Last year's revenue was 5.56 billion yuan, Zhang Jianguo from Renrui Talent: AI is an opportunity rather than a crisis

Ask AI · Under the wave of AI, how can Ruitai talents turn low-skill substitution into new opportunities?

Reporter Gao Jianghong, 21st Century Business Herald

Today, as the AI wave sweeps everything, will people lose their jobs because of it?

“AI replaces low-skill, repetitive jobs, not the entire labor demand.” On March 31, after accepting an interview with reporters following Ruitai Talent CEO Zhang Jianguo’s 2025 annual performance release, he said that AI’s reshaping of the employment market is not an industry crisis, but a major opportunity to accurately match supply and demand. He believes that, along with the wave of Chinese companies going global, the internationalized layout of human resources services will become the industry’s core track.

According to data disclosed in its financial report, Ruitai Talent achieved approximately RMB 5.561 billion in revenue for full-year 2025, a year-on-year increase of 22.8%; net profit attributable to shareholders was approximately RMB 87.6 million, turning from loss to profit. Among them, international business revenue was approximately RMB 76.8 million, a year-on-year increase of approximately 291.8%.

Restructuring the employment ecosystem—replacement and new growth go hand in hand

At present, large-model technology is accelerating its deployment. The “AI lobster” trend represented by OpenClaw has sparked a nationwide “lobster-raising” craze. These AI agents that can call tools and execute tasks autonomously are becoming digital employees, bringing office automation and process intelligence into practical use. Job duties in translation, screenwriting, and basic clerical work are being gradually replaced by them, and the deep changes to traditional employment models have become a topic of heated discussion in the market.

Facing this new industry shift triggered by “AI lobster,” Zhang Jianguo believes that AI’s structural impact on the labor market has already become tangible. In particular, for standardized, repetitive work that “AI lobster” is good at, the replacement trend for related job roles is irreversible. But this is not a “crisis” for the human resources industry—instead, it creates new market demand that fits the AI era, bringing new opportunities amid dynamic industry adjustment.

According to company research data, the talent gap in China’s domestic digital technology field is about 10 million. This “gap” shows up not only in numbers, but also in quality—some job seekers may indicate that they have AI-related experience, but there is still a gap between their actual operational capabilities and what enterprises need. Zhang Jianguo said that the core opportunity for the human resources industry lies in addressing this “mismatch of supply and demand,” rather than in simply transferring personnel.

Based on this judgment, Ruitai Talent’s AI strategy has always centered on “accurate matching of supply and demand.” Its in-house digital talent platform Wancode Youcai, refined over nearly three years, has upgraded from traditional keyword matching to multi-dimensional, three-dimensional matching. Through bidirectional matching of talent capability profiles and enterprise demand tags, it improves recruitment efficiency and accuracy. Zhang Jianguo disclosed that in 2026 the company will further increase technological investment in Wancode Youcai. On the one hand, it will optimize the AI adaptation capability in recruitment scenarios; on the other hand, it will extend platform functions into the area of vocational training. For the skill transformation needs of traditional role practitioners in the AI era, it will launch “customized learning plans,” providing targeted training for job seekers based on enterprises’ talent gaps.

In addition to front-end talent matching, AI technology is also applied to the company’s internal operational processes. Zhang Jianguo mentioned that by optimizing internal steps such as recruitment screening and personnel management with AI, operational efficiency can be effectively improved and service costs reduced. “The core of development in the human resources industry is adapting to changes in the market. AI is not replacing the industry; it is forcing us to improve the professionalism and fine-grained level of our services.” He added that although some industries have seen performance fluctuations due to the impact of AI, the human resources industry as a whole still maintains growth in the double digits. The industry’s ability to dynamically adapt will determine the upper limit of its development in the intelligent era.

Therefore, despite the controversy in society surrounding “AI replacing labor,” Zhang Jianguo believes that “AI replaces low-skill, repetitive jobs, not the entire labor demand. During the phase when companies invest in AI technology, demand for high-end technical talents and go-live operation talents will actually increase. That is precisely our business growth point.”

Internationalization accelerates, binding with overseas-bound Chinese enterprises

In 2025, Ruitai Talent’s explosive growth in international business is deeply tied to the wave of Chinese enterprises going global. Zhang Jianguo analyzed that Chinese enterprises going global have expanded from early civil engineering and manufacturing into fields such as e-commerce and technology. At different stages, overseas enterprises have notably different needs regarding local employment compliance and personnel management. “Overseas enterprises face pain points such as cultural differences, unfamiliarity with laws and policies, and difficulty in recruiting local talent. Human resources companies that have both domestic service experience and overseas local implementation capabilities have a competitive advantage.”

To this end, Ruitai Talent adopts an international layout model of “where the customer goes, the service follows.” It quickly builds service teams in countries including the UK, Germany, and Brazil, providing end-to-end services such as personnel recruitment, outsourcing, and work permit processing. At present, the company has established subsidiaries in 24 countries and regions worldwide.

Ruitai Talent’s CFO Li Wenjia added that in 2025 the company invested approximately RMB 20 million in overseas markets, mainly for building overseas teams. Practice in markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East shows that after a team is established, it can quickly achieve contract signings, verifying the feasibility of this model.

However, internationalization also faces real-world challenges. Zhang Jianguo admitted that labor markets in developed countries such as Europe and Japan are highly standardized, and employment compliance requirements are strict, which places higher demands on a company’s ability to understand policies and the compliance of its services. “The gross profit in overseas markets is indeed higher than in China, but the prerequisite is that you must fully grasp local policies and carry out business under the premise of compliance; otherwise, it is very easy to run into compliance risks.”

At present, Ruitai Talent’s overseas business is still mainly serving Chinese enterprises going abroad. Li Wenjia said that in the future, it will gradually expand the local customer base, but that requires time to build local market reputation and service capability. Regarding future plans for international growth, Zhang Jianguo made it clear that in 2026–2027 overseas business will maintain rapid growth, while also focusing on growth quality. It will prioritize markets such as Southeast Asia, Europe, and Japan, balancing expansion costs and profit space, and will offset pressures on the domestic gross margin through the high-gross-margin characteristics of overseas business.

In addition, to improve the overseas service ecosystem, in early 2026 Ruitai Talent will acquire the Hong Kong-licensed insurance brokerage company Zhicheng Wealth, extending its business into overseas insurance coverage. Zhang Jianguo explained that employees of overseas enterprises face risks such as business travel and workplace safety. International insurance products are often unable to meet individualized needs. By combining human resources services, the company can customize insurance plans for overseas enterprises. This line of business will become an important supplement to Ruitai Talent’s overseas business in 2026.