Trends & Emerging Technology

Rethinking Workflows in the AI Era: Dozens of People May Do What Once Required Thousands

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Quotation plus Robin’s commentary (Wang Xing quotation, sourced by the “Wang Xing’s Management Diary” tag)

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Collected in Robin Shen’s Field Notes · Content type and attribution are shown above

English translation of the Chinese post originally published 2023-05-10. Translated 2026-10-31 with AI assistance. Historical figures and claims have not been updated or independently verified. 中文原文

Reading guide

The post first quotes Wang Xing: a company’s starting point is not watching competitors but focusing on customers and creating value for them. A company can exist only if customers are willing to pay. Robin then adds that the internet has produced many new services, and now the AI moment has arrived. He expects many existing workflows to be disrupted or reinvented. Services that once required hundreds or thousands of people may become possible with a few dozen or ten-plus people. They are worth reimagining and doing over again. This is Robin’s expectation as of May 2023.

Key points

  • Quotation: Wang Xing emphasizes customer focus; creating value is the foundation of a company’s existence.
  • Robin expects AI to disrupt many existing workflows.
  • Small teams may do what once required thousands or tens of thousands of people.
  • Many things are worth reimagining and doing over again; Robin’s expectation as of 2023.
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Full text — English translation

The ultimate purpose of running a business is to create value for customers. Wang Xing: “Our starting point is not watching our peers or competitors. At Meituan, we repeatedly emphasize being customer-centered. This is not an empty slogan. Ultimately, you must create value for customers. Only when customers are willing to pay you, directly or indirectly, can the company exist, create commercial value, and eventually deliver returns to shareholders. “There is so much to do on the internet today. If you can choose a particular angle and help people do something a little better through the internet or their phones, you are creating value.” #WangXingManagementDiary --- Robin: “Over the past decade and more, the internet has brought forth a proliferation of applications and services. Now the AI moment has arrived, and many new use cases will be created or existing ones changed. Services or products that once required hundreds or thousands of people to make viable may work very differently in the AI era. I expect many existing workflows to be disrupted or reinvented. A few dozen, or even ten-plus, people may be able to do what once took thousands or tens of thousands. We can reimagine many things, rethink them, and do them over again. The future still holds many possibilities.”

These articles are personal notes, book excerpts, and collected reprints. Figures and events reflect the time of the original publication, are not current information, and do not constitute investment advice.

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