【CXO动向】百度 CTO 的三生三世

一、百度 CTO 是一个什么样的职位？

至少从职业难度来说，它可能是中国科技行业最难实现的职业生涯成就之一。这不仅仅是因为百度创始人兼 CEO 李彦宏本人就是一个天分极高的技术专家，也是因为百度公司一直把技术视为自身的核心竞争力和关键标签——在这样的条件下，百度 CTO 这一角色的含金量、重要性，以及由此而来的高门槛和稀缺性，可想而知。

李彦宏自己也曾公开表态说，全世界能做百度 CTO 的人不超过三人。

然而在 2019 年 5 月 31 日，伴随着李彦宏的一纸任命，百度 CTO 这把空缺多年的交椅，也迎来了它的第三任主人。

二、刘建国：从北大副教授到百度一号员工 

百度第一任 CTO，是百度的第一号员工刘建国。

刘建国是 2000 年 1 月加入百度的，他是除了百度创始人之外的第一位员工，参与了百度早期的整个发展过程。雷锋网了解到，在加入百度之前，刘建国在北京大学计算机科学技术系任教，并在 1999 年被评为副教授，他曾经牵头指导了多项国家科学基金会及国家计委支持的研究项目，也曾经主持开发过国内第一个大规模中英文搜索引擎系统（“天网”），以及第一个面向消息的中间件产品（“银燕”）。

2000 年 8 月，在加盟百度 7 个月后，刘建国被任命为百度技术副总裁，管理工程师团队，担负研究开发任务，负责公司与技术和工程有关的规则、研究和管理，确保百度在中文搜索服务方面居于世界领先地位，并且在中文搜索引擎的相关技术领域带来不断创新。

此后数年间，刘建国伴随百度一路成长，并经历了百度的发展壮大到 2005 年 8 月赴美上市的整个过程，并为百度建立了一支强大的工程师团队。

2006 年 2 月 7 日，百度宣布正式任命刘建国为公司首席技术官（CTO）。按照百度当时的官方说法，担任百度 CTO 后，刘建国除了继续领导技术团队之外，还将致力于增强百度产品市场方面的研究、开发和运营工作，进而推动百度产品的不断创新和用户体验的持续提高。 

然而，到了 2006 年 10 月，百度公司对外宣布，刘建国已经提出辞呈并获得百度董事会的同意，至于辞职的原因，刘建国当时表示：

要做出决定离开百度，是一件非常困难的事情，我是一位极度热爱百度的人，百度就是我的孩子，我们一起成长 7 年了，但在我的骨子里，终究是创业型的人。我曾经走过自我创业之路，在百度的成功，更让我重拾创业的梦想，不排除将来创业的可能。

不仅如此，刘建国当时也表示，百度公司已经具有了国内互联网公司中技术能力最强的团队，同时也是国际互联网界最好的技术团队之一；百度不仅技术方面人才济济，其技术管理团队也已形成完整的梯队——这也是他可以放心离开公司的重要原因。 

值得一提的是，当时的百度总裁助理任旭阳表示，也许刘建国留给百度最重要的财富并不仅仅是技术，而是一个科学家的坦诚、务实，“ 他的这一品格，将对百度公司产生久远的影响 ” 。

2006 年 12 月 19 日，刘建国从百度 CTO 离任；后来，他果然创业了，目前担任生活搜索网站爱帮网首席执行官（CEO）兼总裁。

三、李一男：李彦宏最欣赏的男人

 其实，李彦宏关于百度 CTO 那句话的完整版本是：全世界能做百度 CTO 的人不超过三人，李一男就是其中一位。

这句话足可见出李彦宏对于李一男的赏识；实际上，在当时的媒体报道中，李一男被称为是李彦宏最赏识的男人。2008 年 10 月，李一男被李彦宏成功说服，加盟百度出任 CTO 一职。 

