ByteDance Restructures AI Business, Merging Lark and Doubao Teams
On July 30th, ByteDance initiated organizational adjustments focused on its artificial intelligence business. The product teams for Lark (Feishu) and Doubao are being integrated to form a new Doubao product team. Zhao Qi, the head of Doubao, will lead this combined entity, with Xie Xin, the current head of Lark, reporting to Zhao Qi. In terms of go-to-market (GTM) functions, the Lark GTM team will merge with the Volcano Engine team. This consolidation will create a new B2B GTM organization named the 'Creativity Service Platform.' This platform will be responsible for the marketing, sales, and customer service of ByteDance's cloud services, including its MaaS (Model-as-a-Service) and SaaS offerings. Tan Dai, the head of Volcano Engine, will oversee the Creativity Service Platform. Lin Chan, head of Lark sales, and Shi Zhijun, head of Lark strategy and marketing, will report to Tan Dai.
This restructuring by ByteDance signals a strategic pivot to consolidate its AI development and go-to-market efforts, aiming to streamline operations and accelerate the integration of its AI products. By merging the Lark and Doubao product teams under a single leadership, the company seeks to foster greater synergy in AI model development and application. The integration of GTM functions for Lark and Volcano Engine into a unified 'Creativity Service Platform' suggests a move towards a more cohesive cloud service offering, leveraging existing enterprise solutions to drive adoption of its AI-powered MaaS and SaaS products. This consolidation could enhance competitive positioning in the rapidly evolving AI landscape, but success will depend on effective cross-team collaboration and the ability to clearly articulate the value proposition of the integrated platform to enterprise clients.
AI-generated to prompt reflection — not editorial opinion, not advice, not a statement of fact. How this works.