Field Application Engineers: The Silk Road Connecting Technology and Healthcare

Written by: Chrissy Lee | Contributing Writer: Tsai-Ling Lei | Interviewee: Mike Liao

Mike doesn’t talk about his job the way people usually do. There’s no checklist of responsibilities, no rush to explain the tech stack. Instead, he talks about moments—standing in hospital hallways, watching workflows unfold, feeling the relief when something finally works the way it’s supposed to. He talks about people. And if you listen long enough, you realize that’s the point.

Mike is a Field Application Engineer (FAE) at aetherAI, but that title only scratches the surface. What he really does is live in the space between technology and the humans it’s meant to serve—a space that’s messy, unpredictable, and, when it all comes together, deeply meaningful.

The Space Between “Built” and “Used”

Before aetherAI, Mike worked as an FAE focused on servers and hardware at a large company. The machines were impressive—powerful, precise, carefully engineered. But there was something missing.

“We built really good computers,” he says, almost fondly. “But once they were delivered, we rarely knew how people actually used them.”

There was a gap there. Between creation and impact. Between what was technically possible and what actually made a difference.

That gap narrowed when Mike first worked with aetherAI on a hospital project. He saw how software could unlock the potential of hardware—not in abstract benchmarks, but in real clinical workflows. He watched doctors use the system. He saw how it fit into their day, how it supported rather than interrupted.

“It felt closer to real life,” he says. “Closer to something that mattered.”

Standing Where the Users Stand

Today, Mike spends much of his time supporting aetherSlide. One of the first things he noticed after joining was how little distance there was between him and the end users.

“The interface I use is basically the same one doctors use,” he explains. “You log in, open slides, review images.”

That shared experience changes everything. It means he doesn’t have to imagine how the product is used—he sees it, every day. In hospitals. In real workflows. In rooms where time matters.

Mike works closely with IT teams during system deployment, with medical technologists who scan and upload slides, and with pathologists who rely on those images to make diagnoses. Over time, he’s come to understand pathology as a long, interconnected chain—specimen collection, slide preparation, staining, scanning, diagnosis.

“If something small goes wrong early,” he says, “it might not show up until much later.”

That awareness shapes how he works. Because when aetherAI’s digital workflow runs smoothly, it gives doctors more space to focus on what only they can do. And that’s where Mike finds his sense of purpose.

A World Bigger Than the Office

The job has also taken Mike far beyond the office. Across Taiwan. To Germany. To Vietnam. Each hospital, each country, brings its own rhythm—different infrastructures, expectations, and constraints.

“Even hospitals in the same city can be completely different,” he says. “Once you go overseas, the number of variables multiplies.”

Those trips demand preparation, adaptability, and calm under pressure. They’re not glamorous in the Instagram sense—but they’re deeply grounding. They remind him that the work aetherAI does has a global footprint, and that quality and care matter everywhere.

The Moment You Realize You’re Not Alone

Ask Mike about his most memorable moment at aetherAI, and he won’t tell you about a perfect deployment or a flawless demo. He’ll tell you about a mistake.

Early on, he made an error during system operation that affected a database—one of those moments where your stomach drops and your thoughts start racing ahead to worst-case scenarios. In a medical context, even fixable problems feel heavy.

Before panic could settle in, a backend engineer stepped up. Calm. Focused. Confident. He listened, understood what had happened, and fixed it.

“No blame,” Mike says. “Just, ‘Okay, let’s solve this.’”

That moment stayed with him. Not because something went wrong—but because of how the team responded. It was the moment he truly felt what it meant to have teammates. People who catch the ball when you drop it. People who make space for learning instead of fear.

“That’s the kind of person I want to be for others,” Mike says.

The Final Mile

If Mike could say one thing to himself before joining aetherAI, it would be this: prepare yourself. Not because the journey is overwhelming, but because it’s meaningful.

“You’ll meet incredibly capable people,” he says. “You’ll experience something very different. Save up some energy—and bring your whole self.”

Those servers he built at the previous company are probably still running somewhere, helping people he'll never meet. Here, he knows exactly where his work goes. Here, he makes sure brilliant R&D team’s careful work reaches users intact—delivered completely, working beautifully.

And sometimes, a doctor tells him it helped.

To customers who chose aetherAI, Mike says simply: "Thank you for trusting us. I'll keep working to deliver the best we can." Where ancient caravans once carried culture across deserts, Mike now carries innovation across the final mile—making sure what's carefully built arrives safely where it's needed most, where it can serve not just efficiency, but life itself.

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