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Lessons From Our First Alibaba E-Commerce Training Program (Tech Strategy – Podcast 297)

This week’s podcast is about the recent Alibaba Ecommerce Training Program – and our trip to Alibaba HQ in Hangzhou, where digital AI strategy consultant Jeffrey Towson outlined company visits to Geely / Zeekr, DEEP Robotics and Fly Zoo Hotel. Useful tools discussed include QwenWork, Accio and Aidge as part of building an agentic-first organization through digital AI transformation strategy with partners like Alibaba and TechMoat Consulting under Agentic Org Now. The program combined online modules with in-person training focused on e-commerce entrepreneurs advancing from existing operations using AI agents and related company insights.

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Day 4 of Our Alibaba Ecommerce Program: Accio, QwenWork and Fly Zoo Hotel (5 of 5) (Tech Strategy)

We just finished up Phase 2 of our Alibaba Ecommerce Training Program, where digital AI strategy consultant Jeffrey Towson covers tools like Accio and QwenWork as part of a digital AI transformation strategy. Accio is already great as an AI sourcing and trade agent from Alibaba.com, while QwenWork is Alibaba’s most important tool right now for enterprise agents. Fly Zoo Hotel was one of those New Retail projects by Alibaba, though the digitization didn’t really change the user experience much.

Day 3 of Our Alibaba Ecommerce Program: Digital Livestreamers Have Arrived (4 of 5) (Tech Strategy)

On Day 3 of the Alibaba Ecommerce Training Program, the group visited mytwins.ai and saw that digital livestreamers have arrived as viable replacements for humans in many ecommerce product categories. Digital livestreamers offer powerful advantages including 24/7 operation, far lower costs, unlimited scalability, and freedom from scandals that affect human KOLs from companies like Alibaba, Tencent, JD, and ByteDance. Human KOLs must adapt by focusing on taste-driven topics and deploying their own avatar armies, according to this digital AI transformation strategy overview from digital AI strategy consultant Jeffrey Towson.

Day 2 of Our Alibaba Ecommerce Program: Livestreaming at China Scale (3 of 5) (Tech Strategy)

Phase 2 of the Alibaba Ecommerce Training Program included classes at Alibaba headquarters in Hangzhou and visits to the frontlines of livestreaming at RunXing Group, home of major livestreamer Dan Dan who has 120 million followers and generated billions in GMV. Agentic commerce is an escalating arms race as AI agents change user decision pathways, enable agent-to-agent transactions, and intensify competition for brands and merchants. Livestreamers stand out as particularly powerful KOLs due to their interactive impact, according to this digital AI transformation strategy overview from digital AI strategy consultant Jeffrey Towson.

4 Take-Aways from Huawei’s Atlas 960E SuperPoD Launch (Tech Strategy)

The Huawei Connect conference featured the Atlas 960E SuperPoD as the centerpiece of Huawei’s new Peerium Computing Architecture, completely rebuilding AI infrastructure for massive scale including 4,096 NPUs that can expand into SuperClusters with over 500,000 NPUs. Ascend chips are advancing rapidly with specialized training and inference variants while Huawei strengthens its lead in interconnect through UnifiedBus and the new Hi-ONE optical engine, all analyzed through a digital AI transformation strategy lens. Memory pooling via OceanStor further expands KV cache capabilities across tiers, according to digital AI strategy consultant Jeffrey Towson.

Day 1 of Our Alibaba Ecommerce Program: Touring DEEP Robotics (2 of 5) (Tech Strategy)

We just finished up Phase 2 of our Alibaba Ecommerce Training Program in partnership with Alibaba, including a visit to DEEP Robotics after Geely / Zeekr. Digital AI strategy consultant Jeffrey Towson details how DEEP Robotics specializes in industrial-grade quadrupeds and a new humanoid built for harsh conditions, inspections, and real-world value. Their move from pilot to production with 500 staff highlights digital AI transformation strategy in robotics for energy grids, mining, and firefighting.

Day 1 of Our Alibaba Ecommerce Training Program: Visiting Geely / Zeekr (1 of 5) (Tech Strategy)

We just finished up Phase 2 of our Alibaba Ecommerce Training Program in partnership with Alibaba, including visits to local companies like Geely / Zeekr and deep dives into their tech strategy. Digital AI strategy consultant Jeffrey Towson highlights how Geely / Zeekr is advancing digital AI transformation strategy through LLMs, World Behavior Models, smart cockpits, and full AI mobility tech stacks. Having the right product at the right time, combined with rapid moves in EVs and AI, has positioned Geely / Zeekr as a rising giant behind leaders like BYD.

Digital Avatars Are Ending Human Livestreamers. And What To Do About It. (Tech Strategy – Podcast 296)

From his recent tour of Alibaba headquarters in Hangzhou, digital AI strategy consultant Jeffrey Towson outlines how digital avatars are rapidly ending human livestreamers as part of a broader digital AI transformation strategy in agentic commerce. Human KOLs and content creators have already peaked, with livestreaming shifting to digital avatars from companies like Alibaba and mytwins.ai, while other creator types will follow. Digital livestreamers have arrived in ecommerce, and entertainment plus thought leaders are next, requiring creators to deploy avatar armies alongside authentic human-focused content.

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Tencent Is Industrializing Creativity in AI Advertising (5 of 5) (Tech Strategy)

Tencent is a world leader in both AI and in getting user attention, making it a go-to company for the intersection of AI and advertising alongside peers like ByteDance and Facebook. According to Xu Wei from Tencent Marketing’s Commercial Ops, advertising is evolving from a human craft business into an industrialized system driven by AI tools. As the search-click model shifts to a question-generate-decision flow, adopting a comprehensive digital AI transformation strategy is becoming essential for brands to scale creativity and reach consumers effectively.

WorkBuddy Goes Global. Other Tencent Buddies Will Follow. (Tech Strategy – Podcast 295)

WorkBuddy, Tencent’s flagship Agent product, is currently going international and will likely be followed by Tencent’s other “buddy” products including CodeBuddy, Toast, Marvis, Ardot, Miora, and ima Copilot. In this discussion of agents and AI deployment, digital AI strategy consultant Jeffrey Towson highlights how Tencent and Alibaba offer frontier-level models as a cheaper international option for businesses. This approach supports effective digital AI transformation strategy by enabling scalable agent use in real-world scenarios like software engineering and office analysis while prioritizing trust and cost efficiency over Western alternatives.