A man walks past an Alibaba Group logo at its office building in Beijing, China, August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang Acquire license rights
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Alibaba Group’s new CEO Eddie Wu has told staff that the tech giant’s two main strategic focuses in the future will be “user-first” and “AI-driven”, according to an internal letter reviewed by Reuters.
Wu, who sent the letter on Tuesday, his third day in the top job, also said Alibaba would focus on promoting young employees, specifically citing those born after 1985, to form the core of its business management teams in the next four years.
This would help maintain a “startup mentality” and prevent the company from “getting stuck in our old ways,” he said.
The new CEO, one of the founders of Alibaba Group and a long-time lieutenant of former boss Jack Ma, is laying out his strategic priorities at a key moment for Alibaba, which is undergoing the biggest organizational restructuring in its 24-year history.
late on sunday Alibaba also announced that Wu would simultaneously serve as CEO of its cloud computing unit, replacing Daniel Zhang.
The news came as a surprise to many, as Zhang had said in June that he would step down as CEO of Alibaba Group to focus on the cloud division, which aims to have an initial public offering (IPO) by May 2024.
The Cloud Intelligence Group, valued between $41 billion and $60 billion this year, is among five units Alibaba is spinning off as part of its restructuring.
The cloud unit is Alibaba’s second-biggest source of revenue after domestic e-commerce and houses the group’s generative artificial intelligence model, Tongyi Qianwen.
“Over the next decade, the most significant agent of change will be the disruptions caused by AI in all sectors,” Wu said in the letter.
“If we don’t keep up with the changes of the AI era, we will be displaced.”
Ali Baba exceeded analyst expectations in its first-quarter earnings report last month, but its recovery from a two-year regulatory crackdown has been complicated by the dual challenges of growing competition and a slowing Chinese economy.
Economic headwinds have helped drive more domestic e-commerce consumers toward low-cost platforms such as PDD Holdings. (PDD.O) Pinduoduo and ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, prompting Alibaba’s domestic e-commerce arm to focus on value-for-money segments.
The cloud unit reported 4% revenue growth for the quarter, the smallest among the group’s six business units, but analysts estimate it is China’s largest cloud provider with a 34% market share. ahead of Huawei Technologies (RIC:RIC:HWT.UL ), Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) and Baidu (9888.HK).
Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Stephen Coates
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.