For 25 years, Tao has been leading strategies, research, and product development, which have created disruptive technologies and products in fog/edge computing, IoT, connected vehicles, mobile networks, and fiber optic networks.

He is the Sr. Director for Technology and Industry Development at Futurewei (Huawei USA). 

He was the CTO for Smart Connected Vehicles at Cisco, where he provided leadership in creating the business unit and turning Cisco from being little known in connected vehicles to a major player. A pioneer in fog and edge computing, he provided global leadership in industry and academia, cofounded and led the OpenFog Consortium, and led fog computing into a global industry trend and a vibrant research field. In Cisco, he also drove strategies and led innovation programs on fog computing, connected vehicles, and AI-driven IoT security.

He was the Chief Scientist for Vehicular Networking and the Director of several R&D groups at Telcordia (formerly Bellcore and originally part of Bell Labs), where he established and managed groundbreaking R&D programs funded by customers. His leadership helped Telcordia break into and then become a leader in new industries such as connected vehicles and 3G/4G mobile networks, and created new technologies that were incorporated into standards and led to first-in-industry products. He cofounded the Connected Vehicle Trade Association, served as its Board Director, and helped make it an influential champion in connected vehicles. 

Tao holds 50 patents and coauthored two books “Vehicle Safety Communications: Protocols, Security, and Privacy” and “IP-Based Next Generation Wireless Networks”, one book chapter “Securing the Internet of Things: Need for a New Paradigm and Fog Computing”, and 70 technical papers. He is a Chair Professor at National Chiao Tung University. He was the CIO and a Board Governor of IEEE ComSoc, a Distinguished Lecturer of IEEE VTS, and a Board Adviser for several organizations around the world.