【CEO访谈】阿里巴巴集团董事局主席兼首席执行官张勇：言辞温和，决策果敢

阿里巴巴集团从最初诞生在公寓内的初创公司，到发展成为全球电子商务巨头，富有远见的创始人马云多数时候都站在台前，现任董事局主席兼首席执行官张勇亦带领公司取得了许多颠覆性的成就。两人的性格看上去迥然不同——马云活力四射，张勇则沉稳内敛。2018 年，当马云宣布张勇将于 2019 年 9 月接替自己出任公司董事局主席时，这一差异引起了外界的关注。

张勇——阿里巴巴集团董事局主席兼首席执行官

张勇在阿里巴巴的花名是“逍遥子”，迄今仍然隐于幕后。但他对创新的直觉非常敏锐，阿里巴巴于 2017 年一跃成为全球最有价值的电子商务公司就印证了这一点。

张勇的创新举动包括推出阿里巴巴一年一度的 24 小时促销活动，也就是众所周知的“双11全球购物狂欢节”（简称“双11”）。他还率先推动阿里巴巴成为移动优先公司：目前阿里巴巴中国电商网站上超过 90% 的销售在移动设备上完成。此外，这位上海人还推动盒马鲜生食品商店诞生，盒马鲜生结合了生鲜的高端店内体验、快捷的电子商务上门送货服务和机器人餐厅[1]。

下文是整理后的双方访谈实录。CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

一、多样化的消费者

Daniel Zipser：您觉得中国消费者比较显著的特点是什么？这些特点在发生什么变化？

张勇：我们从自己的数字平台可以看出，中国的消费者非常多样化。由于互联网的普及，他们很清楚国内以及全球的流行趋势。同时他们还拥有很强大的主见。比如，Z 世代并不单纯地迷信所谓的大品牌，他们更喜欢独特的东西，喜欢自己这一代出现的新品牌。这是他们的生活方式（中很重要的一部分）。他们还有一个重要特点，就是更愿意消费。中国因作为一个高储蓄率社会而知名，但年轻一代更愿意通过消费来提升生活方式。这意味着存在巨大的机遇。

Daniel Zipser：说到消费支出，每年 11 月 11 日的线上购物节，也就是双11的交易总额（GMV） 2018 年达到了 300 亿美元。起初在 2009 年推出这个活动时，您的愿景是什么？

张勇：天猫商城现在是世界上最大的线上 B2C 平台，但在当时，和淘宝网相比，它的规模还很小。所以，我们就想让更多的人记住我们。当时我们想的是把天猫的所有商家聚集起来，共同举办一个活动，大家一起为共同的客户提供最好的服务和产品。但我们怎么也没想到，10年后它会发展得如此盛大。这真正反映出了生态系统的力量。CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

但您要问我当初的愿景，我只能说它来自一个想法：“怎么能让人们记住我们？”和“怎么才能生存下去？”从这个想法出发，我们开始尝试新事物。往后，我们也将继续着意创新。我们不仅要推动线上销售，还要改变线下实体店。双11是消费者的节日，他们既寻求线上体验，也寻求线下体验。这一趋势显而易见，也是我们追寻的目标。我们会继续将双11打造为一年之中最棒的消费者节日。

二、技术创新

Daniel Zipser：请详细谈谈阿里巴巴的创新和技术，尤其是人工智能 （AI） 的角色。

张勇：我们一直在尝试新事物，一直在创新服务，并运用技术为消费者提供全新体验。比如，中国人目前大多已经习惯于移动支付所带来的便利，因此我们致力于推广人脸识别技术，将其应用于数字支付。反馈显示，年轻的中国消费者很喜欢由此带来的便利，这是一种非常棒的消费体验。CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

我们已经致力投入人工智能很多年。但说实话，我们之前并没有意识到自己在做的就是人工智能。我们是一家靠数据驱动的公司。我们从用户和商家的真实行为数据中创造价值；数据是推动我们平台发展的燃料，帮助商家更好地服务他们的客户。这就是我们的逻辑，长期以来我们就是这么做的。