李一男毫无疑问是一个充满传奇并让人唏嘘不已的角色。他在早年时候的简历漂亮得令人嫉妒：15 岁考入华中科技大学少年班，加入华为后半个月升任主任工程师、半年升任中央研究部副总经理、两年被提拔为华为公司总工程师 / 中央研究部总裁，27 岁坐上了华为公司的副总裁宝座，甚至一度被认为是任正非的接班人。 

然而，2000 年，李一男离开华为创建港湾网络；到了 2006 年 9 月初，由于其创办的港湾网络被华为收购，李一男重新踏入深圳坂田华为公司总部，出任着华为 EMT（经营管理团队）之外的华为副总裁兼首席电信科学家之位——这才有了后来李一男转投百度的故事。

当时，对于李一男的加盟，百度董事会主席兼 CEO 李彦宏表示，李一男是中国自主创新科学技术领域的顶尖专家，在全球领先的技术公司拥有杰出管理经验，相信他的加盟将带领百度的产品技术团队攀上新的高峰。而百度前 CTO 刘建国也给出简短评论称，恭喜李一男加盟百度，祝愿他在百度工作顺利。

不过，对于李一男出任百度 CTO 一职，并不是所有人都看好。 

同样是在当时，一位接近李一男的华为前副总裁曾表示，李一男的加盟将对百度产生巨大价值，但百度 CTO 不是李一男长久选择，从某种意义上来说只是“跳板”；而资深互联网人士洪波也表示，李一男任 CTO 考验百度的包容度，因为李一男并不是百度 CTO 的合适人选，百度 CTO 最好是互联网技术专家。

最终的事实证明，李一男并没有在百度 CTO 的位子上坐太久。 

2010 年 1 月，李一男向李彦宏递交辞呈，此时距离李一男加盟百度，仅一年零三个月的时间；当时，对于李一男离职的直接原因，有业内人士猜测称，主要集中在阿拉盯凤巢及框计算等项目进展缓慢，百度在移动搜索上并没有取得突破性进展，甚至也有人说李彦宏与李一男不和等。

不过按照百度公司的官方说法，李一男的离开是个人原因。 

然而，也有评论称，李一男之所以离开，是因为年少得意未免会造就心高气傲的个性，从某种程度上来说，这对于职场生存或许并不是有利的。雷锋网注意到，当时也有更加不留情面的分析认为，李一男或许存在研发人员常有的性格缺陷，因高度自信导致的张狂个性，因缺乏人际交往能力或意愿而导致不屑与人交往，这种性格缺陷注定了他很难成为一个成功的商业领袖。

无论如何，李一男离任百度 CTO 之后的经历同样跌宕起伏。中国移动 12580，金沙江创投，牛电科技……乃至于后来的牢狱之灾，当然，这些都是后话了。 

值得一提的是，李一男离开之后，百度 CTO 这一职位空缺了九年多的时间。

四、王海峰：百度在 AI 时代的技术掌舵者

也许是一个时间上的巧合，2010 年 1 月，就在李一男宣布离开百度的时间节点，王海峰也在这时候加入百度。

王海峰在百度的经历，可以说是伴随着技术一路走来。我们来看一下百度官方给出的履历资料：

• 2010 至 2013 年期间，他先后为百度创建了自然语言处理部、互联网数据研发部（包括知识图谱和互联网数据挖掘）、推荐引擎和个性化部、多媒体部（包括语音和图像技术）、图片搜索部、语音技术部等。

• 2013 年上半年，王海峰作为执行负责人协助创建了百度深度学习研究院（IDL）。

• 2013 年 10 月，晋升为百度公司副总裁。

• 2014年，王海峰转岗至搜索业务群组任副总经理，先后负责了百度搜索、手机百度、百度信息流、度秘等用户产品，以及自然语言处理、知识图谱等基础技术。

• 2017 年 3 月晋升为百度 estaff，并组建 AIG。

• 2018 年 5 月晋升百度高级副总裁。

• 2018 年底，统领 TG 和 AIG，总体负责百度算法、算力、数据、安全等人工智能技术和基础技术。

此外，王海峰的头衔还有：自然语言处理领域最具影响力的国际学术组织 ACL 历史上首位出任过主席的华人，唯一来自中国大陆的 ACL 会士，ACL 亚太分会 AACL 创始主席，国家科技进步奖二等奖获得者、中国专利银奖获得者，全国创新争先奖唯一来自互联网行业的获奖人、首届吴文俊人工智能杰出贡献奖唯一获奖人…… 

