Alibaba Cloud's Zhang Xiantao says cloud PCs will become agent workstations

On November 3, 2026, InfoQ China reported that Zhang Xiaotao, VP of R&D and head of the Terminal Intelligent Computing Business Unit at Alibaba Cloud, presented at the 1024 Model Factory AI Community Day main forum under the title "The Evolution of Cloud Computers: From Human Desktops to Agent Workstations." He argued that cloud computers are shifting from being a remote-work terminal for humans into a dedicated "workstation" for AI agents, giving them a desktop environment that runs continuously, keeps permissions under control, and supports human-agent collaboration.

Zhang outlined several components of this shift. Once an agent connects to a cloud computer, it is no longer limited to executing tasks through a browser; it can also operate desktop software and enterprise applications to handle cross-system work. This matters especially for legacy systems that expose no API and can only be driven through a graphical interface. Beyond access, an agent still needs a clear identity, defined data and operation permissions, and full audit logging, so the cloud computer's role extends from merely hosting an environment to unified management of identity, permissions, and resources. Cloud computers also need to support handoffs between humans and agents, so a person can take over when an agent hits a step it cannot complete. As an example, Zhang described order processing: an agent receives a new order, verifies the information, generates a report, and submits it for supervisor approval, and interruptions such as expired login sessions can arise along the way.

The report also cites a deployment case: TAL Education Group rolled out roughly 1,000 agents through enterprise cloud computers in under two weeks, using them for lesson plans, courseware creation, and homework grading. The rest of the article, aimed at AI architects, enterprise agent platform developers, and cloud infrastructure engineers, lays out the key capabilities required for this role. No follow-up developments or disputed claims are mentioned in the material.