技术和数据是推动整个企业发展的动力，不仅在销售和平台方面如此，在后端、客户服务等其他领域也是如此。这是我们的运作方式。因此，当别人说起人工智能（Artificial Intelligence，AI），我们会笑，因为对我们来说 AI 就是“阿里智能”（Alibaba intelligence），数据和技术就是我们一切的源动力。CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

三、让天下没有难做的生意

Daniel Zipser：阿里巴巴的目标是什么？如何通过你们的商业模式实现这些目标？

张勇：阿里巴巴从创立之初就是一家由使命和愿景驱动的公司。马云和其他 17 位早期联合创始人一起制定了一项伟大的使命：让天下没有难做的生意。我们的使命驱动了我们的企业战略：为我们的商业合作伙伴赋能。

尽管我们的业务一直在发展，但使命始终不变。举例来说，我们不仅帮助大品牌和零售商，也会帮助中小企业成长。我们相信小即是美，我们想帮助那些新的企业和创业者，让他们更加成功。这是我们一直坚持的理念。在这个数字时代，当我们在讲阿里巴巴的未来时，我们关注的其实是如何帮助业务合作伙伴成功地实现数字化转型，而不是如何让自己变得更强大。如果小企业能够更快、更健康地发展，将会造福整个社会。CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

随着中国经济向消费驱动型经济转型，阿里巴巴在了解消费者不断变化的需求方面存在巨大的机会。我们可以帮助全世界和中国产生连接，让贸易变得更轻松，帮助它们进入世界上最大的消费市场。

四、领导与决策

Daniel Zipser：人们总是说您沉稳保守、言辞温和、注重细节。作为领导者，您怎么评价自己？您的领导风格是如何形成的？CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

张勇：其实我不认为自己保守。大家会这么说，可能因为我是审计师出身。我总是说，也许我最初入错了行。但很显然，第一份工作给了我很多机会，让我学到了一些基本技能，并且接触到了许多不同行业的客户。能进入数字和互联网行业并在阿里巴巴这么出色的公司工作，我觉得自己很幸运。

至于我的领导风格，我很好打交道，愿意给人机会，让他们尝试自己的想法。但决策一旦确定，我的态度就非常坚决。一旦我下定决心，就希望团队能够坚定执行并拿到切实的成果。正因为这样，阿里巴巴的同事们总是说我在业务会议上很难搞，因为（在那种情况下）我总想找到问题症结，然后推动大家前行。CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

我的领导风格就是如此。虽然我言辞温和，但决策果敢。我认为，（对领导者来说）最重要的是带领整个团队向前。他们需要一个方向，还需要明确的指示。即使决策可能并不完美，领导者也必须拍板。同时，我也在努力向我们的年轻人学习，那些 90 后、95 后们。学习他们的生活方式和喜好能给我带来很多新想法，激发创新。

Daniel Zipser：在制定比较艰难的决策时，有多大程度是靠直觉，多大程度靠数据分析？

张勇：都有。我们的优势在于拥有海量数据，我的团队每天都会提供非常出色的日常分析报告。但作为领导者，你必须能看到别人看不到的，归根结底，你要能够聚焦于客户的痛点。

四年前，我萌生了开设盒马鲜生零售店的想法，这些零售店现在非常受欢迎。我最初想的是，传统电子商务的中心辐射型模式没法按时按需地配送生鲜产品。如果消费者人在公司，你不可能把新鲜的鱼送到她家里去。我们不得不设计新的商业模式来解决这个具体痛点，而这个过程就推动了盒马鲜生的开始。CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

痛点意味着机会。这也是为何每年春节我都会自我评估一番。我会问自己：“上一年我提出了多少新想法？多少新业务因我而生？”我并不过分关注对现有业务表现的自我评估，我看重的是新机遇。也许它们现在只是些新想法，是些微小的念头，但也许将来会变成大机遇，甚至变成阿里巴巴的主要业务。

