Robin Cheung left a career in foreign exchange trading to build one of Hong Kong's most enduring logistics companies — and after twenty-five years, his sharpest instinct still isn't about technology. It's about asking the right question first.
Key Takeaways
Technology should never become the objective — the objective is solving the customer's problem first.Process hasn't changed in thirty years of logistics, and it remains the deciding factor long after the technology has moved on.IT departments shouldn't be cost centres — they should be part of the commercial conversation and recognised for helping win and retain customers.Every transformation should begin with the same question:
"What are your pain points?"
Healthier margins — not more competition — are what allow companies to invest in people, quality and long-term service.
From Banking to Logistics
Some interviews leave me with a new idea. Others remind me that experience often sounds surprisingly simple. My conversation with Robin Cheung, founder and Group Managing Director of V-LOGIC, was one of those conversations.
Robin has spent more than twenty-five years building a logistics company after leaving an entirely different career in foreign exchange trading. He grew up in New York, worked as a FX trader at HSBC, completed the first Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA programme — and then did something most people around him probably considered risky. He left finance.
At the height of the dot-com era, he co-founded V-LOGIC because he believed e-commerce would fundamentally change logistics. Looking back today, that decision seems obvious. At the time, it wasn't.
"His reaction wasn't: 'Someone should fix this.' It was: 'Let's build a company that does.'"
What impressed me most wasn't that he predicted e-commerce. It was that he saw a problem before everyone else did. Products were being manufactured in China, shipped across the Pacific, and then somehow travelling back to Hong Kong for local consumers at a much higher price. That inefficiency became V-LOGIC's founding purpose.
Most people spend a lifetime becoming experts in one field. Robin deliberately chose to start again. Perhaps that's why, nearly thirty years later, he still approaches logistics with the curiosity of someone who refuses to accept that "this is simply how things are done."
Technology Isn't the Goal
Robin said something during our conversation that has stayed with me. Companies often ask him about automation. They ask about robots. They ask about AI. They want to know what technology V-LOGIC is using. His response surprised me.
Sometimes, automation simply isn't the answer. Technology should never become the objective — the objective is solving the customer's problem. Only then should we ask what technology actually makes sense.
I found that incredibly refreshing. Today it sometimes feels as though organisations start with AI and then go searching for a problem to attach it to. Robin turns that around entirely.
Start with the problem. Then decide whether technology belongs there at all.
Process Never Went Out of Fashion
I asked Robin what had changed most during nearly three decades in logistics. His answer was technology. I then asked what hadn't changed. His answer came immediately.
"Processes."
That resonated deeply. Across many careers and organisations, the pattern is consistent — companies invest millions into systems while operational processes quietly remain the deciding factor. Technology evolves. But operations still need structure. Exceptions still need decisions. Customers still expect reliability.
Process has never been the exciting topic. But it has never stopped being the important one.
Perhaps we've spent so long chasing the next platform that we've forgotten what actually keeps the last one running.
One Idea I Didn't Expect
One part of the conversation genuinely challenged my own thinking. Robin believes IT departments shouldn't simply be viewed as internal support functions. He would like them to become part of the commercial conversation — part of sales, part of creating customer value.
Instead of measuring IT purely as a cost centre, he believes technology teams should receive recognition for helping win and retain customers.
I hadn't thought about it that way before. It's a subtle shift. But it completely changes the relationship between operations, technology and commercial teams — and where accountability actually sits.
Better Technology Starts With Better Questions
Towards the end of our conversation, I shared a belief that sits at the heart of Still On Email — that people in global operations should spend their time solving problems together, not fighting their systems. Robin smiled. He agreed.
Then he answered with a question he asks every new customer.
"What are your pain points?"
That response stayed with me. Because perhaps that's exactly where every transformation should begin. Not with software. Not with AI. Not with automation. But with understanding.
Less Competition. More Quality.
The final answer surprised me most. When I asked Robin what he hopes logistics will look like in ten years, I expected him to mention AI, automation or digital platforms.
Instead, he said something completely different. He hopes for less competition.
Not because competition is bad. But because healthier margins allow companies to invest in people, technology and service quality — instead of constantly competing on price alone.
Healthy margins aren't about protecting profit. They're about creating the conditions where quality, investment and people can actually thrive.
It was an answer I honestly didn't expect. And perhaps that's exactly why it stayed with me.
A Closing Reflection
What I appreciated most about speaking with Robin wasn't a prediction about AI. It wasn't a new technology. It wasn't even a discussion about digital transformation.
It was his discipline. Nearly thirty years after founding V-LOGIC, he still begins in the same place. Understand the customer. Understand the problem. Only then decide how technology can help.
As our industry races towards automation, perhaps that's the reminder we need most. Technology isn't valuable because it's new. It's valuable because it allows people to do better work.