<iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-PHTV9K7" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden">
Loading
Skip to Main Content
Product cover image for Leading Continuous Evolution: The Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department’s AI Transformation Journey

Leading Continuous Evolution: The Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department’s AI Transformation Journey

Gerard Seijts

Product #:W52266
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:Information Systems, Organizational Behaviour/Leadership
Setting:Hong Kong, 2026
Details:Case (PDF) • 13 pages • 2026-09-11

Subjects:

Organizational behaviorInformation systemsChange managementLeadershipAI and machine learningResistance to change

Industries:

Public administration

Geography:

Hong Kong SAR
Your Price:$10.54

Purchase this material with a free Educator Account and enjoy more benefits:

  • Free Educator Copy
  • Free Teaching Notes
  • Build your coursepack
  • Discounted academic price

Under Commissioner Leo Yu Chun-keung’s leadership, Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) has driven a successful AI transformation since 2017, addressing rising expectations, resource constraints, and the need to stay relevant. Beginning with trade-statistics automation, the resources freed up by AI adoption enabled the creation of a Data Science Branch. Yu overcame initial staff skepticism, with COVID-19 accelerating innovation. The C&SD now navigates new challenges, including advisory requests from other departments, and is institutionalizing the “data scientist” role in the civil service. The case illustrates how strategic leadership, patience, and a culture of experimentation can deliver lasting change in the public sector.

Learning Objectives

The case can be used in undergraduate, graduate, and executive education programs on leadership, organizational behaviour, change, leading in the not-for-profit sector, and creating public value. The case can be taught in two 80-minute sessions. After working through the case and discussing it in class, students should be able to do the following:
  • Develop an appreciation for the key success factors in leading transformational change, using AI adoption as an illustrative example.
  • Identify tangible ways to overcome resistance to transformational change in general and to AI adoption in particular.
  • Consider the connection between success in leading transformational change and the character of leaders who succeed in change leadership roles.
  • Reflect on how changes in the participants’ own leadership or managerial behaviour can support ongoing change journeys in their professional careers.
Loading
Case Study: Leading Continuous Evolution: The Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department’s AI Transformation Journey (English version) | Ivey Publishing