Daniel Zipser：在这些想法中，难免也会出现失败。作为领导者，您是怎么对待这些失败的？作为一家公司，阿里巴巴又是怎么应对失败的呢？

张勇：我们给员工提供了许多空间来尝试新事物，这意味着你必须接受失败。绝大多数创新都会以失败告终，你必须得承认这点。但关键在于，我们能从失败中学到什么？

比如，五六年前我们尝试了一个新产品，一个叫“来往”的数字社交通讯平台。我们启动了这一业务，投入了大量资金，派出了部分最好的员工，但该项业务最终失败了。因为跟市场上已有的产品相比，我们没能给消费者提供新的体验。CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

在我们创建基于云和 SaaS （软件即服务） 的协同工作平台“钉钉”时，“来往”就成了我们的前车之鉴。“钉钉”是“来往”失败的直接产物，因为团队意识到，人们在社交网络上有太多的联系人。用户想要一个专门用于维系工作关系和交流的替代信息平台。“钉钉”的成功是“痛点激发新服务”的又一例子，这个例子也说明了如何从失败中收获宝贵经验。

Daniel Zipser：作为领导者，是什么在激励您？您早上起床的动力是什么？

张勇：首先是乐趣，这是最重要的。在我们这个行业，我跟很多年轻人一起工作，数字领域是社会的新前沿。体验新鲜事物不但很有趣，还能让你觉得年轻。我总是对朋友和团队说，要问自己一个关键问题：“你对世界是否仍有好奇心？”如果你对这个世界充满好奇，那么你就能发现一些不一样的东西，找到新的机会，向前迈进。CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

Daniel Zipser：最后一个问题，您与阿里巴巴的创始人马云一起工作了好多年。和他共事是什么感受？您从中学到了什么？

张勇：我们一起工作得很愉快。自从 12 年前加入阿里巴巴以来，我一直很密切地和他一起工作。虽然我们的个性完全不同，但很互补。马云是个很有远见的人。他考虑的不只是今天和明天，他考虑的是未来五年、十年的远景问题。这使得阿里巴巴与众不同。我从他那儿学到了着眼全局的重要性。你需要脚踏实地，坚定前行，但同时也要有前瞻性。我们不仅要关注当下的机遇，更重要的是去关注下一代和未来几十年的机遇。

翻译：

From its beginnings as a startup in an apartment to its development into a global e-commerce giant, Alibaba Group’s visionary founder Jack Ma has been at the forefront most of the time, and its current chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang has also led the company to many disruptive achievements. The two men seem to have very different personalities – Ma is energetic, Zhang is quiet and reserved. The discrepancy drew attention in 2018 when Ma announced that Zhang Yong would succeed him as chairman of the company’s board of directors in September 2019.CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

Daniel Zhang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group

Mr. Zhang, who goes by the Alibaba moniker “Carefree Boy,” has remained hidden in the background. But he has a keen instinct for innovation, as evidenced by Alibaba’s rise to become the world’s most valuable e-commerce company in 2017.

Zhang’s innovations include the launch of Alibaba’s annual 24-hour sales event, known as the “Double 11 Global Shopping Carnival.” He also spearheaded Alibaba’s push to become a mobile-first company: more than 90 percent of sales on Alibaba’s Chinese e-commerce sites are now made on mobile devices. In addition, the Shanghai native is responsible for the birth of the Hema Food store, which combines the high-end in-store experience of Hema with a fast e-commerce home delivery service and a robot restaurant. [1]CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

The following is a collated transcript of the interview.

Diversified consumers

Daniel Zipser: What do you think are the distinguishing characteristics of Chinese consumers? How are these characteristics changing?

Mr. Zhang: We can see from our digital platform that consumers in China are very diverse. Thanks to the popularity of the Internet, they are well aware of national and global trends. They also have strong opinions. For example, Gen Z does not simply believe in so-called big brands, they prefer unique things, like their own generation of new brands. It’s their way of life. Another important characteristic of them is that they are more willing to consume. China is known as a society with a high savings rate, but the younger generation is more willing to upgrade their lifestyle through consumption. That means there is a huge opportunity.

