HKBN Seminar: The Coming Robotics Revolution & Why HK/ China Matters
A fireside chat with billionaire investor Jim Mellon and Bob MacDonald
AI may be revolutionising the workplace in ways we are now beginning to understand but what has too often been missed is the impact AI is having on the robotics world, which is set to have an even greater impact on the future of labour. China has been leading the world in R&D spending with Hong Kong acting as a scientific, financial, and collaborative gateway within China’s broader robotics ascendancy. Join Jim and Bob as they take us through this fast-developing revolution and discover how to invest in its future.
Date: Wednesday 22nd April
Time: 18.00 registration; 18.30-19.30 seminar; 19.30-21.00 networking drinks
Venue: HSBC, London
Cost: Free for HKBN members. HKS and non-members please contact the office for more information - communications@hkas.org.uk
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
Jim Mellon - Jim Mellon is a British entrepreneur and billionaire investor, who made his first multi-millions through his investment vehicle Regent Pacific, which listed in Hong Kong where he lived in the 1990s.
Jim’s greatest talent is in identifying emerging trends and major shifts in the markets and how to invest in these. He predicted the 2008 GFC, publishing his first major book Wake Up! in 2005. Since then he has written on themes such as longevity in his book Juvenescence, and cellular agriculture detailed in the most recent book Moo’s Law. His most recent investment research has taken him into the fast-accelerating field of Robotics. He holds an honorary fellowship at Oriel College, Oxford University, where he had been an undergraduate.
Bob MacDonald - Having studied Japanese at Oxford, Bob enjoyed a many decades career in London, Hong Kong and Singapore in investment banking at Salomon Brothers, Morgan Stanley and Citibank.
More recently, Bob completed the University of Oxford Said Business School AI Course in Q4 2024. In 2025 Bob started working at Hoid.AI, a company focused on identifying, analysing and advising on investment in the AI-enabled industry with a particular focus on the robotics and humanoid sectors.