这一系列头衔，都完全够得上百度 CTO 对技术本身的极高要求了。不过，王海峰作为百度 CTO 还有另外一个优势，他在百度已经任职近十年，在一步步成长过程中，不仅仅对百度的技术进展贡献有加，也深刻地了解百度的技术发展和产品发展体系，在技术管理层面也已经积累大量经验——从这个角度上来看，王海峰就任百度 CTO 可以说是最佳选择了。 

对于王海峰，李彦宏的评价是：他秉承务实、创新、负责到底的精神，注重提升百度技术核心竞争力及其向应用的转化，同时注重团队人才的培养及梯队建设，是百度培养多年的技术领袖及优秀领导者，是百度简单可依赖文化的优秀代表。

由此可见李彦宏对于王海峰的重视和依赖。

不过，在就任百度 CTO 之前，王海峰已经在 2018 年 5 月的陆奇离职中被升为百度高级副总裁，而且是 AI 技术平台体系（AIG）& 基础技术体系（TG）总负责人，目前他可以说已经是百度在技术层面的实际领军人物。因此，在雷锋网看来，此番王海峰被任命为百度 CTO，一方面是百度希望借此对外表现出其强调技术创新的一种姿态，另外一方面也可以视为李彦宏在最新的人事变动（比如说向海龙离开）后稳定军心的一次求变之举。

不知道这一次，王海峰会在百度 CTO 的位子上待多久。

翻译：

What kind of position is Baidu CTO?

It may be one of the most difficult career achievements in the Chinese tech industry, at least in terms of professional difficulty. This is not only because Baidu founder and CEO Robin Li is a highly talented technologist himself, but also because Baidu has always regarded technology as its core competence and key label. Under such conditions, the role of Baidu CTO is valuable, important, and therefore high threshold and scarcity.

Robin Li himself has said publicly that there are no more than three people in the world who can serve as Baidu’s CTO.

However, on May 31, 2019, with the appointment of Robin Li, Baidu CTO, which had been vacant for many years, ushered in its third owner.

Liu Jianguo: From associate professor of Peking University to employee of Baidu No.1

The first CTO of Baidu was Liu Jianguo, the first employee of Baidu.

Liu Jianguo, who joined Baidu in January 2000, was the company’s first employee besides the founder and was involved in the company’s early development. Before joining Baidu, Liu Jianguo taught in the Department of Computer Science and Technology at Peking University, where he was named an associate professor in 1999. He has directed several research projects supported by the National Science Foundation and the State Planning Commission, and also presided over the development of China’s first large-scale Chinese-English search engine system (” Skynet “). And the first message-oriented middleware product (” Silver Swallow “).

Liu Jianguo was appointed Vice President of Technology at Baidu.

In August 2000, seven months after joining Baidu, Liu Jianguo was appointed Vice President of Technology at Baidu. He managed a team of engineers and was responsible for research and development. He was responsible for the company’s rules, research and management related to technology and engineering, and ensured that Baidu was the world leader in Chinese search services. And in the Chinese search engine related technology field to bring continuous innovation.

In the years that followed, Mr. Liu grew with Baidu, oversaw its expansion to a U.S. listing in August 2005, and built a strong team of engineers.

Liu Jianguo as the company’s Chief Technology Officer

On February 7, 2006, Baidu announced the appointment of Liu Jianguo as the company’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO). According to Baidu’s official statement at the time, in addition to continuing to lead the technical team, Liu Jianguo will also focus on enhancing the research, development and operation of Baidu’s product market, so as to drive the continuous innovation of Baidu’s products and the continuous improvement of user experience.

