Joshua Chao and Chris Lin created Applied Creativity Engine (ACE) because they saw a growing gap between the speed of AI and the pace of traditional education. Their question was not only how to teach people new tools, but how to help them stay meaningfully human as execution, information, and even reasoning become increasingly automated. ACE began as experiments in AI, creativity, and education, then grew into a response to a larger cultural challenge: if AI makes knowledge cheap, human curiosity, judgment, empathy, and story become more valuable than ever.

At the heart of ACE is the belief that creativity is not a rare gift for a few people, but a discipline that can be practiced, strengthened, and applied. Joshua brought the perspective of a creative director, designer, and educator; Chris brought the perspective of a technology entrepreneur. Together, they shaped ACE around independent will, meaningful problem finding, creative problem solving, and creating value for others. This later developed into a learning cycle built on curiosity, remix thinking, empathy, and storycraft.

ACE turns these ideas into hands-on learning rather than abstract lectures. Its programs train learners to move from vague ideas to pitch-ready concepts, prototypes, stories, and proposals. The work spans children's creativity workshops, AI music-video experiments, foundation programs, corporate training, leadership workshops, online courses, printed thinking tools, certificates, student showcases, and project-based assignments such as Impossible Product Design, Impeccable Brand Ambassador, Incredible Crossover Campaign, The Empathy Lab, and The MVP Pitch Room.

By 2026, ACE had trained more than 500 learners across Japan and Taiwan, working with UWC ISAK Japan, Junyi School of Innovation, Shih Chien University, Chunghwa Telecom, KKCompany, Waseda University students, YPO, ShareStart, and other education and industry groups. Its work does not stay inside classrooms. Learners develop ideas around real brands, real needs, and real presentation contexts, building a bridge between creative education and business expectations.

What makes ACE distinctive is how it connects school, industry, and personal transformation. At UWC ISAK Japan, it grew from pilot workshops into a leadership-learning system; in corporate settings, it helped teams rediscover imagination as a practical business capability. Joshua and Chris did not build ACE to make people faster versions of machines. They built it to help people become more awake, inventive, and capable of turning insight into action. In this sense, ACE is both an education company and a philosophy of work: a creative engine for people who want to lead with meaning in the AI era.