The new CEO of Alibaba Group, Eddie Wu, intends to reshape the group's business priorities around two core strategic focuses of ‘User First’ and ‘AI-driven’ as he feels that not keeping up with the changes in the artificial intelligence (AI) era would mean being displaced.
According to a CNN Business report, in a memo to the employees, Wu observed that Alibaba must change with the changing times.
“Over the next decade, the most significant change agent will be the disruptions brought about by AI across all sectors,” the new CEO said, adding, "If we don’t keep up with the changes of the AI era, we will be displaced.”
Wu pointed out that the company achieved rapid growth “riding the trend of internet technology.”
He also announced a plan to make the leadership team younger by promoting people born after 1985 to make up “the core of its business management team.” This will be done in the next four years. According to Wu, such a move would help the company maintain a "start-up mindset" and ensure that it does not get "stuck in our old ways."
Alibaba has been restructuring itself into six business units with the aim of eventually spinning most of them off and listing them to maximise shareholder returns. The six units would be: Global Digital Commerce Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Cloud Intelligence Group, Local Services Group, Digital Media and Entertainment Group, and Cainiao Smart Logistics Group.
