The new CEO of Alibaba Group, Eddie Wu, said that this alliance of companies will actively introduce artificial intelligence technologies into the structure of their activities and promote young people to senior management positions.
The e-commerce giant is currently at the beginning of the most ambitious restructuring in its history. Eddie Wu assumed the position of CEO of the group of companies last Sunday, September 10. In a memo to employees, the contents of which were reviewed by media representatives, he said that times are changing, and Alibaba must change.
Eddie Wu replaced Daniel Zhang as CEO, becoming the fourth director of the group of companies in the 24-year history of its existence. He also took the post of head of the cloud division. This happened after the unexpected departure of Daniel Zhang from the mentioned job title.
In a memo, Eddie Wu outlined the group’s long-term goals. As part of the upcoming efforts, he intends to give priority attention to solving such tasks as finding new growth points in modern realities, which are a space of influence of the complex economic conjuncture at the global level, and in the conditions of the activation of competitors that increasing the degree of complexity of the struggle for market dominance.
Eddie Wu, speaking about his vision of Alibaba’s future as a structure functioning in a large-scale and multifactorial context, noted that the main strategic directions will be the primary focus on the user and the integration of artificial intelligence that manages business processes. He stated that the activities of the group of companies will be adjusted in accordance with the designated priorities.
According to Eddie Wu, over the next decade, the most significant factor will be failures that will be caused by scaling the integration of artificial intelligence in all sectors. He also noted that if Alibaba does not comply with the changes of the AI era, it will be ousted by competitors.
The new development strategy of the group of companies was declared at the beginning of the largest restructuring in its history. In March of this year Alibaba, in a certain sense, ceased to exist as a single structure against the background of the creation of six separate units on the basis of one organization, including cloud services, logistics, media, e-commerce, and others. Each unit will have its own CEO and board of directors. Also, most new business divisions will have the opportunity to conduct separate listings or fundraising.
The large-scale plans of one of China’s most valuable Internet giants will be implemented during an unfavorable period, which Eddie Wu admits in his memo. The business environment has become a more complex space. Currently, the Chinese economic system is in a state of slowdown. In these circumstances, a certain restraint of consumers in terms of expenses is recorded. E-commerce giants, including Alibaba, against the backdrop of difficult economic conditions, are forced to increase the number of products offered for purchase at discounts in order to increase the level of customer engagement.
The group of companies is also facing increasing competition from major online competitors, including Pinduoduo (PDD) and Douyin, a short video app with an online sales business.
Eddie Wu says that Alibaba has achieved rapid growth over the past 24 years thanks to Internet technology trends. But, according to him, it’s time to transform the structure of activities in order to find the key to the future. Eddie Wu says that traditional Internet technologies are characterized by an increasing degree of homogeneity, and innovative developments, including artificial intelligence, are gradually becoming a new engine of global business growth.
Alibaba will make its management team younger. Eddie Wu announced his intention to promote those who were born after 1985 on the career ladder. According to him, this concept of personnel policy will be implemented over the next four years to form the core of the business management team.
Eddie Wu also said that Alibaba is stepping up strategic investments in such areas as technology-driven internet platforms, AI-driven tech businesses, and global commerce networks.
The new CEO separately noted the commitment to open relations and cooperation, including with those companies that have traditionally been competitors.
As we have reported earlier, Alibaba Cloud Launches New AI Models.