Daniel Zipser: Speaking of consumer spending, the annual online shopping festival on November 11, or Double 11, reached $30 billion in gross transaction volume (GMV) in 2018. What was your vision when you first launched this event in 2009?

Zhang Yong: Tmall is now the largest online B2C platform in the world, but at that time, compared with Taobao, it was still very small. So, we want more people to remember us. At that time, we thought about bringing all the merchants of Tmall together and holding an event together to provide the best service and products for our common customers. But we never imagined that 10 years later it would grow so big. It really reflects the power of the ecosystem.CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

But if you ask me about my original vision, I can only say that it came from an idea: “How can people remember us?” And “How do I survive?” From that idea, we started trying new things. In the future, we will continue to innovate. We will not only drive online sales, but also change the offline physical stores. Double 11 is a holiday for consumers, who seek both online and offline experiences. This trend is obvious and is what we are looking for. We will continue to make Double 11 the best consumer holiday of the year.CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

Technological innovation

Daniel Zipser: Please talk more about Alibaba’s innovation and technology, especially the role of artificial intelligence (AI).

Mr. Zhang: We are always trying new things, always innovating services and using technology to provide new experiences for consumers. For example, most Chinese people are now accustomed to the convenience brought by mobile payments, so we are committed to promoting facial recognition technology and applying it to digital payments. Feedback shows that young Chinese consumers love the convenience and it’s a great experience.CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

We’ve been working on AI for years. But to be honest, we didn’t realize that what we were doing was artificial intelligence. We are a data-driven company. We create value from real behavioral data of users and merchants; Data is the fuel that drives our platform and helps merchants better serve their customers. That’s our logic, and that’s how we’ve done it for a long time.

Technology and data are what drive the entire enterprise, not only in sales and platform, but also in other areas such as the backend, customer service, and so on. This is how we operate. Therefore, when others talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI), we will laugh, because for us AI is “Ali intelligence” (Alibaba intelligence), data and technology are the source of everything for us.

Let the world is not difficult to do business

Daniel Zipser: What is Alibaba’s goal? How do you achieve these goals with your business model?CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

Daniel Zhang: Alibaba has been a mission – and vision-driven company from the beginning. Together with his 17 early co-founders, Jack Ma set a great mission: to make it easy to do business. Our mission drives our corporate strategy: to empower our business partners.

While our business has evolved, our mission has remained the same. For example, we help not only big brands and retailers, but also small and medium-sized enterprises to grow. We believe that small is beautiful, and we want to help new businesses and entrepreneurs become more successful. This is our philosophy. In this digital age, when we talk about the future of Alibaba, we are actually focused on how to help business partners successfully achieve digital transformation, rather than how to make ourselves stronger. If small businesses can grow faster and healthier, it will benefit society as a whole.CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

As China’s economy transitions to a consumption-driven economy, there is a huge opportunity for Alibaba to understand the changing needs of consumers. We can help connect the world to China, make trade easier, and help them access the world’s largest consumer market.

Leadership and decision-making

Daniel Zipser: You’ve always been described as a reserved, soft-spoken, detail-oriented person. How do you rate yourself as a leader? How did your leadership style develop?

Zhang Yong: Actually, I don’t consider myself conservative. People probably say that because I’m an auditor by training. I always say, maybe I was in the wrong line of work. But obviously, the first job gave me a lot of opportunities to learn some basic skills and meet clients in many different industries. I feel very lucky to be in the digital and Internet industry and to work for such an amazing company as Alibaba.CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

As for my leadership style, I’m easy-going and willing to give people a chance to try out their ideas. But once the decision was made, I was very firm. Once I’ve made up my mind, I want the team to implement it firmly and get tangible results. Because of this, my colleagues at Alibaba always say that I am difficult in business meetings, because [in that situation] I always want to find the crux of the problem and then push everyone forward.CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

That’s my leadership style. Although I speak softly, I make bold decisions. I think the most important thing [for leaders] is to take the team forward. They need direction, and they need clear instructions. Leaders must make decisions, even when they may not be perfect. At the same time, I am also trying to learn from our young people, those who were born in 1990 and 1995. Learning about their lifestyles and preferences can give me a lot of new ideas and inspire innovation.

