KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Biography:
Dr. Li Luan is redefining how industrial research and development is conducted in the age of AI. As Global Technical Director at PPG Industries, she is leading the shift from intuition-driven experimentation to intelligence-driven discovery—transforming R&D from trial and error into a designed, scalable, closed-loop learning system.
Her work advances the concept of scientific data moats, where structured, high-quality data becomes a compounding competitive advantage. She believes the true frontier of scientific AI lies not just in better models or more data, but in embedding formulators’ explicit and tacit knowledge into data systems, scientific methodologies, and business workflows. By bridging fundamental research and industrial application, she is building intelligence-driven R&D systems that fundamentally reshape how companies innovate.
Li Luan
Global Technology Director
Digital R&D and Corporate Color, PPG
Abstract:
Scientific innovation in the AI era is shifting from intuition-driven experimentation to data-driven intelligence systems. This talk introduces the concept of scientific data moats and a three-layer architecture—strategic experimentation, materials informatics, and materials ontology—that transforms R&D into a compounding advantage. Using coatings as a case study, we demonstrate how data supercharge talent and innovation.