Zhang Yaqin: Microsoft’s “lost for many years” is the biggest regret

September 8, Mid-Autumn Festival, a reunion day. But Zhang Yaqin chose to break up with Microsoft (46.68, 0.16, 0.34%) on this day.

In the afternoon of Mid-Autumn Festival, Microsoft China confirmed that Zhang Yaqin, chairman of Microsoft Asia Pacific R&D Group, will resign from Microsoft. On September 10, Baidu (228.45, 9.37, 4.28%) announced that Zhang Yaqin was the president of Baidu and was responsible for the new business.

For the new business in Baidu, Zhang Yaqin did not give too much explanation. The only thing he revealed was "I want to live a busy life."

In such a delicate time, Zhang Yaqin’s feelings seem quite meaningful. And Zhang Yaqin seems to indicate that in the last few years of Microsoft, he has been very leisurely.

On the eve of leaving Microsoft, Zhang Yaqin frequently sent a signal of concern to Microsoft in an interview with the media. On the one hand, he is excited about some of the research and advanced development that Microsoft Asia R&D is doing, but on the other hand, he is also frustrated because many technologies have not entered this market.

"I have a common vision with Baidu." Hopping Baidu seems to be the best choice for Zhang Yaqin. Li Yanhong expects Zhang Yaqin to expand Baidu's technological advantages with his technical know-how.

I wanted to leave three years ago.

From the genius boy to the chairman of Microsoft Asia Pacific R&D Group, he stood at the fork of self-subversion.

Zhang Yaqin is a young genius. He was admitted to the China University of Science and Technology Junior Class at the age of 12. He obtained a master's degree in radio and electronic engineering at the age of 20 and a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Washington at the age of 23. In 1997, Zhang Yaqin, who was only 31 years old, was awarded the title of IEEEFellow by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and became the youngest scientist in this ancient association.

Zhang Yaqin joined Microsoft two years later and became the chief scientist of Microsoft China Research Institute at the age of 33. Later, the organization was upgraded to Microsoft Asia Pacific Research Institute, and later became an important part of Microsoft Asia Pacific R&D Group. Zhang Yaqin became the chairman of Microsoft Asia Pacific R&D Group. In the last time he worked for Microsoft, Zhang Yaqin said in the last interview of the media that he was standing at the fork of self-subversion.

Zhang Yaqin's resume at Microsoft can be divided into three stages, the first five years being scientists. The second five years was the transformation of scientists to managers. In January 2006, Bill Gates kissed Zhang Yaqin and returned to China to set up Microsoft Asia Pacific R&D Group. His position further rose to become the global senior vice president and chairman of Microsoft Asia Pacific R&D Group. Research and product development in the Asia Pacific region. However, this is also the highest position of Zhang Yaqin at Microsoft. In the last 8 years, Zhang Yaqin saw that his subordinates gradually rose to their own leadership, but they could do nothing.

In the third stage, we push the cloud. In March 2014, Azure's public cloud services operated by 21V (20.04, -0.96, -4.57%) were put into commercial operation, and Microsoft became the first multinational company to provide public cloud platform services in China. This has also become Zhang Aqin’s self-proclaimed “mission fulfillment” footnote.

Zhang Yaqin also said, "In fact, I thought about leaving my job three years ago and doing something that I am interested in." As for what is more interesting, one of the biggest possibilities is to return to the post of scientist and abandon the ease of leisure life.

Overhead in the last two years

He stayed in the position of the boss of the Asia-Pacific R&D Group for 8 years, and was basically vacant while being promoted.

Sogou CEO Wang Xiaochuan once said that the reason for leaving the job, "money, not enough; heart, wronged" is the universal measure of the two, the same applies to Zhang Yaqin.

Li Yi, executive vice president and secretary general of China Mobile Internet Industry Alliance, believes that Zhang Yaqin is actually "free for many years" in Microsoft. From the outside world, one of the evidences is that some of the most famous people in the IT industry have published books, and he will be happy. The order of writing. In addition, Zhang Yaqin has been shouldering the role of lubricants in relations with the Chinese government. According to Zhang Yaqin himself, he gave lectures to the leaders of the central government agencies, including the Central Propaganda Department.

Today, Microsoft's relationship with the Chinese government is at a freezing point. Microsoft faces an anti-monopoly investigation in China, and Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows8, misses the government procurement catalog.

According to Reuters, Microsoft CEO Nadella will visit China in late September, intending to negotiate the anti-monopoly investigation conducted by the Chinese government on Microsoft not long ago, trying to ease the tension between the two sides on anti-monopoly issues. The pressure on Zhang Yaqin can be imagined.

In addition, "not ambition" or another power of Zhang Yaqin's departure.

