We’re excited to spotlight Xiaolei Dai as our Champion of the Month
Xiaolei Dai leads database architecture at Zhihu and drives open-source database adoption, with 14+ years of expertise. As the founder of the Aerospike/NewSQL China Community, he pioneers distributed systems and cloud-native solutions. Recognized as a TUG/OUG North China Leader and an ITpub Hall of Fame inductee, he frequently speaks at DTCC/ArchSummit and shares insights via the WeChat blog Xiaolei Talks DB. His large-scale migration projects at Zhihu/360 demonstrate proven leadership in HA architecture and cost optimization.
We asked him some questions about his journey, so read through to learn more about the icon that he is 
Tell us about your path to becoming a MongoDB Champion.
My relationship with MongoDB began in 2015, when I first explored version 3.0 — drawn by its flexible document model and horizontal scalability. My Champion journey with MongoDB began at Zhihu, China’s largest Q&A and knowledge-sharing platform, where I serve as a database architect and team lead. We adopted MongoDB to power our anti-fraud and security systems, which demand ultra-high write throughput and flexible schema design. Over time, I deepened my expertise through real-world production challenges at scale. I began sharing those learnings publicly through my “晓磊聊DB” (WeChat Blog) initiative. After actively contributing to the MongoDB China community by organizing meetups, writing technical content, and mentoring practitioners, I was nominated for and selected for the Champions program in 2025.
You’ve been a MongoDB Champion for some time now. What drives you to continue helping the community?
I’m driven by a gap I witnessed firsthand: database knowledge in China’s internet industry was often siloed within individual companies, rarely shared broadly. I wanted to change that — building a cross-company, open knowledge hub for database professionals across the Chinese tech ecosystem. MongoDB represents the kind of technology that genuinely solves hard problems at scale. Helping others unlock their potential — whether in sharding strategies, index optimization, or AI integration — gives me deep satisfaction. My life motto, “生命不息，奋斗不止” (while life endures, the pursuit never stops), perfectly mirrors what community advocacy means to me: there is always more to learn, more to build, and more people to inspire.
Can you share one impactful moment you’ve had as a Champion so far?
Organizing the MongoDB Community Meetup in Beijing, hosted at Zhihu’s offices, stands out as my most memorable moment. Bringing together database engineers from major Chinese internet companies, many meeting each other for the first time, created something rare: a genuine peer-to-peer knowledge exchange across organizational boundaries. Seeing attendees debate sharding strategies, share production war stories, and leave with new ideas and connections made every hour of preparation worthwhile. That event became a proof-of-concept that AskDB could grow into a real community hub for Chinese database practitioners.
If you could share one piece of advice to people in tech, what would that be?
Don’t just consume technology — go deep enough to teach it. When I started writing about MongoDB’s consistency model, sharding internals, and production tuning experiences, I realized that the act of explaining something clearly forces you to truly understand it. The Chinese database community has incredible talent, but too much knowledge stays internal. Pick one technology you use daily, understand it at the architecture level, and share that understanding publicly. The compounding return on your own growth, your reputation, and the community around you is extraordinary. Depth beats breadth, and sharing multiplies both.
Where can developers connect with or learn more about you?
They can find me on either Blog/WeChat Official Account: 晓磊聊DB and on Twitter/X at daimars3306
Thank you very much, XiaoLei Dai, for sharing your story with us today and for all the incredible work you’ve done for the MongoDB community. We can’t wait to see what you share next in the community.