User Profile

Founder & CEO, Agora, Inc

With a strong technical background as a programmer, Tony Zhao is a technical enthusiast driven by innovation. Mr. Zhao is a highly influential figure in the technology sector, especially in real-time video engagement. He began his career as a founding engineer at WebEx in 1997, making significant contributions to its core technologies before Cisco acquired it for $3.2 billion in 2007. After leaving WebEx, Tony became the CTO and board director at YY Inc., a Chinese social entertainment platform. He played a crucial role in the company's 2012 NASDAQ IPO and helped YY achieve a market capitalization of over $5 billion. In 2014, he founded Agora.io, a global real - time engagement platform that offers APIs for developers to create interactive live video, voice, and messaging experiences. Under his leadership, Agora grew rapidly and went public on NASDAQ in June 2020. Agora's platform now powers over 60 billion minutes of real-time engagement each month across more than 190 countries. Its innovative Software-Defined Real-Time Network (SD-RTN™) has established Agora as a leader in the real-time engagement industry, influencing sectors like education, gaming, and healthcare. Tony's vision and technical expertise have been instrumental in driving Agora's global expansion and its significant impact on online interactions. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Peking University. Mr. Zhao is a Fellow of the 2024 Class of the Aspen Institute’s China Fellowship Program and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.