Alibaba Wukong Business Unit Restructuring: Integration of Wukong and MuleRun, Separate Leaders for DingTalk and Wukong

On June 18, Chen Yusen, CEO of Alibaba's Wukong Business Unit, issued his first internal letter since taking office, announcing an organizational restructuring. Key changes include: establishment of the Core Platform Business Department (DingTalk and other businesses, led by Zhu Hong); integration of the Wukong and MuleRun teams into a new Wukong team (led by Shu Junliang); integration of sales, service, and other teams into the Customer Development Department (led by Yang Meng); establishment of the Marketing Department (led by Li Xinyu); and establishment of the Information Technology Department (led by Deng Wu).

Background and Motivation for Restructuring

• Chen Yusen succeeded Wu Zhao (Chen Hang) as CEO of DingTalk and CEO of the Wukong Business Unit on June 11. Wu Zhao's departure is primarily attributed to controversy over his management style.
• Wukong is an AI application project promoted by Wu Zhao after his return, which previously maintained high-frequency iteration and initial commercialization. The integration with MuleRun is interpreted by outsiders as an indication that Wukong's progress has fallen short of expectations and requires realignment.
• Wukong faces external competition (e.g., Tencent Cloud Workbuddy) and ranks low internally in user growth and commercialization.

Key Personnel and Team Integration

• Shu Junliang: Former CTO of MuleRun, holds a PhD from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, founded Feiyu Security, and later co-founded MuleRun with Chen Yusen. Now leads the new Wukong team.
• Zhu Hong: Former CTO of DingTalk, participated in the two-hydrogen-one-oxygen startup with Wu Zhao, and returned to contribute to Wukong construction. Now leads the Core Platform Business Department (DingTalk).
• Li Xinyu: Former CMO of MuleRun, responsible for Wukong's market commercialization operations.
• Yang Meng: Alibaba employee No. 598, rose from frontline sales at 1688 to Global President of DingTalk, now leads the Customer Development Department.
• Deng Wu: Leads the newly established Information Technology Department, aimed at optimizing systems for AI Agents.

Business Direction and Data

• Chen Yusen positions DingTalk and Wukong as "dual engines," emphasizing AI transformation of existing businesses and building an Agent-friendly infrastructure.
• Original products such as AI hardware and AI voice memo are retained, led by Ren Qing, with enhanced investment and international expansion.
• Since its commercialization in mid-May, MuleRun has achieved an ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) exceeding 300 million RMB within one month.
• Insiders at DingTalk say that Wukong is a key focus for Alibaba CEO Wu Yongming, representing Alibaba's B2B strategic layout.

Management Style Changes

• Chen Yusen has canceled mandatory evening meetings, allowing each business line to decide its own work schedule, and many employees have already taken leave.