Author | Chai Xuchen

Editor | Zhou Zhiyu

ANT GROUP CO., LTD., this giant of technology and finance, is gradually entering an era where the "new generation" takes the helm.

Two weeks ago, Jack Ma appeared at the 20th anniversary meeting of ANT GROUP CO., LTD., encouraging the company for the next twenty years. On that day, ANT GROUP CO., LTD. Chairman Jing Xiandong passed the CEO's baton to Han Xinyi, who is five years his junior. After taking over, Han Xinyi quickly brought a new atmosphere to ANT GROUP CO., LTD. while earnestly preparing a series of major reforms.

On the evening of December 23, Han Xinyi sent out a message to all employees, announcing that ANT GROUP CO., LTD. will establish two major business groups, Digital Payment and New Alipay, marking the start of an internal structural adjustment.

The most notable adjustment is the establishment of the Digital Payment business group. This business group includes the online payment division, offline payment division, and Alipay (China), and further subdivides into two independent divisions, Enterprise Code and Little Wallet, to accelerate the development of innovative payment products.

Among them, the Enterprise Code will be managed by Fu Gui, focusing on providing customized solutions for B-end customers; Little Wallet will be co-managed by Shan Gong, focusing on financial service platforms targeting young consumers.

On the other hand, the new Alipay business group has integrated several key departments, including the APP department, advertising department, and digital products department, aiming to accelerate user growth, increase engagement, and promote commercial transformation.

Han Xinyi stated that although the name of the new Alipay business group has not changed, its connotation is significantly different, marking a phase in Alipay's transformation from a tool-oriented APP to an Internet platform, while demonstrating Alipay's determination in the digitalization of the service industry.

It is worth mentioning that at the establishment of the two major business groups, they respectively formed their own committee teams. In addition to these two important changes, Han Xinyi also introduced a new mechanism of "rotating presidency" at ANT GROUP CO., LTD.

Han Xinyi emphasized that the rotating president is the primary person responsible for implementing ANT GROUP CO., LTD.'s overall strategy within this business group. According to the plan, the Digital Payment business group and the Alipay business group will both implement a six-month rotation system.

In addition to the major organizational adjustments, ANT GROUP CO., LTD. also announced multiple CTO exchanges among its business groups, involving the former CTO of the financial insurance business group Da Hang, the former CTO of the ANT INTERNATIONAL business group Yun Chu, and the former CTO of the Alipay business group Jun Yi, with major changes reflected in the restructuring and adjustment of management functions.

Internally, ANT GROUP CO., LTD. had anticipated this CTO line adjustment. During this year's Singles' Day Sales, due to fluctuations in the system modules, certain consumers' orders experienced refund anomalies, leading to a special internal reflection on that incident.

Additionally, ANT GROUP CO., LTD. has carried out a series of integrations between the platform technology business group and the technology research institute. The AI platform, AI infrastructure, and AI product operation departments, as well as the data platform and service department, have merged into a new data intelligence platform and service department.

This adjustment signifies that young executives from certain business groups are beginning to take on greater responsibilities, and ANT GROUP CO., LTD. is also attempting to strengthen the innovation of AI products. At ANT GROUP CO., LTD.'s 20th anniversary meeting, Jack Ma stated that AI will inevitably lead to a significant change, calling for ANT GROUP CO., LTD. to do truly valuable and unique things, riding the wave of AI to rise swiftly.

Last year, after completing the rectification and "coming ashore," ANT GROUP CO., LTD. set three major strategic directions, with "AI First" placed at the top. With the emergence of AI applications such as "Zhixiaobao" and "Zhixiaozhu," ANT GROUP CO., LTD. is digging up previously buried resources, bringing C-end users into the AI era where problems can be solved just by "giving orders."

At the same time, ANT GROUP CO., LTD. is actively "demolishing walls" to increase the gold content of interoperability. Last year, ANT GROUP CO., LTD. proposed the Alipay "Dual Flywheel" strategy, allowing two major businesses—digital payment and digital connectivity—to run in parallel, providing better services for merchants such as payment, marketing, and Trade. Alipay is opening up its platform capabilities and traffic, with Meituan, JD.com, and eBay reconnecting to Alipay.

