When Oscar Tao (BBA in Global Business, 2021) looks back on his time at HKUST, he describes a rich fabric woven from threads of mentorship, team spirit, case rooms and study tours, brown-bag recitals, and late-night brainstorms. This tapestry shaped his experience and personal growth. Today, he is a singer-songwriter, classical pianist, TV host, actor, and entrepreneur co-founding two AI-driven dental startups while building a distinctive voice in pop. To outsiders, these lanes look unrelated. To Oscar, they stem from the same foundation: rigorous training, curiosity, and a community that keeps opening doors.
Oscar’s musical journey began at age five, leading to formal classical training at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and a scholarship to Harrow School in the UK. Graduating with First Class Honors from HKUST’s Global Business program in 2021, he initially envisioned a traditional finance career. But the program’s structure—broad exposure, case immersion, and global network—reshaped his horizons. “The Global Business program showed me there isn’t just one exit lane,” he says. That realization encouraged him to think beyond traditional paths. 
Music had always been more than a hobby. At HKUST, he performed at the Business School’s corner stage in classical ensembles. A spontaneous 2019 audition for a TV talent show became a turning point, leading to a recording contract with Universal Music. Balancing performances, hosting and acting, Oscar continues to evolve as an artist. Among his many performance opportunities, his guest performance with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hong Kong Coliseum in 2024 marked a defining moment. This collaboration allowed him to work alongside Cantopop legends on cherished performances that celebrated Hong Kong's rich musical heritage. 
“Identity and belonging” are the first words he uses to describe HKUST. His cohort shared not only classes but by a culture of initiative. Study tours to places like Moscow, hours preparing for case competitions, and faculty who cared about more than grades left a mark. Strong ties with faculty and alumni later became instrumental as Oscar developed his startups.
He traces his entrepreneurial spark to HKUST’s founder culture. Initially exploring education projects, he eventually focused on healthcare, co-developing dental care technology that led to two ventures: DBT Technology Limited and Lulusmiles Medical Technology Limited, where he serves as Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer.
Oscar’s ventures aim to make dental care more accessible and precise through AI. DBT Technology develops machine learning models that convert limited 2D dental images into accurate 3D visualizations, integrating data from intraoral scans and CBCT when available. Lulusmiles applies this technology in regulated, clinician-supervised services to deliver safe, affordable treatment—especially for patients in emerging Chinese Mainland cities and Southeast Asia.
The early journey was not glamorous. Fundraising was tough, and the team repeatedly rebuilt plans and technology before gaining traction. “It was like groping through fog,” Oscar says. “Once implementation began, the path cleared.” The team’s efforts and persistence paid off when Lulusmiles received the HKUST Track Silver Award at the HKUST-SINO One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition 2025.
For the companies, the roadmap is purposeful. Short term: strengthen the 2D-to-3D reconstruction pipeline, validate clinical protocols, and scale responsibly with regulatory compliance. Midterm: expand into under-served city tiers with clinician-supervised models that maintain quality at lower price points. Long term: build the dental data infrastructure that can power better diagnostics and personalized treatments across markets. The impact he imagines isn’t just cheaper aligners; it’s a more equitable dental ecosystem where comfort, quality, and cost can coexist. 
So how does he balance? The honest answer: he doesn’t pursue a fixed schedule. “Both are things I love, so I always find time,” he says. Filming days or music recordings demand presence; breaks between scenes become whiteboard time for product questions or go-to-market tweaks. Entrepreneurship, unlike a conventional job, doesn’t end at a timestamp. Ideas arrive at odd hours. He embraces this flow instead of segmenting it.
Currently, he is taking on a new acting role in a TV drama. Over the past two years, he has studied acting seriously, selecting roles that challenge him. Looking ahead, he aims to explore character diversity on screen to enrich his artistic journey.
In music, he hopes to shift from market-driven releases to songs that align with his true instincts. “This era allows artists to be distinct,” he says. “I want my next songs to be the ones I truly want to create.” 
HKUST provided him with supportive professors and mentors, collaborative peers, and a robust alumni network that serves as a platform for real-world problem-solving. It also gave him the courage to hold two identities.
His advice to younger alumni is disarmingly simple. “When you decide to do something, you will be surrounded by opinions—some wise, some loud, many well-meaning. Listen, but verify. Your context is singular: industry cycles shift, technologies evolve, and the playbook that worked for a role model a decade ago may be misaligned with today. Keep asking whether your choices align with your own values and with the facts you can validate. Don’t abandon a path because someone else can’t see it. Try, test, iterate; that’s how musicians find their voice and startups find product–market fit,” he advised.