Home About Pillars Collaboration Process Partners Apply ← Main Site
Language / Language
SELECTION CRITERIA

5 Selection Criteria for Industry Leaders

Invitation-based, partnering with only 1-2 leading enterprises per track. Candidates must meet all 5 criteria to ensure complementary strengths and long-term win-win strategic partnerships.

5 Selection Criteria Explained

The KHB AI Super Brain Head Plan employs a rigorous selection evaluation system, comprehensively judging from five dimensions: industry position, data assets, tech foundation, team capability, and collaboration willingness. Only enterprises meeting all five criteria can enter the formal cooperation negotiation phase. These standards are not set to create barriers, but to ensure every cooperation project has sufficient foundation for success.

5
Evaluation Dimensions
15+
Sub-Metrics
1-2
Per Track
60-90
Days Onboarding
1

Industry Position Criteria

Top 3 in Niche Track · Revenue Scale · Market Share

Industry position is the primary threshold for joining the Head Plan. We only partner with true leading enterprises in each niche track, because industry leaders possess the deepest industry knowledge, the most industry data, and the strongest industry influence. Only such partners can support the positioning of "industry AI infrastructure."

Top 3 in Niche Track: Enterprises must rank in the top three in their niche track. The niche track here is not a broad industry classification, but a specifically defined vertical field. For example, in the medical aesthetics track, we distinguish between chain aesthetic institutions, aesthetic device manufacturers, and aesthetic consumable brands—selecting only the leading enterprise in each sub-track. Judgement is based on third-party industry reports, market research data, and public ranking information.

Revenue Scale: Enterprises must have a certain revenue scale, which is both a direct reflection of industry position and a basic guarantee for subsequent joint venture investment. Revenue thresholds vary by track, generally requiring annual revenue of over 500 million RMB, with appropriate flexibility for emerging tracks. Revenue scale represents commercial maturity and risk resistance capability, serving as an important guarantee for cooperation stability.

Market Share: The enterprise's market share in its core business area must reach a certain proportion, typically requiring 10% or more. High market share means the enterprise has numerous customer touchpoints and business scenario data—these data are the core fuel for training industry AI models. Meanwhile, high market share also means the enterprise has the ability to promote AI standards within the industry.

2

Data Assets Criteria

Data Volume · Data Quality · Data Compliance

Data is the core production material of the AI era and the most valuable asset of industrial AI infrastructure. Without sufficient high-quality data, even the most advanced algorithms cannot generate genuine industry value. Our evaluation of data assets covers three levels: data volume, data quality, and data compliance.

Data Volume: Enterprises need to have business data of sufficient scale, including customer data, transaction data, operational data, service data, and more. The larger the data volume, the better the AI model training effect, and the richer the business scenarios that can be covered. We evaluate data volume not just by record count, but more importantly by dimensional richness and time span. Generally, enterprises are required to have 3+ years of structured business data accumulation, with tens of millions of data records or more.

Data Quality: Data quality is more important than data volume. Low-quality data not only fails to help AI models learn, but can actually mislead them. Our data quality evaluation dimensions include: data completeness (field missing rate), data accuracy (error rate), data consistency (consistency of the same entity across different systems), data timeliness (update frequency), etc. High-quality data assets are an important indicator of enterprise digital maturity and a key prerequisite for AI project success.

Data Compliance: Data compliance is an insurmountable red line. Enterprise data assets must comply with the requirements of relevant laws and regulations such as the Data Security Law and Personal Information Protection Law. We evaluate the enterprise's data governance system, data security measures, user authorization mechanisms, etc. Only by ensuring data compliance can subsequent AI training and applications proceed safely and sustainably. For industries involving sensitive data, compliance requirements will be even stricter.

3

Tech Foundation Criteria

Existing IT Systems · Digital Maturity · Tech Team

Industrial AI construction doesn't start from scratch—it's an upgrade and leap based on the enterprise's existing digital foundation. The enterprise's current IT systems, digital maturity, and technical team directly determine the speed and depth of AI implementation. We don't require enterprises to have cutting-edge AI technical capabilities, but we do require a solid digital foundation.

