Zwift, the online training platform for cyclists, runners and triathletes worldwide, has today announced the appointment of YuChiang Cheng who joins as Chief Product Officer where he will own the end-to-end customer experience of Zwift's products; driving customer value, innovation and quality.
Cheng will lead Product Design & UX, Engineering, Game Design & Art, Product Management, R&D, Content Programming, LiveOps, QA, and Community Support.
Prior to Zwift, Cheng built cross-functional teams to create products for name brands such as Topgolf, Virgin Games, World Poker Tour, Monopoly, Sky, USGA, PGA of America, and MGM-Mirage. Through his career, Cheng has been at the forefront of connecting physical and digital together, creating premium, integrated experiences.
Cheng co-founded the World Golf Tour (WGT), a virtual golf simulation game which grew to over 28 million players. WGT pushed the traditional sport of golf onto Facebook, iOS, and into the esports competition world, making the game more accessible to a larger, more diverse audience. WGT pioneered the free-to-play business model in the western world and merged real-world professional events with the virtual world by hosting the Virtual US Open over 10 years ago, which still continues today.
"I'm thrilled to welcome YuChiang Cheng to Zwift," says Zwift CEO and Co-Founder, Eric Min. "This is a critically important hire for Zwift as we continue to invest in the very best people to develop our product experience and build out our teams. YuChiang brings considerable experience from a highly impressive career spanning companies of all sizes. I have no doubt that he will have a huge impact on levelling up the business as we move into hardware and continue to invest heavily into the core product experience, making Zwift more accessible to use and more personalized by design."
"I'm honored to have the opportunity to steward the future of such an innovative product and work with a passionate world-class team at Zwift", says YuChiang Cheng, Chief Product Officer, Zwift. "This is a rare opportunity to be able to join a business which is wholeheartedly committed to investing in its product, people and consumer experience. Eric Min and the Board have committed substantial resources to build the best team, polish the product and drive new experience innovations for existing Zwifters. We are also committed to make Zwift a more accessible platform and fulfil our mission to help get more people, more active, more often."
The news comes shortly after Zwift confirmed the appointment of Mark Cote as Senior Director, Content Programming. Cote joins Zwifts following a 13-year career at Specialized where he worked across physical and digital product development, brand, and marketing.
At Specialized, Mark held roles including Leader of Integrated Technologies, Leader of Global Marketing and Innovation, and most recently Active Category Leader. Cote will report into YuChiang working to define and implement the strategic vision for in-game training and event experiences at Zwift to ensure a consistent, engaging, and results-driven experience for all Zwifters. Cote will be working with the Product, Marketing, Engineering, Commercial, and Customer Support teams.
"As a long-time Zwifter and huge fan of the brand, I'm thrilled to be joining Zwift", says Mark Cote, Senior Director Content Programming. "My team will be working super closely with the Zwift community to bring enticing experiences that are even more engaging and accessible for all Zwifters."
