CEO SPECIAL ....Why Ma wants to score more than a century

Why Ma wants to score

 more than a century



The Alibaba founder on setting targets for a team, learning from mistakes -and fixing the roof while the sun is still shining

Jack Ma, founder of the Alibaba Group, knows a thing or two about the economic and politi cal forces shaping the world to day. And contrary to the global mood, the billionaire Chinese entrepreneur is a staunch believer of breaking down trade barriers.

Ma calls globalisation `a baby', which has been good so far, but “needs to be improved“ as it has been designed for and controlled by big corporates in the past two decades. “We shouldn't throw out the baby because the baby is cry i n g to o much -t h at 's a good thing,“ he said at the Gateway 2017 Summit in Detroit, US, last month. “If we cannot help local business go global, it's going to be a big problem,“ he added.

And Ma's ambitions for his company are equally global. Not willing to call his venture a winner till the turn of the next cen tury, the entrepreneur said he wanted his company to last for 102 years. “Our company was born in 1999. So, if we last for a 100 years, plus one in the next century, we cross three centuries. Every goal you give your team should be accurate,“ he told an audience of about 3,000 people.

And when he finally starts to pen down his autobiography, Ma said it won't be about his life, but the 1,001 mistakes he made while trying to get Alibaba up and running.

A flying start

Like most busy businessmen, Ma spends a lot of his time flyi n g a l l ove r t h e world. “Last year, I spent 870 hours flying to meet more than 40 government senior lead ers. This year, I'm going to fly more than 1,000 hours,“ he told the audience.

His goal: “[I'm trying] To convince people [world leaders] that globalisation is good. And to convince people free trade is good,“ he said. “You cannot stop globalisation . The world is getting smaller. I'm travelling, telling governments and state leaders to move fast. If they don't move fast, there is going to be trouble. When we see something is coming, we have to prepare now. You have to repair the roof, while there still is sunshine.“

Humans vs AI 

So in a future where humans will be pitted against machines, who does he think will win? “Humans. Machines are good with knowledge, but human beings are good with wisdom...Wisdom is about experience. I don't think AI can replace wisdom. It's going to be very smart though.

Smart people know what they want, but wise people know what they don't want.“

Work-life balance

“My grandfather worked for 16 hours a day. He thought he was very busy. We work eight hours a day for five days a week and we think we are very busy.

But in the next 30 years, people will work only for four hours a day and four days a week,“ he said during a televised interview on the sidelines of the summit.

Technology and World War III

“Every technological revolution will cause social instability. The first techno logical revolution caused World War I, second technological revolution caused World War II. This is the third technological revolution. It's going to be tough if we do not fight the same enemy -poverty, disease, environment. So we have to be sure, understand the future.“

sujata reddy

Jul 11 2017 : The Economic Times (Mumbai