"The best ideas come not from the conference room but from the customer's home. Which is more real: a report or the customer's user experience? After all, every company sells products or services to customers. So the answer is clear. You must ask the customer directly."
David Chan, chief executive officer of ECOVACS, said this in an interview with ChosunBiz after his keynote at the SMARTCLOUD SHOW on the 27th of last month at the Westin Josun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. He leads the company that makes the world's best-selling robot vacuum and visits customers' homes privately whenever he travels abroad. He said, "I plan to visit the home of a customer who uses our product in an apartment while on my trip to Korea," and added, "Seeing customers actually use the product and hearing their feedback clarifies the direction for future improvements."
His visits to customers' homes are not mere events. In a Dubai customer's home he learned why powerful suction is important because of desert sand, and in European households where people live with dirty shoes indoors he witnessed how extreme the conditions a robot vacuum faces can be. He said, "At first engineers say those cases are too harsh for the product, but customers want cleaning because of exactly these environments," and added, "What truly helps engineers who make robot vacuums is this kind of 'real feedback.'"
A field-first philosophy was the driving force that grew ECOVACS from an OEM subcontractor that started in 1998 into a robot company with its own technological capabilities. By vertical integration that develops and manufactures key components in-house, it raised its technological self-reliance, which naturally fostered a research and development (R&D)-focused organizational culture. Eighteen percent of all employees are R&D staff, and there are more software engineers than hardware engineers.
The global robot vacuum market is led not by traditional home appliance powerhouses but by Chinese companies specialized in robots. Korea is no exception. In the domestic premium home appliance market, known as the graveyard of foreign appliances under the shadow of Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, Chinese robot vacuum companies hold a 70% market share. Chan, the CEO, attributed the reason established large companies lag in innovation in the robot vacuum field to a 'strategy of neglect.' "At first it starts with 'I don't care' — it's too small a market. Then it becomes 'I don't understand' — why is it growing so fast? And finally, 'I want to catch up, but now it's too late.'"
He cited 'departmental selfishness' as another factor that hampers innovation. "Too many companies are trapped in silos, where business managers don't know product technology and engineers don't know the business," he said, "These things may seem trivial but they ultimately hold back innovation." He added, "To avoid this trap, we design career paths so that young hires who join as engineers also gain experience in the business institutional sector, so they acquire knowledge in both areas," and said, "It's to make product and business fit together like a pair of gloves."
A CEO in his 30s who succeeded the founder, he graduated from the University of British Columbia in Canada and joined ECOVACS Group in 2012, holding key positions including e-commerce and head of overseas business institutional sector. The following is a Q&A with him.
―I heard the ECOVACS headquarters in Suzhou, China, looks like a university campus where engineers are operating robots in courtyards.
"At first glance it might look chaotic and resemble a university campus (ha ha). It may look a bit messy, but that's proof our team is always looking for new answers. There are prototype lawn-mowing robots on the garden lawn, and they move quickly to test the latest software. The company has many young engineers, and I believe it's important to attract young talent who can come up with fresh ideas."
―What is the secret to attracting and motivating young talent?
"Acknowledge that young people, as creative beings, make mistakes and create a corporate culture that tolerates mistakes. Also make them feel they are growing with the company. We support career development paths so engineers can grow into leaders with not only technical knowledge but also business acumen. Of course, compensation matters. As a publicly listed company, we share the perception of 'one team' by allowing all employees to contribute to the company's success through stock options and other means."
―How does the new product development process proceed?
"Everything starts with customer feedback. Complaints from customers in Asia that too much water remains on the floor after mopping led to the birth of the 'OZMO roller' technology that reabsorbs moisture into the mop, and complaints that the battery ran out during cleaning and required a three-hour wait for charging produced the 'PowerBoost' technology that rapidly charges the robot in just minutes while it stays at the station. The direction of our products is to evolve beyond simple tools into a 'steward' that understands living patterns and, further, into a 'companion' that connects with people. Next spring, we plan to introduce a completely new category of home robot."
―The AI learning capabilities of robot vacuums improve year by year. How do you expect AI to change ECOVACS's business model in the future?
"Honestly, I don't think AI will fundamentally change our business model. I'm optimistic about technology trends but a realist. AI is a very useful tool, but our work is about getting back to basics. We will use AI to focus on making better products that solve very specific customer problems, such as floor cleaning or lawn mowing. Our in-house developed large language model (LLM) is also focused on solving customer needs, for example by letting people ask the AI naturally and get answers without searching a manual."
―What change in robot vacuums will consumers most noticeably experience in the next two to three years?
"There is still much to improve. We need to lower noise levels further and increase semantic perception of the home environment. Robots should be able to go up and down stairs. But the biggest issue is energy. The more computing power and motors you add, the more severe the battery drain. To add more features in the future, we must solve the energy problem first."
―Security issues from robot vacuum hacking have been a concern several times. How are you responding?
"The basic principle is 'if you don't comply with regulations, you can't sell.' We were one of the first Chinese companies to participate in global robot standards committees. As the industry develops, expectations for security from customers and governments continuously change and rise. That's a natural and proper development. Sometimes we haven't been able to respond quickly enough to those changes and problems arose. When that happens, we must face the problem, fix it and grow. I believe it's important for the industry and regulators to work together to create the right standards. I met with Korean government officials to discuss security issues and we will promptly align and improve to meet those standards."