The internet has transformed everything. The chemical industry is next: Conversation with Ye Wang, VP of Engineering at Agilis

Few months back, our team welcomed a passionate technologist and seasoned engineer when Ye Wang joined Agilis as Vice President of Engineering. He has already immersed himself in a dynamic process of listening to customers feedback and upgrading the chemical industry’s premier commerce platform. Ye and I got introduced through an investor and I am happy to say that something has clicked right away. I saw an impassioned person who was eager to be a part of a historic transformation that’s taking place in the chemical industry, and Ye felt like he had an exciting opportunity to join a startup with a solid vision and a rapidly growing customer base. Below are a few highlights of my recent conversation with Ye. 

Why focus on startups?

Ye: Indeed, I have worked in startups almost exclusively throughout my career. When I was graduating from Rutgers University, the Dotcom bubble of the early 2000s had just burst, but I was hoping to catch the next wave of innovation and was lucky to land a job at a NYC startup called TheLadders. It was a fairly short tenure, but I learned a great deal and met some fantastic people along the way. Most importantly, I got hooked on a startup culture! Since then, I have worked for companies in a variety of industries, including Travel & Hospitality, FinTech, E-Commerce, AdTech, and Healthcare, gained lots of experience in creating and improving products and services, as well as solving engineering problems and leading engineering teams. Only in a startup one can get this much exposure and experience in a relatively short amount of time.

What made you decide to join Agilis?

Ye: I have been fortunate to work with some great startups and help them achieve aggressive growth targets by leading engineering teams to deliver awesome products (digital platforms). For example, with my last employer, Maven Clinic, I worked along side with former CTO for almost four years, during that time the company grew from a small Seed stage startup to a Series B category leading telemedicine platform with a total funding of $42MM and with major investment from top tier venture capital firms like Sequoia Capital. I love the challenge of taking the existing product and team and turning them into an industry-leading platform.

I see a similar opportunity here at Agilis. First off, Agilis is founded by industry veterans who really know the chemical industry inside out. They have built a robust business model and the platform that truly adds value to all key stakeholders. Like pharma and life science industries, value chains in chemical industry are complex and business processes are nuanced. Off-the-shelf solutions for commerce platform do not work well. This is where I see exciting opportunities to use my skills and knowledge to help transform a somewhat conventional industry into a business that can thrive in the digital age. 

What do you plan to accomplish at Agilis?
Ye: Agilis already has a robust platform and a growing, active customer base. My plan is to take it to the next level, adding innovative sales and marketing features, taking in user feedback to improve usability, and expanding the platform’s reach through integrating it with our customers’ and partners’ existing systems. At Agilis, we support the entire ecosystem of producers, distributors, and buyers, each group with their unique requirements and preferences. My job is to make sure that their needs are met, and they have a tool that makes the process of buying and selling chemicals easy and intuitive for all. 

Please join me in wishing Ye the best of luck in his new venture at Agilis. I am sure we will be seeing great things from him!

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