This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Yilin Zhang, an AI product manager at AI startup Kuse who worked at Meituan for more than three years. It has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified his employment and academic history. I graduated from Tsinghua University with a master's degree in computer science in 2021 and then joined Meituan — one of China's biggest tech firms — as a product manager. At Meituan, China's platform for local services, especially