Ali dropped a heavy bomb again. On December 20th, Alibaba announced that Wu Yongming, CEO of Alibaba Group and Chairman of Taotian Group, will also serve as CEO of Taotian Group. From now on, Wu Yongming will concurrently serve as CEO of Alibaba Group, Taotian Group, and Alibaba Cloud Intelligent Group. Alibaba believes that this will help lead the transformation of Taotian through technological innovation, ensuring that the group focuses on core strategic e-commerce and cloud, forming a unified command and high-intensity continuous investment.
Meanwhile, Dai Shan, former CEO of Taotian Group, will assist in the establishment of Alibaba Group Asset Management Company. It is understood that in order to optimize the return on capital and enhance shareholder value, the Group's Capital Management Committee authorizes the establishment of an asset management company. Dai Shan will assist the group in establishing an Alibaba Group Asset Management Company and forming a professional management team.
Alibaba Group Chairman Cai Chongxin stated in a letter to all members that Dai Shan has completed her mission in the process of Taotian Group's comprehensive return to users, return to the Internet, and return to Universal Taobao. Preparing for the Group Asset Management Company is a new business function after Alibaba's transformation, which requires a pioneering spirit and strong organizational structure capabilities. Dai Shan will fully leverage her expertise to continue creating value for the company.
Dai Shan withdrew from this change. In the view of Shen Meng, a director of Xiangsong Capital, Taotian Group and even the entire Alibaba are undergoing deep adjustments, including business structure, organizational structure, and other aspects. This personnel change means that Taotian Group will continue to promote adjustments, and it is not ruled out that Taotian Group will reverse the unfavorable situation in its development process with greater efforts and actions.
The scene of the helmsman leaving is so familiar. Just six months ago, Ali announced that Zhang Yong was stepping down as Chairman and CEO of the Board of Directors of Alibaba Holding Group, and Cai Chongxin and Wu Yongming of Ali's "Eighteen Arhat" took over the positions of Chairman and CEO respectively. At that time, Wu Yongming not only continued to serve as the Chairman of Taotian Group, but also as the Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Cloud.
On the third day of taking over as CEO of Alibaba Group, Wu Yongming announced two major strategic priorities for Alibaba: user first and AI driven. The former was implemented by Dai Shan in the past two years, transforming Taotian from emphasizing GMV to focusing on user and merchant experience, and further integrating Taobao and Tmall, implementing Jack Ma's will to "return to Taobao.". While proposing the "AI driven" strategy, Wu Yongming also made trade-offs between all Alibaba Cloud products and business models, prioritizing public cloud products.
And now, Wu Yongming, as the CEO of Alibaba's two core businesses, also reflects to some extent that Alibaba is still exploring effective ways to cope with fierce competition. In March of this year, Alibaba split its business into six major business groups and multiple business companies, including Taobao, Tmall Business, and Local Life, through a "1+6+N" organizational transformation, allowing it to independently face market competition. However, compared to the fragmented nature of business operations, currently, through the core role of Wu Yongming, the integration and integration of resources to form a unified command structure may better stimulate collaboration and imagination between businesses.
For example, the integration of Taotian business scenarios and AI technology. At the end of November, according to Lei Feng.com, Taotian Group's large-scale model research will revolve around two scenarios: "search, advertising, and recommendation" and "browsing content". During this year's "Double 11", AI applications such as Taobao Ask, Wanxiangtai Unlimited Edition, and Alibaba Mama Bailing made a concentrated debut.
Taking Taobao as an example, this product is based on the original search function of the Taobao App, which uses deep synthesis algorithms to provide users with products and content that are more in line with their consumption habits. Not only that, on the merchant side, Taobao also released more than ten free AI tools to merchants on the eve of "Double 11", optimizing functions such as store opening and product mapping.
By integrating technological resources to leverage the development space of e-commerce business, it reflects to some extent the anxiety of traditional e-commerce giants in the current traffic competition. When the organization is getting bigger and bigger, and the past rapid growth of traffic is no longer, how to deal with the continuous encroachment of Tiktok, Kwai, Pinduoduo and other forces, and prepare for the uncertainty of the future market, e-commerce giants are looking for a breakthrough.
"For Taotian, with a focus on future industry competition, there are still significant advantages and opportunities for technological leadership." Zhuang Shuai, an expert in the retail e-commerce industry and founder of Bailian Consulting, believes that AI technology can also bring new changes in the next stage, but this cycle is not clear at present, and industry leaders need to increase investment to drive it.