cr8tiveworks — innovation & AI consulting, Hong Kong

what we do

Two ways in.

ai, made useful

For companies hearing "we should be doing something with AI" in every board meeting.

Reality check (2–3 weeks): we map where AI actually pays off in your operation — and kill the hype projects before they cost you anything.

Pilots & adoption (6–10 weeks): we build one or two working pilots with your team, measure honestly, train your people, and roll out what earns it.

An honest map of where AI helps you (and where it won't)
Working pilots in your real workflow, not a sandbox
A team that can run it after we leave

No moonshots. No 80-page AI strategy. Things your team uses on a Tuesday.

new things, built for real

For leaders sitting on an idea too big to ignore and too risky to bet the company on.

Frame the bet: we turn the idea into a testable proposition — the customer, the price, the thing that has to be true.

Test & build: real prototypes in front of real customers, a validated business case, and a working product concept — then a clear build, buy, or kill decision.

Evidence before investment — customers, not opinions
A prototype you can put in someone's hands
A business case your CFO will actually read

Half our job is killing the bad version early. That's not the failure — that's the discount.

Not sure which door?

Most projects start with a conversation, not a scope. Tell us what's keeping the leadership meeting long — we'll tell you honestly whether we're the right people. Say hello →

recent work

Work we can talk about. Carefully.

cr8tiveworks first opened its doors in Shanghai in 2011. The stories below span the studio's client work and our founder's own ventures since — names stay off the site; ask us about the details in person.

fintech · cross-border payments · ai adoption

Putting an AI assistant to work inside a payments company — safely

The situation: a cross-border payments team that runs on enterprise chat wanted AI in its daily operations — but in a regulated business, an assistant that can act unsupervised is a non-starter. What we did: designed and built a security-first bridge between the AI and the team's messaging platform: sender authentication, an append-only audit ledger, human approval gates, and OS-level isolation, with every line reviewed before anything went live. What changed: AI now works inside the team's real workflow, with every action attributable, reviewable, and revocable — the compliance answer that made adoption possible at all.

hospitality & f&b · venture build

Three venues, from blank page to opening night

The situation: backers in western China with capital and locations — but no concepts, no brands, no operating playbook. What we did: took three hospitality and F&B ventures from concept to launch: positioning, brand, build-out, supplier and partner deals, and the systems to run each floor. What changed: three operating businesses, each handed over to its own management team to run for the long term.

consumer hardware · vr · go-to-market

Turning a VR hardware maker's growth from ad-hoc to engine

The situation: a VR accessories company with strong products and improvised growth — every deal hand-made, nothing repeatable. What we did: built a data-driven business development engine, sharpened the go-to-market strategy, and structured the partnerships and fundraising story. What changed: repeatable growth in the VR ecosystem and strategic funding secured for the next stage.

how we work

Weeks, not quarters.

listen

A real conversation, not a "discovery phase" invoice. Tell us what's keeping the leadership meeting long.

frame the bet

We turn the fog into two or three testable bets — each with a cost, a horizon, and a way to know if it's working.

build small, test hard

Working pilots and prototypes in weeks, with your team in the room. Not a deck about pilots — pilots.

make it stick

Rollout, training, handover. We leave; the work stays. If it shouldn't scale, we'll be the first to say so.

fixed scope & price per phase senior people do the work your team in the room working things, not decks honest kill recommendations

about

A small studio, on purpose.

cr8tiveworks is an innovation and AI consultancy based in Hong Kong, working across Asia-Pacific. The studio began in Shanghai in 2011 as a brand consultancy for growing companies; relaunched from Hong Kong, it pairs that brand-building craft with AI and venture know-how. We stay small so the people you meet are the people who do the work — and so we can say no to projects that should be killed in week one.

We're playful about ideas and deadly serious about whether they work. That combination is rarer than it should be.

cr8tiveworks is led by Jeffery Lau, who founded the studio and has spent the years since on the operator's side of the table — building and launching venture brands, taking VR hardware to market, and driving APAC partnerships in cross-border payments as a fintech co-founder. He's seen ideas from every seat: the consultant's, the founder's, and the buyer's. Based in Hong Kong; works in English and Chinese.

fair questions

Things you're wondering.

What does it cost?

Each phase is fixed-scope and fixed-price, quoted after the first conversation. The reality check is deliberately the smallest cheque — it's how we both find out if the bigger work is worth doing.

How long does it take?

Weeks, not quarters. A reality check runs two to three weeks; a pilot or venture phase six to ten. If someone quotes you an eighteen-month transformation, ask them what happens in month two.

We already tried AI pilots. They fizzled.

That's the most common opening line we hear. Pilots usually fizzle because they started from the technology instead of the workflow — nobody changed how Tuesday actually works. We start from Tuesday.

Do we need to be a "tech company" for this?

No — our best work is with distributors, manufacturers, retailers, and services firms. If your edge is operational, there's usually more untapped value in your workflows than in any startup's pitch deck.

Who actually does the work?

The people you meet. No bait-and-switch to a bench of juniors — we're a small studio on purpose.

We turn what-if into what works.

We work with companies in the middle: too ambitious to stand still, too practical for innovation theatre. The big firms will sell you a transformation. We'd rather find the three ideas worth doing this year — and make them work.