Jack Ma appears, coming for the future of ANT GROUP for the next 20 years

Author | Chai Xuchen

Editor | Zhou Zhiyu

"Today, I am not here for the past 20 years of Ant, but for the future 20 years of Ant."

On the evening of December 8th, at the 20th anniversary celebration of Ant Group, Jack Ma, who had not appeared publicly for a long time, showed up at the Ant company campus. He first extended his blessings to the 20-year-old Ant: "In the past 20 years, you have created Alipay, Yu'e Bao, Ant Forest... out of nothing. I am here to pay tribute to Alipay and Ant on behalf of the earliest founding group."

Standing on the stage of Ant's 20th anniversary celebration, Jack Ma pointed out the direction for the next phase of Ant. He stated that every era provides different opportunities and challenges for each generation, but not everyone can seize these opportunities and challenges.

"Twenty years ago, when the internet was just emerging, our generation was fortunate to seize the opportunities of the internet era. Looking from today, the changes that the AI era will bring in the next 20 years will exceed everyone's imagination, because AI will be an even greater era."

Looking back, the "Ant" that was born for transaction guarantees has now grown into a technology financial giant encompassing 1.2 billion users and over 80 million merchants. However, Douyin and Pinduoduo have emerged, starting to encroach on Ant's original "comfort zone" in payments, wealth management, and credit.

In the current situation where the traffic dividend has peaked and the moat is being fiercely attacked, Ant needs to find the key to return to growth and carve out a larger territory. In recent years, Jack Ma has been observing new technologies and trends globally. He told Ant employees that AI will change everything, but that does not mean AI can decide everything.

In his view, while technology is indeed important, what will truly determine the outcome in the future is how Ant can do something truly valuable and different for this upcoming era.

Jack Ma also posed and answered his own question, providing direction: "What we can do in the future should still be what we have insisted on for the past 20 years, which is to let technology bring progress and change to the lives of every ordinary person." Jack Ma stated, "We need to let AI empower our feelings, and we also need to let our feelings empower our AI."

Currently, with the emergence of Ant's AI applications such as "Zhi Xiaobao" and "Zhi Xiaozhu," Ant is presenting a grand and efficient blueprint to its industry partners—accompanied by AI continuously penetrating into various aspects of enterprise production and management, the hidden gold mines within enterprises are beginning to emerge.

In Jack Ma's eyes, he hopes Ant will become a good company that grows healthily for 102 years, "20 years is just a small step." In the future, AI will be the key to unlocking the next phase of Ant.

The AI era is roaring in, and Ant's new era is also about to arrive. On the very day of Ant Group's 20th anniversary celebration, Ant Group Chairman Jing Xiandong announced through a letter to all employees that he would hand over the CEO position, which he had held for 8 years, to Han Xinyi, the group president who is 5 years younger than him "A group of young people with feelings and righteousness, living in a time of change, will surely create new miracles." Jack Ma sighed, "The future is difficult, but we are fortunate to participate in the future!"