Lai has over 25 years of experience in public sector management. He leads the Country Diagnostics and Quality Assurance teams in the Strategy, Emerging Areas, and Knowledge Division of ADB’s Public Sector Management and Governance Sector Office. He has extensive strategic and operational experience and has led project operations in Central and West Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. He is an alumnus of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and the Harvard Kennedy School, United States.