Existing IT Systems: Enterprises need relatively mature IT systems supporting business operations, such as ERP, CRM, OA, business management systems, etc. These systems are both the source of data and the carrier for AI capability implementation. The more complete the systems and the smoother the data flow, the lower the cost and the better the effect of AI integration. We evaluate the coverage, integration, and data connectivity of existing systems.

Digital Maturity: The enterprise's core business processes need a high digitalization rate, with key business links already online and data-driven. Enterprises with high digital maturity have employees who are more receptive to new technologies, encounter less resistance to organizational change, and implement AI applications faster. We evaluate digital maturity through indicators such as digital investment ratio, online business proportion, and the degree of data-driven decision-making.

Tech Team: Enterprises need their own IT or technical team that can effectively interface and collaborate with KHB's technical team. The technical team doesn't need to be large in scale, but needs core personnel who understand both business and systems. After the joint venture is established, the enterprise side needs to send technical backbone personnel to participate in the co-building, deeply integrating with KHB's AI team to jointly complete the construction and operation of industry AI infrastructure.

4

Team Capability Criteria

Executive Cognition · Execution Team · Change Capability

All cooperation is ultimately cooperation between people. Even the grandest strategic vision requires an excellent team to execute on the ground. Our evaluation of team capability unfolds from three levels: executive cognition, execution team, and change capability, because industrial AI co-building is a profound organizational transformation requiring full recognition and promotion from top to bottom.

Executive Cognition: The enterprise's core decision-makers (Chairman/CEO) need deep cognition of AI's industrial value, truly understanding the strategic significance of the Head Plan, rather than treating it as an ordinary technology project or marketing gimmick. The cognitive level of executives determines the ceiling of cooperation. What we need are entrepreneurs who take industrial AI as the core future strategy of the enterprise, not followers chasing trends. Through in-depth exchanges with executives, we can judge their cognitive level and strategic determination.

Execution Team: Enterprises need a strong execution team that can translate strategic decisions into concrete actions. The execution team needs to include core roles such as business负责人, technical负责人, and operations负责人. This team needs both industry experience and an open learning mindset, able to collaborate efficiently with KHB's team. The capability of the execution team directly determines the speed and quality of project progress.

Change Capability: Industrial AI construction is not about patching up existing business—it's a profound business transformation and organizational change. Enterprises need the determination and ability to drive organizational change, able to break down internal departmental walls, adjust利益 patterns, and establish organizational mechanisms adapted to the AI era. Change capability includes organizational flexibility, resource allocation ability, cultural openness, etc. Enterprises that have successfully driven major transformations in history will receive bonus points in this criterion.

5

Collaboration Willingness Criteria

Strategic Alignment · Resource Investment · Long-Term Commitment

The Head Plan is not a one-off transaction, but a deep binding lasting years or even decades. The strength of collaboration willingness directly determines whether the partnership can survive cycles and withstand tests. What we seek are strategic partners who truly identify with the shared vision, are willing to go all-in, and commit to long-term investment.

Strategic Alignment: Enterprises need to highly identify with the vision and philosophy of the KHB AI Super Brain Head Plan,认同 the positioning of "co-building industrial AI infrastructure," and认同 the values of long-termism. Strategic alignment is not just verbal表态, but reflected in understanding of the cooperation model, attitude toward benefit distribution, views on short-term gains and losses, etc. Only partners with highly aligned strategies can pull together in difficulties rather than blaming each other.

Resource Investment: Enterprises need both the willingness and ability to invest necessary resources, including data resources, human resources, channel resources, financial resources, etc. Co-building is not KHB's one-sided affair—it requires both parties to invest real resources. We don't require the more investment the better, but we require investment matching the enterprise's strength and matching the cooperation goals. The determination to invest resources is the most direct manifestation of cooperation sincerity.

Long-Term Commitment: The construction of industrial AI infrastructure is not an overnight matter—it requires 3-5 years or even longer of continuous investment and iteration. Enterprises need willingness for long-term commitment, not pursuing short-term monetization, not wavering because of temporary difficulties. We have designed corresponding equity lock-in periods and incentive mechanisms to ensure long-term binding of both parties' interests. Only enterprises willing to be friends with time can truly enjoy the long-term dividends of industrial AI.