A Microsoft employee posted on the Internet that Zhang Yaqin is the second president of Microsoft Research Asia. In 2004, he was transferred to the headquarters, and he was promoted to CVP (Vice President). After returning to the country, he was at the top of the Asia-Pacific R&D Group's position. The third floor was the CEO. The third Ren Xiangyang, transferred to the headquarters in 2007, CVP is now the whole tube

"In fact, I thought about leaving my job three years ago and doing something that I am interested in." “BAT, Xiaomi, Jingdong (29.55, 1.45, 5.16%) and other new companies have done a good job. They are worthy of learning by multinational companies in terms of user response speed and service details.” “I have a shared vision with Baidu and look forward to it. Become a member of this team." - Zhang Yaqin

The Institute's EVP (Senior Vice President) reports directly to the CEO, which is higher than Zhang Yaqin.

In addition, Lu Qi airborne from Yahoo (42.09, -0.51, -1.19%) to Microsoft in 2008, direct EVP, is the highest level of Chinese leadership in the United States. Two EVPs are ahead and chasing is hopeless. Unless you go to Microsoft to develop in one direction, there is no possibility of promotion.

Even worse than the 8th year of the ranks, Zhang Yaqin was basically vacant in the last two years. "Only the technology incubation and STB's business in China (the server and development tools division of the cloud computing business), this is an unappreciated department, and has recently been laid off," the source said.

According to a person familiar with the matter, Microsoft Asia Pacific R&D Group now has three business units, namely the Asia-Pacific Engineering Institute under the supervision of Wang Yongdong, the Asia-Pacific Research Institute under the leadership of Hong Xiaowen, and the cloud business headed by Zhang Yaqin, the general of Shen Yaqing. However, the actual Zhang Yaqin can only control Shen Yuanqing's business, and the latter two businesses report directly to Lu Qi and Shen Xiangyang.

On September 17, Microsoft announced that Hong Xiaowen succeeded Zhang Yaqin and became the chairman of Microsoft Asia Pacific R&D Group.

Who disappoints who

Microsoft's institutional flaws have somewhat curbed the potential of Zhang Yaqin, and Zhang Yaqin is also considered to be the representative of the "old school." Microsoft is facing an unprecedented dilemma. For Zhang Yaqin, the best choice is to "go to the top."

When Zhang Yaqin was interviewed by the media for a period of time before leaving Microsoft, he frequently sent a signal of concern to Microsoft.

Many people in the scientific and technological circles privately believe that the Chinese local management represented by Zhang Yaqin has not brought any worthwhile results to Microsoft in recent years. Before accepting his job, Zhang Yaqin said in an interview with Sohu (54, 0.44, 0.82%) that he was excited about some research and advanced development that Microsoft Asia R&D is doing, but on the other hand, he was frustrated because many technologies ended. Did not enter this market.

Regarding the transformation that Microsoft is experiencing in the era of mobile Internet, Zhang Yaqin believes that "it is not a technical issue, as Einstein said, in addition to having a good vision, a good strategy, and a strong executive force to succeed." ”

In May of this year, Zhang Yaqin said in an interview that tablet PCs are very popular now. In fact, Microsoft did the earliest work. Microsoft, which wears watches, has already done it 15 years ago. "In 2004, I was in charge of the mobile phone department at Microsoft headquarters. At that time, there was no Android or iOS. Microsoft's mobile operating system was the most favored by everyone. But unfortunately, Microsoft has lost many years, which is my biggest regret. "Zhang Yaqin said that now Microsoft is working hard to invest in R&D, and it is also an opportunity to use technology to win."

In Zhang Yaqin's view, companies must dare to subvert their own culture. Microsoft's biggest competitor has always been itself. There are no obvious mistakes in doing big things like Kodak, Motorola, etc. But suddenly one day, the company does not exist. In fact, this is a trap of innovation in the enterprise - thinking that what they have done represents the direction of the industry, but ignores The bud of disruptive innovation.

However, he also told reporters that he is very optimistic about the development of BAT (Baidu, Alibaba (rolling information), Tencent (122.9, -1.10, -0.89%, real-time market)), "BAT, Xiaomi, Jingdong and other new companies are They are doing very well, they are worth learning from multinational companies in terms of user response speed and service details."

Sogou CEO Wang Xiaochuan believes that Zhang Yaqin’s departure is a subversive victory in the Internet research and development model, rather than the disappearance of foreign companies’ red carpet. "The power of the Internet lies in the speed of market resilience, the need for fast and flexible technology-driven, and the company represented by Google has brought the combination of technology development and product launch to the extreme. At Microsoft Research, products from project to output. It takes 3 to 5 years, plus the management of different places and the inefficient decision-making, so it is difficult to support the change and it is inevitable to lose momentum."

In an interview, a senior engineer from Microsoft Engineering Institute agreed that in an interview, Xiao Bing only spent six months, which is a "in the Microsoft system." Wonderful."

