Posco DX declares push to become AI-native company on two fronts

Posco DX is accelerating a two-pronged strategy built on physical AI and agentic AI. The company plans to deploy industrial robots across factory floors to realize physical AI in practice, while developing an AI agent platform to automate office operations — all in pursuit of becoming an AI-native company.

Posco DX held a press briefing Wednesday at Lotte Hotel Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul, unveiling its roadmap for the AI-native transformation. Physical AI and agentic AI form the two core pillars of the plan.

On the physical AI front, Posco DX is moving to build what it calls an "intelligent factory" — an environment where people, AI, and industrial equipment and robots collaborate organically. The core of the initiative is integrating physical AI technology into industrial settings to achieve optimal control of large-scale equipment, effectively "robotizing" the machinery.

Under this approach, physical AI will be applied to heavy steelworks equipment weighing tens of tons — including large cranes that transport steel products, reclaimers that move raw materials stockpiled in yards, and ship unloaders — to improve worker safety and boost productivity.

Alongside this, the company plans to convert the tacit knowledge held by highly skilled operators into core data for physical AI, building a system in which AI collaborates with workers on the factory floor to operate robots and equipment.

Posco DX is also pushing to deploy industrial robots in high-intensity, high-risk environments. The company already provides robot automation services covering consulting, design, installation and operations. Working jointly with Posco, it has secured a platform for managing heterogeneous robots to support optimal robot operations. The company is also designing optimal robot systems through simulation and developing vision-language-action models for mobile robots, including humanoid robots, to advance robotic locomotion and manipulation.

At Wednesday's event, Posco DX showcased robots performing demanding and hazardous tasks: a robot that removes impurities from molten zinc baths in steelworks galvanizing processes, a band cutter robot for cold-rolling operations, and an automated guided vehicle that transports 65-ton steel products. The company also shared plans to robotize raw material sampling and logistics automation at factories producing eco-friendly materials and vehicle components.

Posco DX has also developed its own platform to bring agentic AI to office and management environments. The AI agents manage the full employee lifecycle — from hiring and performance evaluation to development, promotion and retirement — much like a human staff member.

The strategy is to pursue autonomous office and management operations through domain-specialized "AI employees." The company uses AI transformation consulting to redesign business workflows that previously required humans and AI agents to divide tasks between them. Its in-house platform, called Agenty, can then generate customized agents or repurpose existing ones, with the entire process from design to deployment handled within the platform for rapid AI agent deployment.

The briefing also featured case studies of AI agents applied to finance, human resources, labor management and project administration. For the monthly pre-closing risk review, an agent automatically scans all account items to identify anomalous accounts and missing vouchers, then produces a risk research note.

That workflow, which previously took about three hours, now takes roughly one minute. The company said extending AI agents across the full accounting close process would raise productivity by at least 30 percent compared with current levels.

"We are the only full-stack company in South Korea with integrated capabilities spanning operational technology on the factory floor all the way up to IT-based management systems," a Posco DX official said. "By combining our capabilities and deep understanding of both the physical and office domains with AI transformation technology, we will become the company best positioned to deliver physical AI and agentic AI services."

Meanwhile, Posco Group has formulated a "goal-oriented AI transformation" strategy and is accelerating its AI transformation push across business operations, office work and value creation.