'Full speed ahead on AI transformation — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity'

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has urged executives and employees to move swiftly on AI transformation by adopting a dedicated AI agent for every individual.

According to SK Group, Chey made the call at the "2026 New Icheon Forum" held at the SKMS Research Institute in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, from Thursday to Saturday. The forum ran under the theme "Disruptive innovation driven by AI: A great transformation toward AX-centered management."

Chey said the first step in AI transformation, or AX, is "accurately understanding what we are doing," adding that "precisely defining our work and determining what to innovate through AI, and how, is what matters." He said the group must consistently accumulate data to identify problems in real time and build a foundation for continuous improvement.

He proposed the adoption of one AI agent per person, saying the group must evolve "from 'my AI' to 'our AI.'" He said that while more than 90 percent of employees already use AI, what is needed goes beyond personal use — AI that connects individual work to the performance of the organization as a whole and truly helps with "our work."

Chey added that he plans to create not just one agent but countless ones to communicate with executives and employees across each affiliate. "Dozens of chairman avatars will go into each company, listen, and work and communicate alongside other agents," he said.

Chey defined the essence of AX as "operational improvement," or O/I, calling it "the best tool for raising our O/I execution capability." He said the strength to break through challenges and seize future opportunities ultimately comes from O/I capability, and that AX-driven O/I must be used to solidify fundamentals and execution. He also outlined how he sees the AI era unfolding: the current phase, centered on the semiconductor industry and built on memory chip technology, will soon give way to a broad transformation in energy, data centers and communications networks to meet surging global demand for AI computing power, followed by growth in diverse application industries that generate intelligence.

"Few companies have a full-stack capability — from the memory chips the AI era requires to data center infrastructure, the energy to support it, and electrification," Chey said. "SK's business portfolio has what it takes to lead the AI era."

He also pressed executives to maintain a sharp sense of urgency. "If we do not execute a full-scale, all-out AX at full speed right now, the golden opportunity before us will not come around again easily," Chey said.

Chey has placed AI at the center of the Icheon Forum agenda since 2019, consistently calling for innovation. This year's forum was the first in which participants — from top executives down to working-level staff — spent all three days focused exclusively on AI. SK executives agreed at the forum that "business processes themselves must be fundamentally redesigned," and that management must lead the transformation while AX is executed and scaled quickly.

The forum also featured virtual panel agents powered by AI. An AI agent named "Sky" provided real-time summaries of executive discussions, while an AI panel composed of a consultant, an executive and an employee in their 50s took part in panel discussions. SK Group said it will use the outcomes of the forum to accelerate the AI transformation across management and staff.