Jesse Xiao is an academic leader and IT strategist with a decade of experience in university strategic planning, data-driven decision-making, university rankings and library management. At the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), he serves as Director, using data to drive university advancement, supported by a multidisciplinary background in computer science, biomedical science, business management and library information science. Jesse was previously a lecturer at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), teaching library management and information science. Before joining EdUHK, he led data-informed initiatives at Hong Kong Baptist University’s Office of Institutional Research and Planning, and strengthened library research services and medical library operations at HKU. He was a Board Director for ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) and is active in international professional organisations, as well as carrying out editorial work for leading journals.