PeopleofSuperintelligence

Lab leader

Jeff Jianfeng Zhang

Also known as 张建锋

Jeff Jianfeng Zhang is an Alibaba technology executive who has led the group's engineering, cloud and AI research work. He joined Alibaba in 2004, studied computer science at Zhejiang University and became group CTO in 2016. He was named head of DAMO Academy at its 2017 launch and took charge of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence in 2018. DAMO's plans included an AI inference chip called AliNPU in 2018 and a 2022 forecast on AI for science and large- and small-scale models. As of October 2026, he heads DAMO Academy.

Now at
Alibaba

Timeline

  1. 2004

    Joining Alibaba's engineering team

    He joins Alibaba in July 2004 and leads technology teams across Taobao Marketplace, B2C development, Alibaba.com China operations, local services, 1688.com and Tmall. He studies computer science at Zhejiang University.

  2. 2015

    President of China retail marketplaces

    In 2015, he serves as president of Alibaba Group's China Retail Marketplaces and describes Tmall Supermarket as drawing on the group's e-commerce ecosystem.

  3. April 2016–December 2019

    Alibaba Group chief technology officer

    He serves as Alibaba Group's chief technology officer from April 2016 to December 2019.

  4. October 2017

    Launching Alibaba DAMO Academy

    At DAMO Academy's launch in October 2017, Alibaba names him head of the research program. Its agenda includes machine learning, visual computing and natural language processing.

  5. September 2018

    Planning Alibaba's AliNPU chip

    At Alibaba's September 2018 Computing Conference, he speaks as group CTO about its work in cloud computing and artificial intelligence. DAMO Academy announces a self-developed AI inference chip called AliNPU.

  6. November 2018

    President of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence

    In November 2018, he takes charge of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence while serving as Alibaba Group's chief technology officer.

  7. January 2022

    DAMO's AI trends forecast

    In January 2022, DAMO Academy's outlook lists AI for science and the co-evolution of large- and small-scale AI models across clouds, edges and devices among its technology trends. Zhang heads the academy.

  8. As of October 2026

    Head of Alibaba DAMO Academy

    As of October 2026, he heads Alibaba DAMO Academy and is an Alibaba Partner.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Jeff Jianfeng Zhang yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Media Kits alibabacloud.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Tmall.com Promotes Same-Day Grocery Delivery in China alibabagroup.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. Alibaba Launches Global Research Program for Cutting-edge Technology Development alibabagroup.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. Alibaba Group will invest $15B into a new global research and development program techcrunch.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. Alibaba Lays Out Roadmap for Frontier Technology Research alibabagroup.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. Alibaba Restructures to Focus on Cloud Computing, With AWS in Its Sights yicaiglobal.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  7. Alibaba Unveils Forecast of Top 10 Leading Tech Trends alibabagroup.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  8. Alibaba Partnership home.alibabagroup.com. Checked 15 October 2026.