Born and raised in Taiwan, Pai earned a Master of Science in Architecture and Computer Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa — a dual training that quietly defines the precision and structural elegance running through all of his art. After two decades as a software engineer at IBM's Santa Teresa Laboratory in San Jose, he retired in 2003 and returned to Hawaii, where he has continued to paint, exhibit, and teach.

Drawing from the classical Chinese tradition — which holds that a painting should be fully realized in the mind before a single stroke is made — Pai brings the same discipline to his oil canvases and illustrations. His celebrated Hundred Horses series, panoramic compositions depicting hundreds of horses in motion, has become one of his most recognized bodies of work. His Yunnan-style silk paintings of koi and water lilies carry both the spontaneity of Chinese ink painting and the depth of Western color.

The luminous environment of Hawaii permeates every canvas — the depth of its waters, the stillness of its koi ponds, the drama of its coastlines. His work spans seascapes, landscapes, florals, animal studies, and a playful tradition of cartoon illustration, revealing an artist of remarkable range and wit.

Pai's work has been featured in the San Jose Mercury News, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the Almaden Times, and IBM's international publications. His paintings have been exhibited at the Hawaii State Library and the Chinatown Cultural Plaza in Honolulu, and are held in private collections across the United States, Europe, and Asia.