SK On accelerates AI transformation, deploying agents across all business functions

SK On President Lee Yong-wook is pushing ahead with an AI transformation drive since taking over as sole chief executive, embedding artificial intelligence across the company's operations as it works to improve profitability amid a prolonged battery industry downturn.

SK On recently launched an "AI Agent Bootcamp" course through its in-house learning platform, SK On Academy, according to industry sources Wednesday. The six-to-eight-week, hands-on program is designed to help employees design and build their own AI agents for workplace use.

The bootcamp is an advanced follow-on to "AI Fundamentals," a 30-week course that began in May. AI Fundamentals covers basic AI concepts and workplace applications every Thursday morning — a session employees have nicknamed "Thursday AI Morning" — while the bootcamp focuses on building actual agents and deploying them in the field. More than a quarter of all staff have signed up for the introductory course.

SK On's AI education is also led by its own executives. Internal executives serve as lecturers in the 30-week course, while the newly added intensive bootcamp is taught directly by Im Nak-hun, head of SK On's AI transformation division.

The AI transformation division was established at SK Innovation and its major subsidiaries late last year as a CEO-direct unit dedicated to driving AI adoption. It identifies AI use cases across business units and supports the spread of AI-driven work practices on the ground.

SK On's AI education effort goes well beyond piloting a handful of use cases in select departments. The company aims to make AI a tool that frontline employees across the organization use to define and solve their own problems — not something reserved for specialists or IT teams.

The bootcamp reflects that ambition. Rather than simply improving general AI literacy, it aims to have participants build agents tailored to their specific job functions and deploy them in the field. The program's motto: "Six weeks of relentless hands-on work — you leave having built at least one agent."

Employees who have completed the training are already putting what they learned to use, building AI agents suited to their teams' needs. Examples include agents that monitor industry trends and key news, and agents that help with repetitive data organization and document drafting.

SK On also plans to launch an in-house vibe coding platform called SK On Clo this month. The platform will allow employees to develop AI-powered work outputs within the company's secure internal environment, with no token usage limits, enabling them to build AI services tailored to their specific roles. The company plans to use the platform to embed an AI-first work culture across the organization.

AI is already making inroads on the factory floor. The production management team runs an AI agent that analyzes manufacturing operation metrics across SK On's global production sites. It goes beyond displaying output figures to identifying the causes of efficiency drops and flagging items that need further inspection.

SK On has also applied AI to document translation. After deploying an AI agent that translates documents while preserving their original formatting, the company cut translation time for a standard 24-page Word document by 99.8%. AI adoption is also expanding into research and development and management support functions, including patent analysis.

SK On is extending the same AI training to employees at its overseas operations, not just domestic staff. Given its nature as a battery manufacturer with global production bases, the company determined that closing the AI capability gap between headquarters and overseas subsidiaries is critical to staying competitive.

SK On's AI push is also aligned with SK Group's broader AI transformation strategy. At the "2026 New Icheon Forum" last month, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won called for "one AI agent per employee," urging the group to treat AI not merely as a productivity tool but as a core means of reshaping how the organization works.

SK On is taking that vision a step further, building a framework in which multiple AI agents are deployed for different job functions. Lee's AI transformation drive aligns with the group's direction while also serving as a strategy to lift profitability through manufacturing efficiency gains and improved cost competitiveness.

"We are continuously expanding AI-related training programs so that all employees can apply AI in their day-to-day work," an SK On official said. "We are also building the environment needed for AI use to become a natural part of how things get done on the ground."