Ant Group Restructures Core Units to Accelerate AI Agent Commercialization
Ant Group CEO Han Xinyi announced the merger of the Alipay Business Group, Digital Payment Business Group, and Zhima Credit Business Department into a single, unified Alipay Business Group. Wu Minzhi, currently Ant Group's Chief People Officer and a former senior Alibaba executive, has been appointed president of the newly formed group to drive AI agent commercialization. The reorganization signals how major consumer platforms are restructuring their operations to pivot toward generative AI and automated AI agents. By combining payments, credit, and consumer services, Ant Group aims to transform Alipay from a traditional mobile payment app into an AI-driven ecosystem for both consumers and merchants. The consolidated business group will focus on expanding Alipay's AI personal assistant, 'A Bao,' which has upgraded over 10,000 services across mobile, automotive, and wearable devices. The platform has already facilitated over 300 million AI-powered transactions alongside the rapid offline rollout of its NFC-based 'Touch to Pay' (碰一下) payment feature.
## BACKGROUND
Ant Group is the fintech affiliate of Alibaba Group and the operator of Alipay, one of China's dominant digital payment platforms. An AI agent is an autonomous software entity capable of executing complex, multi-step tasks on behalf of users. Alipay previously launched its conversational AI assistant 'A Bao' to replace traditional menu navigation with natural language commands for everyday services like ride-hailing and bill payments.