BeijingMay 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Greater Bay Area is accelerating its transformation from a “manufacturing base” to an “international center for technological innovation.” For corporate executives, the most pressing question is no longer “Should we use AI?” but rather “How should we use it? And once we do, where are the results?”
Shi Shi, Chief Reporter of Southern Finance; Zhang Xinyi, Partner of IBM Consulting Greater China and General Manager of Greater Bay Area Consulting Services; Hu Yi, Partner of IBM Consulting China Enterprise Systems Business Unit
After completing digital process reengineering, many enterprises find themselves trapped in a dilemma of “having data but lacking algorithms; having computing power but lacking scenarios.” Meanwhile, industrial expansion overseas is evolving from “selling products” to “building global supply chains,” but supporting systems for talent, processes, and compliance lack systematic backing, becoming new bottlenecks.
In this episode of “Turning Ideas into Gold — The Chief Committee Office,” Shi Shi, Chief Reporter of Southern Finance, engages in a dialogue with Zhang Xinyi, Partner of IBM Consulting Greater China and General Manager of Greater Bay Area Consulting Services, and Hu Yi, Partner of IBM Consulting China Enterprise Systems Business Unit. Drawing on IBM’s over 25 years of practical experience in the Greater Bay Area, the two experts address key issues head-on, offer directions for breakthroughs, and provide an in-depth interpretation of the industrial development opportunities in the Greater Bay Area during the AI era, along with the driving forces behind them. This article is compiled based on the interview, and the use of related content has been authorized.
I. From “Raising Crayfish” to Using Technology to “Cultivate” Profits — Making the Greater Bay Area an AI Innovation Hub
Southern Finance: Recently, a software called “Crayfish” has become very popular. Are you two also “raising” it?
Zhang Xinyi: From last year’s DeepSeek to the Seedance 2.0 launched just before this year’s Spring Festival, AI applications in video production have been continuously delivering new experiences. Recently, the “Crayfish” software has garnered significant attention. Last weekend, Shenzhen’s government affairs department attempted “Government Crayfish,” intuitively demonstrating that the Greater Bay Area not only keeps pace with AI development trends but can also quickly implement technology into practical application scenarios.
Hu Yi: The Greater Bay Area can become an AI hub because it possesses all three elements: data, computing power, and algorithms. Industries such as manufacturing, finance, and consumer goods have accumulated vast amounts of data, the industrial chain has yielded rich algorithmic achievements, and combined with various large-scale computing models, the synergy of these three forces is highly explosive.
Southern Finance: In the era of digital transformation, what was the core reason the Greater Bay Area attracted IBM? Why did you bet on this region?
Zhang Xinyi: IBM has been deeply rooted in the Greater Bay Area for over 25 years, serving hundreds of industry clients. Many of these enterprises are now leaders with revenues in the hundreds of billions, yet when they first collaborated with IBM 20 years ago, their annual revenue was only 300 to 400 million. Starting from basic informatization and digitalization initiatives, IBM has accompanied these enterprises in their growth.
This journey fully demonstrates that entrepreneurs in the Greater Bay Area possess a strong strategic awareness of digitalization — they have never viewed digitalization merely as a tool, system, or platform, but have deeply integrated it with their overall corporate strategy and future management. More importantly, they regard cooperation with IBM Consulting and digital practices as a “refinery” for cultivating corporate culture and nurturing professional talent.
Hu Yi: Different eras have different focal points, and entrepreneurs face corresponding anxieties and challenges of their time. During the past phases of informatization and digitalization, the core anxiety for entrepreneurs was how to effectively execute digital construction and transformation. Now, in the AI era, the primary concern for entrepreneurs in the Greater Bay Area is how to leverage AI to empower employees and enhance production efficiency.
As a globally leading AI enterprise, IBM is committed to solving this core challenge. Internally, the company implements the “Client Zero” model, applying technical tools such as computing power, algorithms, and AI models to solve its own problems. For example, IBM’s intelligent tool AskHR can be understood as a smart dialog box. Employees can interact with it to quickly obtain guidance on various HR processes, such as onboarding and offboarding. IBM is actively promoting these mature applications, validated through internal practice, to clients in the Greater Bay Area.
Southern Finance: Can IBM’s “Client Zero” practice model be replicated in traditional industries like finance and manufacturing?
Hu Yi: The underlying logic of this model is common across industries. IBM started in manufacturing and transformed into the software and consulting services company it is today. We apply technical tools across our entire process, including HR, IT, and procurement, covering multiple business segments like manufacturing, software, and consulting. Human resources and process management are precisely common needs across all industries. Therefore, these validated technical tools, computing power, algorithms, models, and even mindsets can be fully adapted to different industries such as finance, manufacturing, and shipping.
Zhang Xinyi: As enterprises scale from billions to tens or hundreds of billions, leveraging AI to improve service levels and reduce service costs becomes a core need, which is also the primary driving force for enterprises to deploy AI. Additionally, enterprises in the Greater Bay Area, leveraging the cross-border synergy advantages of Guangdong and Hong Kong, use Hong Kong as a bridgehead for overseas expansion and a supplementary funding channel. It is not uncommon for enterprises to achieve dual listings on A-shares and H-shares.
