Doosan Robotics CEO vows to accelerate intelligent robot solutions, industrial humanoid development

Doosan Robotics CEO Kwon Young-min said the company will "pool the expertise of its new leadership to accelerate development of intelligent robot solutions and industrial humanoid robots." Intelligent robot solutions refer to robots that integrate the company's existing collaborative robot hardware with AI, while industrial humanoid robots are machines built to resemble the human body.

Kwon made the remarks Thursday at a town hall meeting at the Doosan Robotics Innovation Center in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province. He said the company would "expand its global business with a focus on the United States and Europe to generate tangible results." The event was the first town hall Kwon held since being named CEO of Doosan Robotics last month.

His emphasis on new businesses reflects a judgment that the company's restructuring must move quickly. The global robotics market is rapidly reshaping itself around humanoid robots, which have gained significant attention in recent years. For Doosan Robotics, which has built its business around collaborative robots, accelerating humanoid robot development has become a pressing priority. The company has previously announced plans to unveil an intelligent robot solution based on an agentic robot operating system next year, developed in collaboration with AI giant Nvidia, followed by an industrial humanoid robot in 2028.

The town hall was also attended by newly appointed Chief Technology Officer Jang Woong-jun and Chief Strategy Officer Kim Hyun-soo, signaling the leadership's commitment to the restructuring effort. Jang previously worked as a management consultant at McKinsey and served as CSO at Motional, the autonomous driving joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv. He joined Doosan in March and has been overseeing the group's AI and digital strategy.

Kim is a global business specialist with nearly 20 years of experience leading international expansion and management strategy at Doosan Group and other organizations. He joined Doosan Robotics last year as head of sales and has since secured major contracts both at home and abroad.

"With this new leadership structure in place, Doosan Robotics will closely connect and execute every stage — from physical AI technology development to new product commercialization and global market expansion — to build a foundation for mid- to long-term growth," a Doosan official said.

Kwon is widely regarded within Doosan as one of the group's foremost strategy experts. He joined Doosan's strategic planning division in 2000 and served as CSO of Doosan Bobcat from 2018 to 2020, before becoming CEO of Doosan Bobcat subsidiary Doosan Mottrol in 2021.

At the town hall, he said that while Mottrol and Doosan Robotics operate in different business areas, "they share much in common in that both must develop products customers want and secure market competitiveness on the strength of superior technology and product quality."

He added that he would "draw on the experience of driving product quality improvements and technological innovation at Mottrol through close cross-organizational communication and mutual trust," and pledged to "bring together the capabilities of all employees at Doosan Robotics and strengthen execution across technology and business operations."

The tasks before Kwon are business restructuring and returning the company to profitability. Doosan Robotics has not posted a profit since its founding in 2015. Last year, the company recorded an operating loss of 59.5 billion won ($44.1 million). Industry analysts say the company must turn profitable in the near term if it is to pursue aggressive investment going forward.