Zhang Lei's entry fills the gap in NIO's demand for a senior technical manager.
Huami’s chief architect Zhang Lei (张磊) will join the Chinese leading electric vehicle maker NIO and serve as a vice president to lead in-car software development, according to 36Kr.
The new software business director will succeed Zhuang Li (庄莉), former software vice president at NIO, and get on board as early as next week, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Huami is the largest wearable device company worldwide with over 50 million units sold and 17.1% global market share. As a part of Xiaomi’s ecosystem, Huami is the exclusive provider of wearable technology for Xiaomi and maker of the Mi Band.
Zhang Lei joined Huami’s Silicon Valley office in 2016 and worked as the chief architect until now. Prior to that, he participated in the development of Google’s in-car program Android Auto.
NIO’s software business was split into three lines after Zhuang Li’s demission. Zhang Lei will mainly take charge of the car digital cockpit business that has the highest weight among others. Business of 2x (vehicle to everything) and enterprise software was spun off to other departments.
Zhang Lei’s entry exactly fills the gap in NIO’s demand for a senior technical manager. A number of developers have also left the company since Zhuang Li left as existing software director has little knowledge of technology.
NIO’s founder and CEO Li Bin (李斌) said Zhang Lei would come back from the U.S. and work with his team in China.