From Frontend to Low‑Code: Lessons on Embracing Change and Growing in Tech

Embracing Change, Moving Forward

Data Warehouse Product

When I first joined Ant, I worked on backend data analysis products, which sparked my interest in data products.

While rapidly learning frontend skills, I also researched external data products to improve data presentation, eventually developing the frontend for almost all data warehouse products alone.

Merchant Backend

In 2014, with the rise of wireless, I shifted to merchant backend development, focusing on PC backend forms and contributing to AntV and G2 projects.

Micro‑Loan

In 2015, the cumbersome client release process prompted the adoption of H5 offline packages, leading me to work on the Micro‑Loan line and deliver several key projects.

Ant Finance

In 2016, I joined Ant Finance, promoting the Chair BFF architecture and building a unified tracking framework for wireless frontends.

During this period, Ant's frontend ecosystem flourished with AntV, antd, Egg, and engineering tools, accelerating my technical and product thinking.

JiuSeLu

In 2017, I returned to the Experience Technology Department to develop the internal visual analysis platform “JiuSeLu”.

Identifying fragmented tracking systems, I created a unified tracking framework that became the primary data source for JiuSeLu.

Building products is rewarding; deep involvement reveals that many user needs differ from initial assumptions, requiring collaboration among users, product, design, and technology.

I handled most backend development and many frontend tasks for JiuSeLu while maintaining the unified tracking framework and learning data development.

Cloud Phoenix Butterfly

Since 2019, I have been working on intelligent development at Cloud Phoenix Butterfly, leading the second R&D team from 2021.

We pursued a data‑driven approach, creating an intelligent guide that generates APIs, UI, and logic code, with over 50% of code in Cloud Phoenix Butterfly applications produced by the AI engine.

Intelligent development lowers the entry barrier; more than half of users are non‑frontend developers.

Digital Horsepower

In 2022, I built the Ant Finance frontend team to expand low‑code and intelligent development across the organization, growing the team to over 100 engineers.

Grounded Steps, Continuous Self‑Improvement

Reflecting on years at Ant, I have moved between B2B and B2C, PC and wireless, frontend and backend, learning that openness to change and solid habits are universally valuable.

Serving Business Effectively

Technology must serve business directly (through frontend work) or indirectly (by providing and optimizing production tools).

Business enriches technology: Complex business needs drive robust technical solutions, enhancing engineers' perspective and growth.

Good business attracts talent: Working with excellent colleagues highlights personal gaps and fosters improvement.

Three Keys to Serve Business

Service mindset: After completing tasks, monitor user experience and seek optimizations.

Professionalism: Deeply understand business or industry trends to become an expert.

Communication skills: Tailor communication to stakeholders, uncover underlying needs, and propose clear solutions.

Write More Code

Coding remains the core duty of engineers.

Coding deepens business insight: Mastery of code positions you as the go‑to person for business issues.

Coding accelerates learning: Implementing concepts solidifies understanding beyond reading documentation.

Open‑source contributions: Contributing to open source enhances code reuse, product quality, and innovation.

Stay Open and Take Action

Remember the early interview question about IE6 compatibility—technology evolves rapidly, demanding continuous learning.

Leverage abundant information sources, but go beyond superficial knowledge; actively build, solve problems, and assess future directions through hands‑on experience.