Why These 5 Criteria

Many people ask: Why choose these five dimensions as selection criteria? Why not three or seven? What's the logic behind it? The answer is: these five criteria are not designed out of thin air, but are summarized based on our deep understanding of the success factors of industrial AI and practical experience from multiple joint venture projects.

Design Principle: The five criteria form a complete "success triangle"—industry position and data assets are the foundation, tech foundation and team capability are the guarantee, and collaboration willingness is the catalyst.

Industry Position: Determines the Ceiling

Why put industry position first? Because the value of industrial AI infrastructure is directly proportional to the partner's industry influence. If the partner is just an average player in the industry, no matter how good the AI technology is, it's difficult to become "industry infrastructure"—other enterprises in the industry won't recognize it, and standards can't be promoted. Only true industry leaders have sufficient appeal and influence to drive the AI upgrading of the entire industry. This is the fundamental reason why we insist on "selecting only 1-2 per track."

Data Assets: Determines Feasibility

The essence of AI is data-driven intelligence. Without sufficient data, even the strongest algorithms can only be castles in the air. We've seen too many AI projects where the technical team was excellent and the algorithms were advanced, but because there wasn't enough high-quality industry data, the final result could only stay at the Demo stage and couldn't truly generate business value. Therefore, data assets is the "hardest" criterion among all—without data, nothing else matters.

Tech Foundation: Determines Speed

If industry position and data assets determine "whether it can succeed," then tech foundation determines "how fast it can succeed." Enterprises with high digital maturity can implement AI several times faster than traditional enterprises. Because the data is already structured, the systems are already connected, employees already have digital awareness, and much foundational work doesn't need to start from scratch. Tech foundation is not an insurmountable obstacle, but it significantly affects project timeline and cost.

Team Capability: Determines Quality

Everything is ultimately done by people. With the same cooperation model and the same resource investment, different teams can produce vastly different results. We've seen too many cases: the strategy was grand, the resources were充足, but because the team wasn't up to par, the project was delayed again and again, and the effect was greatly reduced. Therefore, the evaluation of team capability cannot be emphasized enough. Especially the cognitive level of executives, which almost directly determines the ultimate height of the cooperation.

Collaboration Willingness: Determines Durability

Industrial AI co-building is a marathon, not a sprint. During years of cooperation, various difficulties and challenges will inevitably be encountered: technical bottlenecks, market changes, team磨合, benefit differences... Without strong collaboration willingness and firm long-term commitment, it's easy to break up when encountering difficulties. Collaboration willingness may seem the most "virtual," but is actually the most "real"—it determines how far this relationship can go.

These five criteria are interrelated and indispensable, together forming a complete evaluation system. Missing any one will significantly reduce the probability of cooperation success. This is also why we insist on "quality over quantity"—better to select fewer than to select wrongly.

6-Step Onboarding Process

From intention submission to official launch of co-building, the entire onboarding process is divided into 6 steps, with an average cycle of 60-90 days. Each step has clear deliverables and decision nodes, ensuring both parties have充分 understanding of each other before cooperation, reducing cooperation risks.

1. Intention Submission

~7 days · Initial Contact

Enterprises submit cooperation intentions through the official website application form, email, or partner recommendations. The KHB team will contact the enterprise within 3 working days for initial communication to understand the enterprise's basic situation and cooperation demands.

The main purpose of this stage is to establish connection and conduct preliminary screening. KHB will introduce the basic situation of the Head Plan to the enterprise, while understanding basic information such as the enterprise's industry, scale, and digital status. If both parties are initially matched, a formal online or offline meeting will be arranged for more in-depth exchanges.

Deliverables: Enterprise basic information form, initial communication minutes

2. Qualification Assessment

~14 days · Track Matching

After passing initial communication, enter the formal qualification assessment stage. KHB will establish a special evaluation team to systematically evaluate the enterprise from the five major criteria dimensions. Evaluation methods include data review, data analysis, industry research, management interviews, etc.

