Value Added

Who gets to play in the cloud?

From killer apps to the long tail of enterprise workloads, and how the cloud divide produces competing futures for the AI age

Dec 3 • 

JS Tan

7

3

6

November 2025

Ghost Infrastructure

China raced to build data centers—now many are left underutilized or idle.

Nov 6 • 

JS Tan

23

1

8

October 2025

The rise of tech worker activism

My new ILR Review article shows how political/social protests turned into class conflict inside the tech industry. It sets the stage for understanding…

Oct 15 • 

JS Tan

10

2

2

September 2025

America can still build (data centers)

The Abundance thesis is that America can't build anymore, so how do we explain the surge of data center construction across the country?

Sep 17 • 

JS Tan

42

4

10

Is China an Engineering or a Developmental State?

Breakneck is excellent, but could use a touch more developmental thinking.

Sep 4 • 

JS Tan

81

6

29

August 2025

Re-introducing Value Added

And a short guide to some of the key themes of this newsletter.

Aug 21 • 

JS Tan

18

2

Ford's bid to stay in the EV race

How a legacy automaker is fighting to be competitive in the new EV race.

Aug 14 • 

JS Tan

10

4

Last week’s blockbuster earnings aren’t proof of an AI boom

Microsoft and Meta’s strong performance are rooted in past bets, not their expensive visions of an AI future.

Aug 4 • 

JS Tan

18

3

5

July 2025

A brief history of firm strategies in the auto sector

And why the EV era demands new thinking in production strategies and supply chain governance.

Jul 24 • 

JS Tan

9

1

4

Rethinking AI diffusion in China

Enterprise software and cloud adoption have a key role in AI diffusion.

Jul 18 • 

JS Tan

15

5

4

Why China's internet giants are putting an end to the 996 work schedule

And how that might align with the government’s broader goals for national development.

Jul 10 • 

JS Tan

31

1

10

"Boss culture", 996, and KPI-driven management in China's tech sector

A viral Alibaba resignation letter gives an inside look at labor relations in China's tech sector.

Jul 3 • 

JS Tan

28

3

6