Success or failure for China’s tech titans isn’t just about innovation—it’s about alignment with the Chinese Communist Party’s strategic priorities. In this session, Asdal Advisory Group will decipher the Party’s role in the fates of Ant Group and DeepSeek, revealing the deep political currents that define China’s tech landscape.
Kirsten Asdal Biography:
Kirsten Asdal is the CEO and co-founder of Asdal Advisory Group, an applied research firm focused on China/Taiwan risk for investors and corporations. She specializes in interpreting how Communist Party politics shape corporate leverage, market access, and crisis risk for global businesses. Kirsten has a unique expertise in the security dynamics of cross-strait relations between China and Taiwan, having focused on Taiwan as a geopolitical flashpoint since living on the island as a Fulbright Fellow in 2013-2014.
Before launching Asdal Advisory Group, Kirsten built and led the corporate advisory practice at Garnaut Global, a leading China risk advisory firm, servicing dozens of the world’s largest asset managers and multinational corporations. She formerly served as an officer in the U.S. Navy for ten years, operating ships in the western Pacific and advancing China/Taiwan policy on various staffs.
While at the Pentagon, Kirsten served as an expert intelligence advisor and wargamer on the Secretary of Defense’s Red Team, advising senior leaders across the Department of Defense on adversary strategy, decision-making, force structure, weapons systems, and political processes. Kirsten previously served as Assistant Operations Officer for Destroyer Squadron 31 and the Pacific Partnership 2018 mission, as well as First Lieutenant onboard USS MICHAEL MURPHY (DDG 112), both based out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Kirsten has lived and studied in Tianjin, Beijing, Suzhou, and Taipei. She maintains professional proficiency in Mandarin. She is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the University of Oxford, as well as a former Fulbright fellow to Taiwan. She was a 2021 Next Generation National Security Fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a 2024 National Security Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Charlotte Asdal Biography:
Charlotte Asdal is a partner and co-founder at Asdal Advisory Group, where she specializes in applied research on Chinese Communist Party history and politics. Through Chinese-language primary source research, her work illuminates the underlying logic of decision-making in Xi Jinping’s China to help companies monitor their risk and adapt their global strategies.
Before co-founding Asdal Advisory Group, Charlotte was the Director of Client Experience at Garnaut Global, a leading China risk advisory firm. She developed the firm’s “red carpet” client experience to deliver executive-level China risk research and expert counsel for dozens of the world’s largest asset managers and multinational corporations. She also pioneered the firm’s use of AI by collaborating with strategic partners to develop a custom LLM tool to better mine unique research resources.
Charlotte previously served as a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy, operating ships across the Middle East, Mediterranean, Caribbean, Arctic, and North and South Atlantic. Charlotte served as Navigator onboard USS LASSEN (DDG 82), Gunnery Officer onboard USS FARRAGUT (DDG 99) and deployed with the HARRY S. TRUMAN Carrier Strike Group in support of Coalition Task Force Sentinel.
Charlotte has studied and lived in Xi'an and Beijing and maintains Chinese language proficiency. She is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the University of Oxford, where her research focused on the PRC’s One Belt One Road initiative.