Microsoft's system may have curbed the potential of Zhang Yaqin, but Zhang Yaqin, who has worked for Microsoft for 16 years, is also considered a representative of the "old school." Li Yi said that Zhang Yaqin is now more like a "business card", a "evangelist", and his label value to Microsoft is far greater than the actual meaning.

At the moment, Microsoft is experiencing an unprecedented dilemma. From the birth track of Microsoft Xiao Bing, we can see that Microsoft is exploring a path of radical change. According to reports, Microsoft Xiaobing team has been working overtime for several months, and the work intensity has been no different from domestic Internet companies. Previously, in the Microsoft Asia Pacific Group, overtime was very rare. Even during work hours, many people still run or yoga in the gym in the office building. These are the equipment that Zhang Yaqin specially added when designing the Asia Pacific R&D Group.

Microsoft's new CEO, Nadella, shoulders the responsibility of reform. Zhang Yaqin, a former minister who has been deeply involved in China's business management, may be forced to make changes. In addition, with the current progress of Microsoft's transformation and Microsoft's corporate structure, China's local technology development team will not be given more resources for a period of time. Therefore, the space of Microsoft Asia Pacific R&D Group, which Zhang Yaqin is in charge of, is very limited. After the Windows Azure cloud service was launched in China, there was really nothing in the business that could make Zhang Yaqin feel excited.

Li Yi said that Zhang Yaqin, who came out of Microsoft's prosperous world, may not be able to identify and adapt to the price that Microsoft has to pay during the transition period. For Zhang Yaqin, Baidu is the best choice.

Li Yanhong's olive branch

The combination of Zhang Yaqin and Baidu is regarded as the best match in the industry. Baidu is the best choice for Zhang Yaqin to change jobs, and Zhang Yaqin can bring more technical advantages to Baidu.

When Microsoft turned Zhang Yaqin into a "chicken rib", Li Yanhong, a Shanxi fellow who was two years younger than him, threw an olive branch at the right time, giving a position as vice president, responsible for emerging business. On September 10, Zhang Yaqin took office.

The industry generally believes that for Zhang Yaqin and Baidu, this is "the combination of heaven and earth."

Li Yi said that Zhang Yaqin's character is not suitable for entrepreneurship, and he does not have enough strength to do it like Kai-fu Lee. The government and the rich are set up separately as incubators, so it is best to quit to a big company.

For Zhang Yaqin, other multinational Internet companies are not large in China, and there is no similar level of opportunity. Baidu, which is technologically competitive, will undoubtedly maximize its value.

For Baidu, Zhang Yaqin is also a good choice.

To some extent, Baidu and Microsoft are somewhat similar, and they are relatively backward in the transformation of the mobile Internet. In the future, the value of search engines will gradually become smaller, and the products themselves can be searched. For example, the social network tool can be searched, and the e-commerce tool can also search, and some information can only be searched on these tools, but not on the search engine.

"In the desktop era, people spend three hours a day on search engines, and now only 1.5 hours. This means that if the situation is not reversed, Baidu's traffic will decline and value will fall in the future." Li Yi said.

So what does Baidu need from Zhang Yaqin?

First, although Baidu has 14 mobile Internet products through mergers and acquisitions, there is no social platform that can integrate all products and achieve greater breakthroughs in the development of users and possession of the market. Zhang Yaqin's appeal to scientific research talents will help Baidu attract more R&D talents and expand its technological advantages. Microsoft China R&D Group will help Baidu to integrate product lines as soon as possible from basic research to product development, industry cooperation models, experiences and contacts.

Secondly, Li Yanhong’s expectation for Baidu is technology-oriented. When Zhang Yaqin was at Microsoft, he studied artificial intelligence, voice-based, and image-based search methods, which may be the breakthrough of search engines in the mobile Internet era. .

In addition, Li Yanhong may also expect Zhang Yaqin to help Baidu store more future technologies, so that Baidu will not fall behind in the next wave of reforms. And this is Zhang Yaqin's work at Microsoft Asia Pacific R&D Group – working for the day after tomorrow, understanding trends, developing technology, and ensuring that it is always in the lead.

Therefore, when he took office in Baidu last week, Zhang Yaqin said that he was very excited to join Baidu in the key turning point of the Internet industry. Baidu has a great vision and development enthusiasm, actively deploying in the cutting-edge technological fields that change the Internet, and continuously increase research and development. Invest. “I have a shared vision with Baidu and look forward to being a part of this team.”

Li Yanhong, Chairman and CEO of Baidu, said, “I am very pleased that Dr. Zhang Yaqin has joined our senior management team. Dr. Zhang Yaqin has deep technical know-how and rich business experience, which will make valuable contributions to our new business.”

Values ​​are the sort of choice. The cost of choice is what gives up the maximum value. From this perspective, Zhang Yaqin's choice will not be worse than before.

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