Story
Ant Group Consolidates Alipay Units, Appoints Wu Minzhi as President in AI Push
Summary
Ant Group has announced a major restructuring, merging its Alipay, digital payments, and credit units into a single business group to accelerate its strategy in AI-driven commerce. Wu Minzhi will lead the new division as president while also serving as the company's Chief People Officer.
Ant Group is undertaking a significant organizational restructuring, consolidating three core divisions into a new, unified Alipay Business Group. The move, aimed at accelerating the company's push into AI-powered commerce, places executive Wu Minzhi at the helm as president of the new group.
Strategic Reorganization
In an internal letter on September 21, Ant Group CEO Han Xinyi announced the merger of the following units:
- The Alipay Business Group
- The Digital Payment Business Group
- The Zhima Credit business unit
These divisions will now operate as a single entity under the new Alipay Business Group. Wu Minzhi, who will lead the consolidated group, will also continue in her role as Ant Group's Chief People Officer (CPO).
Focus on AI-Powered Commerce
AdThe restructuring is a key part of Ant Group's strategy to advance in what it calls "intelligent agent commerce." According to Han's letter, the new structure is designed to pool technology, product, and ecosystem capabilities to respond more quickly to market shifts.
The stated goal is to empower merchants to better serve customers and drive growth through Alipay's AI open platform. Han emphasized that this will make the ecosystem more convenient, secure, and trustworthy in the era of artificial intelligence.
Reversing a Previous Split
This consolidation marks a shift from a structure implemented less than a year ago. In December 2023, Ant Group split its operations into two distinct business groups—Digital Payment and Alipay—as part of its "AI First" strategy.
That earlier move also introduced a six-month rotating president system for the two divisions. The latest announcement reverses this separation, bringing the key functions back under a single leader to streamline its strategic execution in the competitive AI landscape.
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