Interview with Zhang Xu on JD Technology's Outstanding Achievement Award and Leadership Insights

In July, JD Digital announced that former Nordea Bank Vice President Zhang Xu had joined JD Finance (now JD Digital) to build the company's data asset system.

Before joining JD Digital, Zhang spent eight years at Nordea developing the bank's data strategy and previously worked at Nokia, gaining extensive experience in marketing, IT system development, and data analysis, making him a well‑rounded technology leader.

For the recent JD Technology Golden Award, Zhang served as a judge for the "Personal Award – Outstanding Achievement" category. He explained that the award focuses on the word "outstanding," so his evaluation criteria are simple: assess the contestant's professional ability, teamwork, and overall fit for an outstanding role.

When asked which candidate impressed him most, Zhang highlighted Dr. Li from the Innovation Platform Development Department, noting his research closely aligns with JD's business, his contributions to AI technology applications, and his influence in attracting talent and opportunities to JD.

Regarding the qualities technology professionals should possess, Zhang emphasized the importance of confronting problems directly, maintaining a problem‑solving attitude, and recognizing that avoiding issues only leads to larger challenges later.

On team management, Zhang shared that he encourages his team to think about their "5‑year plan" without making it a rigid metric, focusing instead on fostering a goal‑oriented mindset and self‑discovery.

He concluded by stating that technology people must also keep ideals in mind.