At this stage, enterprises need to provide more detailed information, including but not limited to: company introduction, revenue data, market share certification, digital construction status, team introduction, etc. KHB will also conduct industry research and background verification through third-party channels.

After the evaluation is completed, KHB will issue a formal evaluation report, clearly stating whether the enterprise meets the selection criteria, where its advantages lie, and where the gaps are. If passing the evaluation, it will enter the next stage; if not yet passing, clear feedback and improvement suggestions will also be given.

Deliverables: Qualification assessment report, selection/rejection decision notice

3. In-Depth Negotiation

~21 days · Solution Design

After passing the qualification assessment, both parties enter the in-depth negotiation stage. This stage is the most core link in the entire process, requiring充分 discussion and consultation on all details of the cooperation.

Negotiation content mainly includes: cooperation positioning and goals, business scope of the joint venture company, resource investment methods of both parties, equity structure design, governance structure arrangement, product R&D roadmap, commercialization path planning, team formation plan, etc. KHB will custom-design the cooperation plan based on the specific situation of the enterprise.

This stage usually involves multiple rounds of talks, requiring deep participation from the core decision-making layers of both parties. KHB will also arrange for enterprises to visit and inspect the computing power center, technical R&D team, etc., giving enterprises a more intuitive understanding of KHB's strength.

Deliverables: Cooperation framework agreement (Term Sheet), initial business plan

4. Due Diligence & Signing

~21 days · Legal Compliance

After the cooperation framework is agreed upon, both parties launch formal legal and commercial due diligence. KHB will hire professional law firms and accounting firms to conduct comprehensive legal and financial due diligence on the enterprise; the enterprise may also conduct corresponding due diligence on KHB.

The purpose of due diligence is to discover potential risks and problems, ensuring cooperation is built on a true and transparent foundation. Due diligence content includes: company subject qualification, equity structure, financial status, major contracts, intellectual property, compliance status, litigation disputes, etc.

After due diligence is completed, if there are no major issues, both parties begin drafting and negotiating formal contracts. Formal contracts include a series of legal documents such as joint venture agreement, articles of association, technology licensing agreement, data cooperation agreement, etc. After all documents are confirmed by both parties, a signing ceremony is held.

Deliverables: Due diligence report, joint venture agreement and supporting legal documents

5. Launch Co-Building

~7 days · Team Formation

After signing, the joint venture company officially launches. Both parties complete capital contribution, registration, team formation and other work according to the agreement. KHB will send core team members including AI technical experts, product managers, and operation experts to station; the enterprise side also needs to send backbone personnel in business, technology, data and other aspects.

The focus of the launch phase is "three到位": personnel到位, resources到位, mechanisms到位. It's necessary to quickly establish the joint venture company's governance mechanisms, decision-making processes, communication mechanisms, etc., ensuring the team can operate efficiently. Meanwhile, launch the first phase of R&D work and clarify the first milestone goal.

KHB will provide mature joint venture company operation methodology and SOPs to help the new team quickly get into gear. Usually within the first month after launch, basic work such as organizational structure setup, initial work plan formulation, and R&D environment deployment will be completed.

Deliverables: Joint venture company business license, organizational chart, initial work plan

6. Continuous Operations

Long-term · Iterative Value-Add

After the joint venture enters the normal operation stage, KHB will continuously provide technical support, resource docking, and strategic guidance. Both parties review and plan the joint venture's operation情况 on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis.

The core of the continuous operation stage is "iteration"—knowledge base continuously accumulates, models continuously optimize, products continuously iterate, standards continuously improve. KHB will regularly organize exchange and learning among joint venture companies of various tracks, promoting cross-industry experience sharing and resource collaboration.

As the joint venture develops, both parties can explore the possibility of further deepening cooperation according to the actual situation, such as expanding business scope, increasing investment, connecting with capital markets, etc.