Currently, enterprise overseas expansion has evolved from simple product sales and channel building to the overall layout of global supply chains, which imposes new requirements on supply chain management, finance, and global HR services.
IBM primarily empowers enterprises in AI implementation through two methods:
First, relying on BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) services. For example, IBM has shared service centers in regions like Africa, South America, and Europe, providing managed services such as local talent recruitment, process management, and financial management for enterprises going overseas;
Second, for enterprises in the Greater Bay Area with a solid informatization foundation (these enterprises often started building information systems with IBM when their revenues were in the hundreds of millions), we use AI agents to optimize task orchestration and upgrade business algorithm logic within their existing digital systems, thereby improving operational efficiency and cost control.
II. After “Physical” Proximity, the Real Gap Lies in “Delivery” — The “Hybrid Delivery Model” Builds Deep Cross-Border Synergy
Southern Finance: Cross-border synergy is a unique advantage of the Greater Bay Area. What does it mean for the globalization and digitalization of enterprises?
Zhang Xinyi: Hong Kong is an important supplementary funding channel and a bridgehead for overseas expansion for Greater Bay Area enterprises. At the same time, many core Hong Kong enterprises, such as airlines, financial institutions, and insurance companies, also place great importance on the mainland market. Take a Hong Kong airline we have served for over a decade as an example. It has offices in both Shenzhen and Guangzhou. IBM’s Shenzhen office is in the same park as this airline’s Shenzhen office, and it’s only a 40-minute drive to its Hong Kong headquarters. This significantly shortens the service distance between both parties, making the entire business chain from idea generation to problem-solving and implementation more efficient. IBM’s service model for enterprises has also evolved from traditional offshore services to nearshore and even on-site services, facilitating talent mobility and cross-border business collaboration between the two sides.
In helping Hong Kong enterprises explore the mainland market, IBM possesses deep insights into mainland market policies, processes, and service standards. Moreover, it can leverage the mainland’s vast talent pool and the professional, hardworking spirit of its engineering teams to provide solid technical and talent support for Hong Kong enterprises. This is a typical practice of cross-border synergy.
Hu Yi: From talent exchange to industrial cooperation, cross-border synergy in the Greater Bay Area has been fully realized across different dimensions. For IBM, we can help Hong Kong clients connect with the strong manufacturing resources in Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou, and other cities. The powerful supply chain and manufacturing capabilities of the Greater Bay Area enable rapid implementation from concept to sample prototyping. At the same time, IBM leverages Shenzhen’s resources to undertake and deliver Hong Kong projects, helping clients significantly save various resource costs.
Southern Finance: We’ve talked a lot about how mainland cities support Hong Kong clients. Are there examples of supporting mainland clients?
Zhang Xinyi: IBM has hundreds of professional consultants in the Greater Bay Area, many of whom graduated from Hong Kong universities or prestigious overseas institutions. This team possesses excellent language skills and an open market perspective, providing comprehensive support for Greater Bay Area enterprises going overseas.
For example, we served a Guangzhou-based company whose business focuses on the African market. IBM consultants from China accompanied the client to Africa, working alongside IBM’s local consultants to help the company establish local distribution networks and channel systems, formulate business rules, and build supporting systems. This effort relied on the team’s language skills, open-mindedness, extensive consulting experience, and comprehensive knowledge base — unique advantages of IBM’s Greater Bay Area consulting service talent.
Hu Yi: There are indeed many such cases. In the early stages of going overseas, Greater Bay Area enterprises often feel completely in the dark. Leveraging its global presence, IBM can provide enterprises with mature resources like talent sharing and AI tools, allowing them to avoid redundant construction and directly utilize existing resources. IBM has already helped many Greater Bay Area enterprises go overseas, covering not only business development, channel building, dealer sourcing, and product distribution but also supporting enterprises in setting up overseas factories and local supply chains, effectively empowering their overseas localization operations.
Zhang Xinyi: Let me add another case. We have a Greater Bay Area client planning to build a factory and set up a supply chain in Brazil. IBM formed a multi-party joint team to assist throughout the process. Even during last year’s Spring Festival, the consultant team remained stationed in Brazil, advancing the factory construction, supply chain setup, and the implementation of supporting systems. IBM’s professional talent system, global layout, and international collaboration capabilities provide solid support for Greater Bay Area enterprises to deepen their overseas presence.
At the same time, we also specifically empower foreign enterprises with the “In China for China” development need. IBM’s Greater Bay Area service team can provide localized services, coordinating with US headquarters resources to achieve integrated, end-to-end service from headquarters to the region.
Southern Finance: Mentioning the “In China for China” strategy of multinational corporations, does this mean China is transitioning from the “world’s factory” to the “world’s market”?
Zhang Xinyi: For multinational corporations, the Chinese market will never be overlooked. Many multinationals have set up their headquarters in the Greater Bay Area, covering sectors like daily chemicals and retail. Looking at their development over the past two to three years, some retail enterprises have even achieved double-digit growth, and daily chemical companies quickly recovered to high single-digit growth after the pandemic. These companies continue to increase investment in China, deploying in areas like AI and digitalization, and deeply integrating this with their global headquarters’ strategies, fully confirming the importance of the Chinese market.