However, in October 2006, Baidu announced that Liu Jianguo had submitted his resignation, which was approved by Baidu’s board of directors. As for the reason for his resignation, Liu Jianguo said at the time:

It is very difficult for me to make the decision to leave Baidu.

It is very difficult for me to make the decision to leave Baidu. I am a person who loves Baidu very much, and Baidu is my child. We have grown up together for 7 years, but in my heart, I am an entrepreneurial person. I have been on the road of self-entrepreneurship, and the success of Baidu has made me regain my dream of entrepreneurship. I will not rule out the possibility of entrepreneurship in the future.

Not only that, Liu Jianguo also said at the time that Baidu has the strongest technical team among domestic Internet companies, but also one of the best technical teams in the international Internet industry. Baidu is not only full of technical talent, its technical management team has formed a complete echelon – which is an important reason why he can leave the company at ease.

It is worth mentioning that Ren Xuyang, Baidu’s assistant president at the time, said that perhaps the most important asset Liu left to Baidu was not just technology, but the honesty and pragmatism of a scientist. “His character will have a lasting impact on Baidu.”

Liu Jianguo stepped down as CTO of Baidu on December 19, 2006. He started his own business and is now CEO and president of lifestyle search site Aibang.

Li Yinan: The man Li Yanhong admires most

In fact, the full version of what Robin Li said about Baidu CTO is: there are no more than three people in the world who can do Baidu CTO, Li Yinan is one of them.

This sentence shows Li Yanhong’s appreciation for Li Yinan; In fact, in media reports at the time, Li Yi Nan was named as the man Li Yanhong admired most. In October 2008, Li Yinan was successfully persuaded by Robin Li to join Baidu as a CTO.

Li Yinan is no doubt a legendary character who makes people SOB

Li Yinan is no doubt a legendary character who makes people SOB. His resume in his early days was enviously handsome: At the age of 15, he was admitted to the youth class of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. After joining Huawei, he was promoted to be the chief engineer in half a month, the deputy general manager of Central Research Department in half a year, and the chief engineer/president of Central Research Department in two years. At the age of 27, he was once considered as the successor of Ren Zhengfei.

Li Yinan left Huawei to set up Harbour Network

However, in 2000, Li Yinan left Huawei to set up Harbour Network; In early September 2006, after his startup Bay Network was acquired by Huawei, Li moved back to Huawai’s headquarters in Sakata, Shenzhen, as Huawei’s vice president and chief telecom scientist outside of Huawei’s EMT (operations management team) — which led to his move to Baidu.

At that time, Robin Li, Chairman of the Board of directors and CEO of Baidu, said that Li Yinan is a top expert in the field of independent innovation science and technology in China and has outstanding management experience in the world’s leading technology companies. He believes that his joining will lead Baidu’s product technology team to new heights. Liu Jianguo, the former CTO of Baidu, also gave a brief comment, saying that he congratulated Li Yinan on joining Baidu and wished him success in his work at Baidu.

Not everyone is optimistic about Li Yinan’s appointment as Baidu’s CTO.

However, not everyone is optimistic about Li Yinan’s appointment as Baidu’s CTO.

At the same time, a former vice president of Huawei who was close to Li Yinan once said that Li Yinan’s joining would bring great value to Baidu, but Baidu CTO was not Li Yinan’s long-term choice, in a sense, just a “springboard”. And senior Internet personage Hong Bo also said that Li Yinan’s appointment as a CTO test Baidu’s tolerance, because Li Yinan is not a suitable candidate for Baidu CTO, Baidu CTO had better be Internet technology experts.

The final facts proved that Li Yinan did not sit in the Baidu CTO seat for too long.

In January 2010, Li Yinan submitted his resignation to Robin Li, only one year and three months after Li joined Baidu. At that time, for the immediate reason of Li Yan’s resignation, some industry insiders speculated that the main focus was the slow progress of Phoenix Nest and Box computing projects, Baidu did not make breakthrough in mobile search, and even some people said that Li Yanhong and Li Yan feud.

But according to Baidu’s official line, Li left for personal reasons.

But according to Baidu’s official line, Li left for personal reasons.

