Dandy, a leading fully digital dental lab, has named Cong Yu as its new head of engineering. Yu brings decades of experience: most recently, he was VP of Engineering at Celonis, where he built and led the AI division, helped create and scale generative AI systems, and developed data-driven insights for process intelligence.
Prior to that, he was Chief Scientist at Google Research, leading the LLM-powered content understanding layer team for Google’s News content. He also served as an adjunct professor at NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences.
Dandy’s mission is to bring the $30 billion dental lab industry into the digital age. Today, 56 million Americans rely on crowns or dentures. Another 106 million have undergone orthodontic treatment, and 26 million have veneers. Each product needs to be customized to the patient’s specific circumstances.
Traditionally, labs have relied on manual techniques, resulting in ill-fitting prostheses, high costs, and inconsistent patient outcomes. Dandy’s fully digital platform reshapes the end-to-end process—from chairside scanning to 3D printed prostheses—using AI, computer vision, computer-aided design, automation, and robotics to create custom restorations quickly and efficiently.
Under Yu’s leadership, Dandy will accelerate the next wave of AI innovation to enhance fit, aesthetics, and accessibility of oral care.
“AI offers a great opportunity to improve human health and quality of life. That’s exactly why I joined Dandy,” said Cong Yu, Dandy’s head of engineering. “Through the innovative use of AI technology, Dandy has revolutionized the supply chain and manufacturing of dental restorations, achieving exceptional quality at scale. I’m excited to share my expertise with the Dandy team to advance this goal.”
Dandy has attracted top engineering talent from leading tech companies such as Amazon, Apple, Uber, and Waymo. The company has generated over $100 million in revenue in its two years of existence and is currently in a period of rapid growth. The company plans to hire more than 50 engineers by 2025, many of whom will work remotely, specializing in advanced geometry, computer-aided design, and smart manufacturing systems.
Lisa Duron, Dandy’s Head of Human Resources, said, “It’s a great time to join the Dandy team. As the company continues to grow, we are looking for engineers who can work with great colleagues, solve tough technical challenges, and make life-changing healthcare services more accessible.”
Dandy CEO Daniel Hanover said, “Technology is at the heart of Dandy’s transformation of the dental industry. We are applying the latest advances in imaging, artificial intelligence, robotics, and supply chain optimization to dental practices and enhance the patient experience.
Cong has extensive hands-on experience applying advanced AI technologies to real-world problems. Under Cong’s leadership, Dandy will triple its investment in engineering and R&D this year and expand AI into all areas of dental design and manufacturing.”
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