Deliverables: Monthly operation report, quarterly strategic review, annual development plan

Timeline Explanation

From intention submission to official launch of co-building, the standard cycle is 60-90 days. The specific time may vary depending on the enterprise's cooperation degree, data preparation status, complexity of the cooperation model, and other factors. Below is the time allocation reference for each stage:

0-20 Days
Initial Contact Period
Intention submission, initial communication, qualification assessment. Quickly determine if both parties match—efficient enterprises can complete within 2 weeks.
20-60 Days
Deep Negotiation Period
In-depth negotiation, solution design, due diligence & signing. This is the most core stage, requiring deep participation from both core teams.
60-90 Days
Launch & Construction
Company registration, team formation, initial launch. Quickly get into gear, complete basic setup within the first month.

Fast Track: For exceptionally优秀 enterprises (e.g., absolute industry leaders, particularly high-quality data assets), a green channel can be opened, with signing completed in as fast as 30 days.

Main Factors Affecting Timeline

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are the most commonly asked questions by enterprises during the understanding and application process. If you have other questions, please feel free to contact us via email or phone.

What if I'm not selected? +

If you haven't passed the selection assessment yet, don't be discouraged. We will provide a detailed evaluation report, clearly explaining where the gaps are and suggesting areas for improvement. Many enterprises reapply and successfully get selected after 6-12 months of improvement.

Additionally, even if you can't enter the core cooperation layer of the Head Plan, you can consider other forms of cooperation, such as technical service cooperation, channel cooperation, etc. KHB has a multi-level cooperation system—there's always a way that suits you.

Can cooperation depth be upgraded midway? +

Of course. Our cooperation system is open, and enterprises can gradually deepen the degree of cooperation according to their own development situation and cooperation effects. For example: start with technical service cooperation, upgrade to channel cooperation after verifying the effect, and then further upgrade to joint venture co-building.

Many successful partners start from shallow cooperation, gradually build trust, and ultimately enter the core layer of the Head Plan. We encourage this渐进式 cooperation approach because it's more stable and lower risk.

What is the exit mechanism? +

We have designed a clear and fair exit mechanism to protect the legitimate rights and interests of both parties. There are mainly the following exit scenarios:

1. Voluntary Exit: If one party wishes to exit due to strategic adjustments or other reasons, equity can be transferred according to the price and method stipulated in the agreement. A 1-2 year lock-up period is usually set, during which exit is not allowed.

2. Involuntary Exit: If one party seriously violates the agreement or commits major breaches of trust, the other party has the right to demand its exit and repurchase equity at the agreed price.

3. Capital Market Exit: If the joint venture company develops well and achieves independent IPO or is acquired in the future, both parties can exit through the capital market and share capital appreciation gains.

How is data security ensured? +

Data security is one of our top priorities. We have built a comprehensive data security guarantee system from three levels: technology, system, and law:

Technology Level: Using advanced technologies such as data desensitization, federated learning, and differential privacy to ensure data is "usable but not visible." All data is stored in computing power centers certified with Level 3 Protection, with完善 encryption and access control mechanisms.

System Level: Establishing strict data governance systems, clarifying data ownership, usage rights, and management rights. All personnel accessing data need to sign confidentiality agreements, and operations have complete audit logs.

Legal Level: Through rigorous contract terms, clarifying the data rights and obligations of both parties, ensuring data use is legal and compliant. Data ownership always belongs to the providing party, and the joint venture company only has usage rights.

Why only select 1-2 per track? +

This is determined by the positioning of "industrial AI infrastructure." Infrastructure has natural monopoly characteristics—an industry only needs one set of infrastructure. If we select too many partners in the same track, it will cause resource dispersion and internal competition, and no one will become strong.

Selecting 1-2 of the most leading enterprises, concentrating resources to make them strong and big, making them truly become the industry's infrastructure, then serving the entire industry through them—this value is much greater than serving many enterprises. This is both responsible to partners and responsible to the entire industry.

Of course, for particularly large tracks, we may select one in each different sub-track, forming a complementary rather than competitive pattern.

Ready to Become a Co-Builder?

If your enterprise meets the above criteria, apply to join the KHB AI Super Brain Head Plan today
or learn more about collaboration models first

Apply Now →

Or learn more: Collaboration →  ·  Partners →