When a user discovers TikTok through an ad, a friend’s recommendation, or a chance scroll through the app store, it might feel like a simple moment. For Cornell Tech alumna Donghui Li, though, it’s a complex data problem hiding in plain sight — and solving it at global scale is what drives her.

Li is a senior data scientist at TikTok, where she develops and improves attribution and growth measurement systems that touch a massive global community. She works to answer some of the app’s most consequential questions: Which marketing channels drive user engagement? What causes them to join? And how does their engagement evolve over time? These insights help cross-functional teams interpret growth signals with greater clarity.

“A metric is never just a number,” Li explains. “Behind it are diverse user needs, product contexts, and measurement challenges. To interpret the data well, I need to understand not only the statistical signal, but also the product dynamics and market context behind them.”

Read more on the Cornell Tech website.