'AI will determine competitiveness': Franchise association holds AI Future Innovation Committee forum

The Korea Franchise Industry Association, together with its AI Future Innovation Committee, held a forum Wednesday at the association's education center in Yeouido, Seoul, on the theme of "AX Strategy and Direction for the Franchise Industry."

The forum offered a comprehensive discussion of the franchise industry's development path and policy priorities in the age of AI transformation (AX), focusing on key challenges including data asset management, AI policy, digital information asset protection, intellectual property and industrial classification systems.

The keynote address was delivered by Yoon Seok-bin, a professor at Sogang University's Graduate School of AI and Software, who spoke on "Data Asset Strategy and Compliance in the Age of AI Transformation." Yoon said the core of AI competitiveness lies not in algorithms themselves, but in how companies turn their accumulated data into assets and deploy them in a trustworthy manner.

A panel discussion followed, moderated by Park Jin-yong, a professor at Konkuk University, on the theme of "Exploring Policy, Systems and Management Strategies for Franchise AX." Participants exchanged views on the policies, systems, technology and management strategies needed to accelerate AX adoption.

Kim Sang-sik, the association's head of policy and project affairs, said the gap in data and infrastructure between large and small companies is creating a polarization in AX readiness, and proposed a cooperative AX model built on a unified API-based platform involving both the association and the public sector. He also called for policy foundations that would allow the entire industry to share AI capabilities.

Ko Gyeong-jin, vice president of WD Co., presented real-world AX cases from franchise operations and identified a structural problem in which customer data fails to accumulate as corporate assets due to over-reliance on external platforms. Ko said that integrating and leveraging internal data would be the decisive factor in franchise competitiveness going forward.

Attorney Kim Seon-jin proposed measures to break up data monopolies held by digital platforms. Kim said the industry must secure long-term data sovereignty and digital information asset rights through a phased approach for franchisors and franchisees, collective negotiations at the association level and shared infrastructure development.

Patent attorney Lee So-min proposed practical intellectual property protection measures, including AI-assisted prior trademark searches, rights acquisition, responses to overseas trademark preemption and the establishment of a joint association platform. Tax accountant Choi In-yong said the franchise industry suffers disadvantages in statistics and tax support because it is not recognized as an independent sector under the Korea Standard Industrial Classification.

Association Chairman Na Myeong-seok said, "AI has now gone beyond simple operational efficiency to become the core infrastructure that determines the competitiveness of the franchise industry," and went on to say that the association would take a central role in building a foundation for the industry and the public sector to grow together.