Huatai Securities discusses AI throughout the earnings conference: AI will reshape the industry with unstoppable momentum

Ask AI · Why does Zhou Yi of the Book of Changes assert that traditional securities firms will be completely destroyed by AI?

Cailian Press, April 4th (Reporter Wang Yuling) Recently, Huatai Securities held its 2025 annual performance release conference. Huatai Securities CEO Zhou Yi dedicated most of his speech to “Artificial Intelligence (AI).”

In his speech, Zhou Yi used very frank and even strongly crisis-aware language to convey Huatai Securities’ resolute attitude in fully establishing the “All in AI” strategy. He straightforwardly stated that, in the face of the surging AI wave, the IT moat built with hundreds of millions of yuan in investment will no longer exist, “Traditional securities companies will be completely destroyed by AI. Huatai can only survive by daring to change itself.”

Recently, Huatai Securities reorganized its corporate structure, renaming the Digital Operations Department to the AI Innovation and Development Department. “Later, you will see the overall changes in our business architecture, organizational structure, and business culture in the AI era,” Zhou Yi said.

Below is a summary of Zhou Yi’s core points regarding AI strategic deployment at the performance conference:

Discussing Strategic Crisis: Traditional securities firms will be completely destroyed by AI

Zhou Yi frankly admitted that he spent the entire 2025 in anxiety. “Huatai Securities began large-scale IT investments in 2018 and fully digitalized in 2019. We once thought that years of high-intensity investment would form a moat, at least for many brokerages. But I now realize, if Huatai does not proactively embrace the AI era, the wall will collapse, and the moat will disappear,” Zhou Yi said.

He asked the company’s CIO where Huatai’s technological moat lies in the AI era. “If our technological system within a year, including the AI foundation, scenario transformation, and chain reshaping, involves an annual capital input of 10 billion yuan, what will Huatai look like? How will the industry change? If we invest 30 billion yuan annually, what will the industry look like? I believe Huatai will not be the same Huatai today. By then, we can say Huatai is a tech company in the capital market and securities trading scene, no longer just a securities firm.”

“It’s an indisputable fact that traditional securities companies will be completely destroyed by AI,” he emphasized.

He believes that Huatai Securities can only survive in the future by daring to change itself. “There is only one way: the entire business system and all employees wholeheartedly embrace AI, using the most advanced science and technology to enhance our capabilities, improve clients’ sense of gain and understanding, and create value for the real economy and clients. In all business chains, we hope to be reborn, allowing clients to gain more during their battles in the capital market, providing more professional services to enterprises and small to micro clients in the market, thereby enhancing our own value,” Zhou Yi said.

Discussing organizational evolution: “Digital Operations Department” renamed to “AI Innovation and Development Department”

The reconstruction of technology inevitably brings about major organizational changes. Recently, Huatai Securities reorganized its structure, renaming the Digital Operations Department, established in 2019, to the AI Innovation and Development Department.

Zhou Yi stated that this is not just a name change, but a change in the entire organizational structure system to adapt to the agile development of the AI era.

In the Q&A session, he directly addressed the pain point of “big company syndrome,” pointing out that the previous organizational structure of brokerages heavily relied on teams of dozens of people, but in the AI era, these boundaries will be infinitely broken.

“One person plus a series of AI tools can solve what previously required 10, 100, or even 1,000 people. Our original business development, starting with retail, has been platform-based, forming a closed loop through the consumer-facing Wealth Management APP and the advisor-oriented Aorta platform, providing professional services to thousands of advisors and millions of investors. Based on this, one advisor might serve 10, 20, 50, or 100 clients,” Zhou Yi explained. “Big does not necessarily mean strong, but AI provides Huatai with a leverage point to break traditional paths.”

Discussing C-end transformation: Rebuilding “AI Zangle,” bringing “tech equality” to 200 million retail investors

As Huatai Securities’ flagship retail product, Zangle Wealth Management APP once led the mobile internet era. But in the AI era, Huatai Securities chose self-revolution.

Zhou Yi said that Huatai Securities officially launched the native “AI Zangle” for the C-end in October 2025, and released version 1.0 in January 2026. He emphasized that this is not just adding AI functions on top of the existing APP, but reconstructing all business systems, focusing on core scenarios, providing buy/sell decision support for retail investors, and offering a complete intelligent closed loop from information acquisition to trade execution.

“In 2009, we changed our own fate, enabling Huatai’s retail business system to adapt to the trend of the times, leading the industry under technological drive. From the first Zangle in 2009 to Zangle Wealth Management in 2013, we spent four years leading the entire market and industry along the mobile internet path. I believe AI Zangle can lead the entire market and industry change, and it won’t take four years because the times are different. AI will reshape the industry with unstoppable momentum,” Zhou Yi said.

He hopes to provide a completely open platform for the 200 million investors in the market, not just Huatai clients using transaction-based large models. “Any client, whether they open an account at Huatai or not, we offer a one-stop, fully closed, open AI foundation ecosystem, providing 200 million ordinary investors with the ability to enhance their market fighting capacity and access professional knowledge through technological equality,” he said.

Discussing the core of institutions and investment banking: “Second-level iteration” to reshape core pricing power

In 2025, Huatai Securities, focusing on new energy vehicles, intelligent driving, and innovative drugs, connected all related systems upstream and downstream, building a highly detailed “industry map.” Relying on a powerful industry database and AI technology, this foundation can achieve “second-level refresh and iteration” of industry data in seconds.

“In 2026, based on all industry directories, industry systems, and capital market elements, we will draw a panoramic view of the entire market. Meanwhile, AI Zangle will continuously iterate to meet the evolving needs of C-end clients, enhancing our full-chain AI-driven intelligent research system, providing the technological and knowledge foundation for various business segments,” Zhou Yi explained.

Zhou Yi said, “This foundation is unique to our investment bank and cannot be matched by any other company (including Doubao, Tencent Cloud, Alibaba Qianwen, etc.). It can provide a clear picture of industry development trends and industry cognition, ultimately forming pricing logic and pricing foundation. This is the lifeline of securities firms, allowing them to safeguard their “grain fields” in the AI era, build moats, and embed professional capabilities into service systems for various clients. This is our fundamental.”

In the future, investment bankers will only need to “carry a backpack and have Wi