However, some commentators say Li left because being complacent at a young age can lead to a haughty personality. Which may not be conducive to workplace survival to some extent. Lei Feng noted that there was also a more unsparing analysis at the time that suggested Li might have the personality flaws common to research and development personnel. An arrogant personality caused by high confidence and a disdain for social interaction due to a lack of interpersonal skills or willingness — that doomed him to become a difficult business leader.

In any case, Li Yinan’s experience after leaving the CTO of Baidu is also ups and downs. China Mobile 12580, Jinshajiang Venture Capital, Niudian Technology…… And even prison, of course, that’s for another day.

It is worth mentioning that after Li Yinan left, the position of Baidu CTO remained vacant for more than nine years.

Wang Haifeng: Baidu’s technology leader in the AI era

Perhaps by a coincidence of timing, Wang Haifeng joined Baidu in January 2010 at the same time that Li Yinan announced his departure.

Wang Haifeng’s experience at Baidu can be said to be accompanied by technology along the way. Let’s take a look at the resume information given by Baidu official:

From 2010 to 2013, he founded Baidu’s natural Language Processing Department, Internet Data Research and Development Department (including knowledge mapping and Internet data mining), recommendation engine and personalization department, multimedia department (including voice and image technology), image search department, and voice technology Department.

In the first half of 2013, Wang helped establish Baidu Deep Learning Research Institute (IDL) as an executive director.

He was promoted to Vice President of Baidu.

In October 2013, he was promoted to Vice President of Baidu.

In 2014, Wang Haifeng was transferred to the search business group as the deputy general manager. He was responsible for user products such as Baidu Search, mobile Baidu, Baidu Information Flow and Dumi. As well as basic technologies such as natural language processing and knowledge graph.

In March 2017, he was promoted to Baidu estaff and formed AIG.

He was promoted to Senior Vice President of Baidu in May 2018.

At the end of 2018, I led TG and AIG. And took overall charge of Baidu algorithm, computing power, data, security and other artificial intelligence technologies and basic technologies.

The first Chinese to serve as the president of ACL

In addition, Wang Haifeng’s titles include: The first Chinese to serve as the president of ACL. The most influential international academic organization in the field of natural language processing. The only ACL member from mainland China, the founding president of ACL Asia-Pacific branch AACL. The second prize winner of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, and the Silver Award winner of China Patent Award. The only winner of the National Innovation Award from the Internet industry. The only winner of the first Wu Wenjun Award for Outstanding Contribution to Artificial Intelligence…

This series of titles, are fully enough to Baidu CTO on the very high requirements of technology itself. However, Wang Haifeng has another advantage as the CTO of Baidu. He has been working in Baidu for nearly ten years. During the process of growing up, he has not only contributed a lot to the technological progress of Baidu, but also has a deep understanding of the technological development and product development system of Baidu. Wang Haifeng as Baidu CTO can be said to be the best choice.

He is a technical leader and excellent leader

For Wang Haifeng, Robin Li’s comments are. He adheres to the spirit of pragmatism, innovation and responsibility. It pays attention to the improvement of Baidu’s core technical competitiveness and its transformation into application. And pays attention to the cultivation of team talents and echelon construction. He is a technical leader and excellent leader who has been cultivated for many years by Baidu. And an excellent representative of Baidu’s simple and reliable culture.

It can be seen that Li Yanhong attaches importance to and relies on Wang Haifeng.

However, before he became the CTO of Baidu. Wang Haifeng was promoted to the senior vice president of Baidu after Lu Qi’s resignation in May 2018. And was also the general head of AI technology platform system (AIG) & Basic Technology System (TG). Currently, he can be said to be the de facto leader of Baidu in technology. Therefore, according to Lei Feng, the appointment of Wang Haifeng as the CTO of Baidu is partly a gesture of Baidu’s emphasis on technological innovation. And also a move by Li to stabilize the army after the latest personnel changes, such as Xiang Hailong’s departure.

Do not know this time, Wang Hai summit in Baidu CTO seat for how long.

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