- New product aims to move agents from chat tools to job-grade employees
- Mobile app extends Qoder ecosystem as user base tops 5 million
Alibaba unveiled a new digital employee product, QoderWake, alongside a mobile application, marking a shift in its AI agent strategy from conversational tools to role-based systems that are designed to function like workplace staff.
The launch extends the company’s Qoder lineup, which began with developer tools Qoder IDE/CLI and later expanded to QoderWork, a desktop productivity assistant.
QoderWake is positioned as the third major evolution of the family.
The system is designed for software engineering, operations and data analysis roles, with Alibaba describing it as “production-ready, secure and self-evolving.”
It already includes a “digital programmer” function capable of generating code change summaries, locating software issues, categorising user feedback and performing root-cause analysis.
Alibaba said QoderWake uses a “Harness-First” architecture that cuts analysis time from around 30 minutes to roughly two minutes, significantly accelerating task execution in engineering workflows.
Rather than mimicking human avatars, the product is built around a functional model of workplace behavior.
Its design includes six core modules: role-specific tasking instead of general chat, persistent professional identity, long-term memory across sessions, modular skill libraries that can be chained into workflows, sandboxed execution with defined permission boundaries, and event-triggered activation without manual prompts.
Alongside QoderWake, the company also released a mobile app that enables remote access to desktop Qoder tools, adding features such as proactive prompts, execution confirmation and step-by-step verification for task handling.
Alibaba said the broader Qoder ecosystem now has more than 5 million users and annual recurring revenue exceeding $60 million, just eight months after launch, making it one of the faster-scaling AI agent products in China’s enterprise AI market.
QoderWake is currently in invite-only testing, with both individuals and enterprises able to “hire” digital employees or customize them for specific workflows via Alibaba’s platform.
