- DeepSeek’s meteoric rise has unsettled American AI rivals, powered by CEO Liang Wenfeng’s unconventional leadership—a sharp departure from the Silicon Valley norm—and a bet on Gen Z talent.
DeepSeek’s sudden rise to the top of the AI food chain—and Apple’s app store, leaving rival ChatGPT in the dust—came as a surprise to many. The company’s secret sauce may be running in the opposite direction as Silicon Valley.
Its success is even more fascinating, knowing that the company is fairly new to the AI industry: In 2023, CEO Liang Wenfeng founded the business, funnelling his money into AI chips and assembling a dream-team to drive a Chinese AI product that could finally confront the likes of OpenAI. Less than two years later, DeepSeek is splashed across every tech vertical, and is estimated to be worth $1 billion.
But a part of DeepSeek’s success lies in Liang’s unorthodoxy as an AI leader. When imagining the CEO of a technology giant, stereotypes can wander to the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Benioff, or Sam Altman; The tech-nerdy type who view the “grindset” as aspirational, live by organizational hierarchies, and poach top engineers to lead their teams.
Liang’s leadership style couldn’t be further from his American rivals.
The CEO loves hiring young people—and bookworms
Unlike his computer science-hungry competitors, the 40-year-old DeepSeek founder is looking to Gen Z and humanities majors to spearhead his revolutionary AI—unconventionally so, work experience isn’t at the top of his list when considering DeepSeek candidates.
"If you are pursuing short-term goals, it is right to find people with ready experience," Liang said in a 2023 interview with Chinese media outlet 36Kr. "But if you look at the long-term, experience is not that important. Basic skills, creativity, and passion are much more important.”
"Having done a similar job before doesn't mean you can do this job,” he insisted, adding that younger inexperienced workers are more innovative than seasoned AI experts who can get bogged down by their own knowledge.
"When doing something, experienced people will tell you without hesitation that you should do it one way,” he said. “But inexperienced people will repeatedly explore and think seriously about how to do it, and then find a solution that suits the current actual situation."
The DeepSeek CEO also hires workers from non-traditional backgrounds—especially bookworms. Liang has been open about bringing literary buffs onto the engineering teams to help refine the company’s AI models. “Everyone has their own unique journey and brings their own ideas with them, so there’s no need to push them,” he said.
Breaking from the mold of big Silicon Valley personalities
Liang may have the engineering background that many other Silicon Valley leaders have, but he doesn’t fit the archetype of a big tech personality.
The DeepSeek founder likes to keep a low profile, rarely speaking with the press, and having a limited online presence. The founder doesn’t share much about his personal life on the few social media accounts he has, rather using them to promote DeepSeek. This is in stark contrast to the big personalities of the West Coast, who are very much in the public eye.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos encourages loud "messy meetings" with staff. Meta's Mark Zuckerberg frequently updates his fans on social media, dishing on his personal thoughts and feelings. Other CEOs like Marc Benioff boldly blast competitors. And more recently, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been speaking at political rallies. This couldn’t be further from the persona of the DeepSeek founder.
Liang, on the other hand, keeps a relatively low profile. One of Liang’s business partners even said due to his demure disposition as a “very nerdy guy with a terrible hairstyle,” some people didn’t take him or his vision seriously. They will undoubtedly be eating their words now.
