bubble; instead, he proactively reached across the aisle to connect his batch with other programmes within the school. By dismantling these traditional silos, he fostered a much more dynamic, cohesive, and deeply connected campus culture. He is always the first to give back—whether by organizing cross-programme engagements, offering peer-to-peer support, or simply being the dependable anchor for a classmate in need.

From a faculty perspective, watching Jincai’s personal development has been incredibly rewarding. He arrived on campus as a sharp, experienced professional, but he has evolved into a deeply empathetic, highly emotionally intelligent community architect. He has mastered the art of servant leadership: demonstrating that the most powerful way to lead is by lifting others up. Jincai is the rare kind of student who will leave CEIBS fundamentally better and more united than he found it, making him a truly irreplaceable member of this class. I endorse his nomination with my strongest support.”

Lingling Zhang
Associate Professor of Marketing, CEIBS
Associate Dean
Director of MBA Programme

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