Daniel Zipser: How much do you rely on intuition and how much do you rely on data when you make tough decisions?

Zhang Yong: Both. Our advantage is that we have a lot of data, and my team provides excellent daily analysis reports every day. But as a leader, you have to be able to see what others don’t, and at the end of the day, you have to be able to focus on the customer’s pain points.CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

Four years ago, I got the idea to open Hema retail stores, which are now very popular. My initial thought was that the hub-and-speak model of traditional e-commerce couldn’t deliver fresh produce on time and on demand. If the consumer is in the company, you can’t deliver fresh fish to her home. We had to devise a new business model to address this specific pain point, and that process led to the start of Hema.

Pain points mean opportunities. That’s why every Spring Festival I take stock of myself. I ask myself, “How many new ideas did I come up with last year? How much new business have I generated?” I don’t focus too much on self-assessment of the performance of existing businesses, I focus on new opportunities. Maybe they are just new ideas now, small ideas, but maybe they will become big opportunities in the future, even become the main business of Alibaba.CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

Daniel Zipser: In all of these ideas, there are going to be failures. As a leader, how do you deal with these failures? And how does Alibaba as a company deal with failure?

Mr. Zhang: We give our employees a lot of space to try new things, which means you have to accept failure. Most innovations fail, you have to admit that. But the point is, what can we learn from failure?

For example, five or six years ago we tried a new product, a digital social messaging platform called Laiwang. We launched the business, invested a lot of money and sent some of our best people, but it failed. Because we haven’t been able to offer consumers a new experience compared to what’s already on the market.

Laiwang was our example when we created Dingding, a collaborative work platform based on cloud and SaaS (software as a service). Stud was a direct result of the failure of Hangout, as the team realized that people had too many contacts on the social network. Users want an alternative messaging platform dedicated to working relationships and communication. Dingding’s success is yet another example of how pain points inspire new services, and how to learn from failure.

Daniel Zipser: What motivates you as a leader? What motivates you to get up in the morning?

Zhang Yong: First, fun, that’s the most important thing. In my industry, I work with a lot of young people, and the digital space is the new frontier of society. Not only is it fun to experience new things, it can also make you feel younger. I always tell my friends and team to ask yourself a key question: “Are you still curious about the world?” If you are curious about the world, then you can discover something different, find new opportunities, and move forward.

Daniel Zipser: Last question, you worked with Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, for many years. What was it like working with him? What did you learn?

Zhang Yong: We’ve had a great time working together. I have worked very closely with him since I joined Alibaba 12 years ago. Although our personalities are completely different, they complement each other very much. Jack Ma is a visionary. He’s not just thinking about today and tomorrow, he’s thinking about the future five or ten years from now. That makes Alibaba different. I learned from him the importance of seeing the big picture. You need to keep your feet firmly on the ground, but at the same time be forward-looking. We should not only focus on the opportunities of today, but more importantly, on the opportunities of the next generation and the next few decades.CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）

本文由CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）转载而成，来源于McKinsey Greater China；编辑/翻译：CXO UNIONCXO联盟小宁檬。

如需加入CXO UNION（CXO联盟）高管社群，请联系社群小伙伴哦~

免责声明: 本网站(http://www.cxounion.cn/)内容主要来自原创、合作媒体供稿和第三方投稿，凡在本网站出现的信息，均仅供参考。本网站将尽力确保所提供信息的准确性及可靠性，但不保证有关资料的准确性及可靠性，读者在使用前请进一步核实，并对任何自主决定的行为负责。本网站对有关资料所引致的错误、不确或遗漏，概不负任何法律责任。

本网站刊载的所有内容(包括但不仅限文字、图片、LOGO、音频、视频、软件、程序等) 版权归原作者所有。任何单位或个人认为本网站中的内容可能涉嫌侵犯其知识产权或存在不实内容时，请及时通知本站，予以删除。