Aligned with Alibaba Cloud's open and open-source philosophy, as the ecosystem becomes more prosperous, the value of Alipay to users will also increase, enhancing user stickiness, and ANT GROUP CO., LTD.'s moat will grow deeper.

Entering the "Post-Jack Ma Era," ANT GROUP CO., LTD. is accelerating its transition with the vitality of the new generation. It is actively adjusting its posture, preparing to open up, expand, and self-transform with the new identity of a technology company, becoming a true underlying Infrastructure for digital technology.

The following is the original text of the internal letter:

In the upcoming end of 2024, the Alipay business group firmly promoted the Alipay dual flywheel and AI First strategies. With everyone's joint efforts, the strategic execution path and specific strategies became clearer, and a group of excellent managers quickly grew in the battlefield, enhancing the cohesion of the core team. Looking forward to the new year and facing the future, in order to more resolutely and quickly promote the implementation of the strategy and help outstanding leaders accelerate their growth, the Alipay business group will make the following organizational adjustments:

1. Establish a Digital Payment Business Group to accelerate the development of innovative payment products and consolidate the payment base.

The Digital Payment Business Group will be formed based on the online payment department (formerly the Internet Payment Business Department), offline payment department, and Alipay (China), with the general managers of each business department remaining unchanged, still being Qin Yi, Shan Gong, and Hong You;

Accelerate the development of innovative payment products around specific scenarios and specific populations. The corporate code business has been upgraded to a division, with Fu Gui continuing as the general manager; the small wallet business has been separated from the offline payment division and upgraded to a division, with Shan Gong also serving as general manager; both the corporate code and small wallet divisions belong to the Digital Payment business group.

Qin Yi, Shan Gong, Hong You, and Fu Gui will continue to report to me in terms of organizational relationships.

A class committee for the Digital Payment business group has been established, composed of Qin Yi, Shan Gong, Hong You, Fu Gui, and Mo Yan.

2. A new Alipay business group has been established to accelerate user growth and activity and to speed up commercialization.

On the basis of the APP division, advertising division, digital product division, digital livelihood division, digital travel and hospitality division, as well as the digital logistics division (formerly the digital logistics & corporate code division), a new Alipay business group has been formed. The general managers of each division remain unchanged and will continue to report to me in terms of organizational relationships.

A class committee for the Alipay business group has been established, composed of Pu Tian, Zhi Si, Sun Wu, Ge Yan, Fei Guan, Xiang Xiu, and Su Ying.

The name of the new Alipay business group has not changed, but its connotation has greatly transformed, marking Alipay's phased achievement in transitioning from a tool-based software to the Internet, and also showcasing Alipay's determination in the digitalization of the service industry.

3. The Digital Payment business group and the Alipay business group will establish a rotating presidency system to accelerate the growth of leaders through organizational innovation.

After more than two years of cultivating a leadership system, Alipay has developed a group of outstanding managers. It is hoped that through the rotation of the president system, they will accelerate their growth into the next generation of leaders at ANT GROUP CO., LTD. The rotating president is the primary person responsible for advancing the overall strategy of ANT GROUP CO., LTD. within this business group, convening class committee discussions and making decisions on regular management of the business group, major matters, organizational construction, and talent development.

The rotating president is responsible for external receptions and various affairs in the capacity of the business group president, and attends ANT GROUP CO., LTD.'s president meetings: the term of the rotating president is six months, with the first rotating president's term starting from the date of this notice until June 30, 2025. The next rotating president will be selected from the class committee, jointly nominated and decided by the CEO of ANT GROUP CO., LTD. and the class committee.

Qin Yi is appointed as the first rotating president of the Digital Payment business group, and Pu Tian is appointed as the first rotating president of the Alipay business group.

In the future, we will further explore the two strategies of in-depth service for vertical industries and being a lifestyle butler in the AI era, focusing on innovation in the medical health, Sesame Credit, Circular Economy, and small enterprise support organizational methods, which will be announced separately once confirmed.

The above adjustments and appointments take effect immediately.