SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won attended the New Icheon Forum and stressed the shift toward an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-centered business environment. He also laid out a clear direction for employees on AI transformation. The Icheon Forum began in 2017 at Chey’s suggestion as an event for knowledge sharing and management strategy discussions. This year, it was held for the first time as the 'New Icheon Forum' after merging the management strategy meeting and the Icheon Forum, and ran from the 11th to the 13th.
According to SK Group on the 14th, this year’s New Icheon Forum was held under the theme, 'Disruptive innovation brought by AI, a major shift to AI Transformation (AX)-centered management.' Chey emphasized the importance of AI transformation. As the first step in AX, he said, "First, we need to know exactly what we are doing," adding, "It is important to define our work precisely and decide what to innovate with AI and how to do it." He explained that companies should steadily accumulate data to build a foundation for identifying problems and improving them in real time. Chey also said, "We must evolve from my AI to our AI," and added, "More than 90% of our employees are already using AI, but we need AI that goes beyond personal use and helps connect what we do to the performance of the entire organization and supports 'our work.'"
Chey also assessed the outlook for the global AI industry and SK Group’s competitiveness. He said that if the AI era was opened by the semiconductor industry based on memory technology, the next phase will bring a major shift in energy, data center, and communication network infrastructure to meet global demand for AI computing power. After that, he predicted growth in a wide range of application industries that create intelligence. Chey said, "Few companies have a full stack of the memory needed in the AI era, data center infrastructure, the energy to support it, and electrification capabilities," adding, "SK’s business areas have the elements needed to open the AI era."
At the New Icheon Forum, AI-powered virtual panel agents also drew attention. An AI agent named 'Sky (SKAI)' summarized management discussions in real time and presented them, while an AI panel made up of consultants, executives, and employees in their 50s joined the panel discussion in real time alongside frontline staff.
An SK Group official said, "Based on the discussions at the New Icheon Forum, management and employees will work together to accelerate the AI transformation."
Se Hyung Kim fax123@sportschosun.com
