In June 2026, a 75,000-word internal resignation letter shook the foundations of Alibaba’s campus in Hangzhou. Written by an employee named Yousu, the manifesto detailed the agonizing lifecycle of 'ONE,' a high-profile artificial intelligence project within DingTalk. The document did not just critique a product; it served as a scathing indictment of a management style that many believe has become obsolete in the age of generative AI.
The fallout was swift and uncharacteristically public. Alibaba’s Partner Committee, the company’s highest decision-making body, issued a stern rebuke of DingTalk’s leadership, emphasizing that people are the most precious asset. This was a sharp departure from the gentle farewells of previous years, signaling a 'thunderstorm' within the executive ranks that led to the immediate replacement of longtime CEO Chen Hang.
Chen Hang, known by his alias Wuzhao, was the architect of DingTalk’s original success during the mobile internet boom. He built a platform that answered the basic needs of traditional managers: tracking tasks and ensuring top-down visibility. However, the rigid efficiency that once conquered the SME market has become a liability in an AI landscape where technical paths are uncertain and product forms are constantly evolving.
The appointment of Chen Yusen, a younger leader known for lean, experimental successes like 'Mule Run,' signals a strategic pivot toward what theorists call 'exponential organizations.' These are small, autonomous cell-like structures that operate with low marginal costs and high agility. Alibaba is betting that this decentralized approach can dismantle the stifling hierarchies of its 'Big Company Disease' and foster a new ecosystem for innovation.
Ultimately, the crisis at DingTalk is a microcosm of Alibaba’s broader AI anxiety. As the group experiments with everything from large language models to AI-driven hardware, it is finding that its greatest hurdle is not computing power, but its own organizational inertia. The transition from a pyramid-style empire to a network of agile innovators will determine whether Alibaba leads the next era or merely manages its own decline.