Zeng Ming
Zeng Ming (曾鸣) is a scholar of business strategy, the internet, and organizational change, who served as chief of staff (总参谋长) of Alibaba Group and dean of Hupan University. He is widely known in the Chinese business world for his long involvement in Alibaba’s strategy-making; since 2026 his public commentary has centered on strategy and organizational change in the AI era.
Career and milestones
According to Alibaba’s official management page, he received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Fudan University in 1991 and a PhD in international business and strategy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1998; he taught at a European business school from 1998 to 2002 and was a professor of strategy at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business before joining Alibaba.
His roles at Alibaba, per that page: he joined Alibaba Group in August 2006 as executive vice president of strategy; served as president of China Yahoo from November 2006 to December 2007; was appointed chief of staff (总参谋长) of Alibaba Group in January 2008; and additionally served as non-executive chairman of TMall from June 2011. Per a 2017 report by Huanqiu.com, on April 17, 2017, Alibaba Group announced that Zeng Ming became dean of Hupan University and chairman of the group’s academic committee, stepping down from the chief of staff role.
His books listed on the official page include 《潜龙》 on the globalization strategies of Chinese companies, 《略胜一筹》 (2004), and 《龙行天下》 (2008, Harvard Business Press) on how Chinese companies’ cost innovation disrupts global competition.
In a September 2026 interview on Zhang Xiaojun’s 商业访谈录 (Business Interviews) podcast, he laid out a three-stage theory of general-purpose technologies — technology becoming infrastructure, applications flourishing, then native applications — and argued that 2026 resembles 1995 on the eve of the internet, with the agent-entry opportunity comparable to waiting for a “browser” to appear (see the notes compiled by Bijiexia, republished by NetEase).
Mention in the show
Zeng Ming is not a participant in the episode; the following are the hosts’ own comments. In Weekly #004’s chapter “Muse：面向普通人的 Personal Agent” (Muse: a personal agent for ordinary people) of the Chinese transcript, Xiangyang Qiaomu relays: “a while ago Zhang Xiaojun interviewed Zeng Ming; he said AI development probably has three stages, and we may now be entering an Agent OS stage… this stage will surely take another three to five years to develop” (the subtitle spells the name as “曾明”; see paragraph). In the chapter “开放生态、资源与商业闭环” (Open ecosystem, resources, and the business loop), Orange says “this Muse may be the first consumer-side one Zeng Ming just mentioned” (paragraph). These remarks are paraphrases and commentary in the show’s context, attributed to the hosts as relaters, not statements by Zeng Ming on the show.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Zeng Ming?
Zeng Ming is a strategy scholar who served as chief of staff of Alibaba Group and dean of Hupan University; see Alibaba’s official management page.
What roles did Zeng Ming hold at Alibaba?
Per Alibaba’s management page: executive vice president of strategy from August 2006, president of China Yahoo from November 2006 to December 2007, group chief of staff from January 2008, and non-executive chairman of TMall from June 2011; in April 2017 he became dean of Hupan University and left the chief of staff role (Huanqiu.com report).
Which books has Zeng Ming written?
Alibaba’s management page lists 《潜龙》, 《略胜一筹》 (2004), and 《龙行天下》 (2008, Harvard Business Press).
What does Zeng Ming do now?
Per the compiled notes of his September 2026 interview on Zhang Xiaojun’s 商业访谈录 podcast, his public commentary focuses on strategy and organization in the AI era, such as the three-stage theory of general-purpose technologies and the agent-entry “browser” opportunity; for current titles, refer to his own or the relevant institutions’ public materials.