Zhou Yuxiang, founder of Black Lake Technologies, has reimagined how AI can transform China's factory floors by adapting unconventional sales and development strategies to reach smaller manufacturers traditionally underserved by enterprise tech providers.
- Innovative sales hires from food delivery industry enable deeper factory access
- AI software automates complex factory operations at smaller manufacturers
- China leads global industrial robot installation with 59% of total in 2025
What happened
Zhou Yuxiang founded Black Lake Technologies in Shanghai to deliver AI-powered factory management software to China’s millions of small factories. Initial sales efforts with experienced professionals from Western enterprise firms failed due to lack of on-the-ground factory access. Instead, Zhou hired food delivery riders familiar with local factory layouts and decision-makers, successfully breaking into the market.
Black Lake’s cloud system integrates production scheduling, order tracking, and material management, recently enhanced with AI agents capable of autonomous quoting and scheduling. Since 2025, the startup has been profitable and experiencing over 60% year-on-year revenue growth, capitalizing on China’s dominance in industrial automation and the growing demand for tailored AI solutions in manufacturing.
Why it matters
China is a pivotal arena for industrial AI innovation, having installed 354,000 industrial robots in 2025, representing 59% of the global total. However, much of the current focus is on large-scale factories, leaving smaller manufacturers underserved despite their significant presence. Zhou’s approach targets this overlooked market by blending street-level sales experience with rigorous product training to meet the unique needs of smaller operations.
Zhou’s vision goes beyond merely accelerating existing tasks with AI; he aims to fundamentally restructure factory workflows and industry operations. This attempt to unlock new productivity and efficiency in small-scale manufacturing could redefine how industries evolve in the AI era, highlighting China’s potential to lead the next phase of industrial transformation.
What to watch next
Black Lake’s ability to scale its AI factory management platform across China’s four million small factories will be critical to its future success. Monitoring how effectively the company trains and deploys its unconventional sales force, alongside continued product improvements, will provide insight into the broader industrial AI adoption curve in China.
Additionally, external factors such as global technology export controls and competitive dynamics between Chinese and Western AI firms will influence the sector. Watching how Black Lake and other Chinese startups navigate these challenges while driving industrial innovation will inform the evolution of AI’s role in manufacturing worldwide.