Hu Yi: Over the past 40-plus years of reform and opening up, the development logic of foreign enterprises in China has shifted. In the first two to three decades, foreign enterprises focused on China’s strong production capacity, supply chain efficiency, and cost advantages. In the last two decades, they have increasingly valued China’s massive consumer market. As a representative multinational, IBM has also completed its transformation from an “import-oriented” development model to helping Chinese enterprises go overseas.
Leveraging global resources, IBM helps clients build channels, enhance R&D capabilities, assist in setting up overseas factories and supply chains, and empowers clients through global shared centers and AI capabilities. Currently, the Chinese market is maturing and becoming a red ocean. We need to help local enterprises go overseas and expand their global business.
III. The Leap of the Low-Key and Pragmatic — Greater Bay Area Enterprises Use the ‘Daring to Venture, Courageous to Innovate’ Spirit to Support ‘High-End Positioning’
Southern Finance: The clients you two serve include foreign, private, and state-owned enterprises. Compared to enterprises in other regions of China, what characteristics do Greater Bay Area enterprises possess?
Hu Yi: Greater Bay Area enterprises mainly have two major characteristics. First, they are low-key and pragmatic, a distinct reflection of Lingnan culture. In business development, this manifests as a results-oriented approach in digital transformation and AI construction, emphasizing return on investment. Second, they are daring to venture and courageous to innovate. The Greater Bay Area is the forefront of reform and opening up, and its enterprises have outstanding innovation capabilities, leading the nation in industries like home appliances and new energy vehicles.
Zhang Xinyi: In addition to the above, Greater Bay Area enterprises also possess strong inclusiveness. Among the region’s over 80 million population, more than half are migrants. Shenzhen’s slogan “Once you come to Shenzhen, you are a Shenzhener” is the best proof. The pragmatism and resilience of the Hakka people, combined with the business acumen of the Teochew people, together shape the unique entrepreneurial culture of the Greater Bay Area. At the same time, Greater Bay Area enterprises are courageous in self-innovation. Cases of professional managers driving enterprise transformation and upgrading are common. This spirit of continuous change is worth learning from for enterprises nationwide.
Southern Finance: Guangdong Province has proposed the goal of “Creating a New Guangdong” by 2035. What development opportunities does the Greater Bay Area face in this process?
Zhang Xinyi: The dual drive of policy and industry is the core confidence for the Greater Bay Area’s development. On the policy front, national-level laboratories, Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao laboratories, and other research platforms have been established. Policies on technology talent, funding, and cross-border collaboration continue to intensify. The government demonstrates a strong service orientation, fully unleashing market vitality. On the industry front, innovation-driven growth is evident. Industries such as the low-altitude economy, embodied intelligence, new energy vehicles, and drones are flourishing. The civilian drone market share reaches 95%, and industrial drones account for 50%. Upstream and downstream industrial chains, including computing centers and data power supplies, are developing synergistically.
Looking at the actual performance of IBM’s client enterprises, all related companies have achieved good growth, providing a solid foundation for the goal of “Creating a New Guangdong.”
Hu Yi: In line with IBM’s development layout, we will seize opportunities from three aspects:
- First, continue to expand our talent pool by leveraging university resources in the Greater Bay Area to attract high-quality graduates;
- Second, leverage global resource advantages to help clients achieve connectivity within the Bay Area and globalization overseas, empowering operational capability building;
- Third, deepen cross-border cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, upgrade the shared center service model, and achieve IBM’s business growth as the client base in high-tech industries like embodied intelligent robots, the low-altitude economy, and new energy vehicles continues to expand.
Southern Finance: In the next five years, which industries in the Greater Bay Area are likely to see disruptive products or “little giant” enterprises?
Zhang Xinyi: The low-altitude economy and embodied intelligence are two industries that integrate AI software and hardware technologies and have rich application scenarios. Hong Kong’s biotechnology and fintech sectors will also see a surge of “little giant” enterprises.
Hu Yi: Every industry in the Greater Bay Area is developing rapidly. Applying new technologies in some interdisciplinary and cross-industry fields is expected to yield significant progress. For example, combining bioengineering with AI and computer bionics could shorten the R&D cycle for biomedicine; the integration of the new energy industry with emerging technologies will also generate new development possibilities.
Message
Southern Finance: Please offer a one-sentence message for the development of the Greater Bay Area.
Zhang Xinyi: “Innovation is key, carrying forward the past and opening up the future.”
We must take innovation as the core driving force, inherit the traditions and advantages of the Greater Bay Area, and adopt more agile collaboration and service models to help enterprises embrace the AI wave.
Hu Yi: “Seek truth and be pragmatic; win through innovation.”
Adhere to a pragmatic mindset and philosophy, solve development challenges through innovation, and IBM will continue to provide professional support to Greater Bay Area enterprises, jointly building a new future for development.
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