The Breakthrough Strategy of Tencent Cloud

Author | Huang Yu

Editor | Wang Xiaojun

In the context of global changes, enterprises like Tencent Cloud must work together with businesses to find a way out.

On April 18, at the Tencent Cloud Chengdu Summit, Li Qiang, Vice President of Tencent Group and President of Government and Enterprise Business, stated that the global economic downturn, accelerated supply chain restructuring, and intensified industry competition continue to exacerbate uncertainty. The three engines of large models, going overseas, and independent innovation will be key for enterprises to break through in uncertain environments.

"Only by finding certainty in uncertainty can we build core competitiveness, navigate through cycles, and achieve counter-cyclical growth," Li Qiang said.

Since last year, Tencent Cloud has clearly stated that it will focus on AI, going overseas, and independent innovation as the main channels for seeking growth. Clearly, even with the increasing uncertainty in the external environment, Tencent Cloud remains steadfast in advancing along these three main channels.

AI is undoubtedly the top priority for Tencent Cloud's current development.

Li Qiang pointed out that as large models penetrate industrial scenarios, AI will become the core engine and the biggest variable in reshaping business models and supporting enterprises' intelligent transformation.

A report from Roland Berger estimates that with the full application of technology, artificial intelligence is expected to reduce operational costs across various industries in China through model transformation, with the amount expected to reach 3.7 trillion yuan. Another survey shows that leading enterprises can achieve a return of 4 dollars for every 1 dollar invested.

To meet the demand for building AI applications, Tencent Cloud has established a full-chain AI native service system. For example, the Tencent Cloud large model knowledge engine can provide users with flexible atomic capabilities and diverse application development models, helping enterprises build efficient knowledge management systems.

At the model tool level, the Tencent Cloud TI platform can also provide developers with one-stop services, covering everything from data acquisition, processing, model training to evaluation and deployment, achieving efficient fine-tuning and inference of mainstream models (such as Mix Yuan, DeepSeek, Llama, etc.).

According to Wang Qi, Vice President of Tencent Cloud and Head of Tencent Cloud Intelligent Solutions, "Large model + knowledge base" is the best path for enterprises to implement AI applications. Through AI native products like the large model knowledge engine, Tencent Cloud can build customized enterprise knowledge applications for various industries, helping users reduce costs and increase efficiency, thereby enhancing value.

Today, Tencent Cloud not only needs to excel in AI-related businesses aimed at B-end enterprises but also needs to provide better AI products for C-end users. It is worth noting that to further enhance organizational collaboration efficiency, Tencent has adjusted its AI products and applications, such as Tencent Yuanbao, QQ Browser, Sogou Input Method, and ima, to Tencent Cloud this year.

Wang Qian, Vice President of Tencent Cloud, stated that Tencent Cloud essentially serves as an interface, providing comprehensive services to society, enterprises, and individual developers through this interface, which is part of Tencent's overall strategy.

In addition to AI, Tencent Cloud is also prioritizing going overseas as an important strategy and is accelerating the construction of overseas infrastructure Li Qiang stated that under the new tariff game, enterprises going overseas face greater challenges in terms of security compliance and localization service capabilities. The essence of globalization is localization. This year, Tencent will continue to increase its overseas investment, planning to invest $150 million in the Middle East and establish its first data center in Saudi Arabia; it plans to invest $500 million in Indonesia to build its third data center there.

Recently, Tencent also announced the construction of a new availability zone in Osaka, Japan, which will be Tencent Cloud's third data center in Japan, following two major availability zones in Tokyo. At the same time, Tencent will also establish a new office in Osaka.

In Li Qiang's view, the constant obstacles and noise of "de-globalization" make it a core issue for Chinese enterprises going overseas to find the best path for globalization under the new trade landscape. Data shows that today, 50% of Chinese listed companies have business layouts overseas, and this proportion will further increase.

Since 2016, Tencent Cloud has been focusing on the overseas market and has now built cloud infrastructure covering 21 regions across five continents, operating 56 availability zones, with over 3,200 global acceleration nodes and a bandwidth reserve of 200T.

Last year, Tencent Cloud also disclosed its first panoramic view of overseas expansion covering seven major scenarios.

Specifically, Tencent Cloud's digital solutions for enterprises going overseas include cloud-native, audio and video, edge acceleration, big data and databases, security and compliance, and other technical and product capabilities, covering global practices in seven major industries: gaming, social entertainment, cross-border e-commerce, consumer electronics, fintech, online education, and automotive travel.

In the past three years, Tencent Cloud's international business has maintained double-digit high-speed growth, serving over 10,000 overseas customers across more than 80 countries and regions, and is becoming a new growth engine for Tencent Cloud.

Li Qiang pointed out that Tencent Cloud will continue to increase the construction of global infrastructure and channel ecosystems, actively recruit local and regional partners, and jointly explore new opportunities.

In the current market, opportunities and challenges coexist, and Tencent Cloud is fully operational