AI consultants to visit small firms struggling with adoption — free of charge

AI specialist firms will offer free on-site consultations to small and medium-sized enterprises that recognize the need for AI adoption but struggle with costs, a lack of skilled personnel and uncertainty about where to apply the technology.

The Seoul Jungnambu AI Business Cooperative announced Friday that it is recruiting member cooperatives and their affiliated companies to join its "Industry-Specific Cooperative AI Implementation Support Consulting" program. The cooperative is also accepting applications through its website from SMEs seeking to transition to AI.

The consultations begin by analyzing recurring problems in a company's production, sales, quality control, inventory management and customer relations, then identify applicable AI technologies. Consultants will pinpoint the areas where AI can deliver the greatest impact — such as reducing defect rates, cutting costs or improving inventory efficiency — and design a tailored implementation plan for each company.

According to the cooperative, 10 AI specialist firms are participating in the program: Intellivix, CILab, Cudo Communication, Semicon Networks, Miso Information Technology, Think4BL, Davio, Virnect, Superb AI and GI Works. Together, their research and development staff number about 1,000.

The participating firms cover a wide range of specializations — from video analytics and vision AI to GPU infrastructure management, video security, edge AI, big data analytics, AI reliability verification, spatial information AI, digital twins, industrial extended reality (XR) and MLOps. The program aims to spare individual SMEs the burden of independently comparing multiple AI vendors to find the right fit.

AI adoption among SMEs is growing, but a significant gap with large corporations remains. A 2024 survey by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, cited by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, found that 28.7 percent of SMEs used AI, compared with 48.8 percent of large companies — a gap of 20.1 percentage points. The government estimates that AI adoption among small manufacturers stands at just 1 percent. The ministry set a target last year in its "AI-Based Smart Manufacturing Innovation 3.0 Strategy" to raise that figure to 10 percent by 2030.

"SMEs do not need to start their AI transition by building a grand system," said Choi Eun-su, chairman of the Seoul Jungnambu AI Business Cooperative. "The priority is identifying, among the recurring problems on the shop floor, the areas where AI can deliver the greatest results."