Naver CEO calls for broader AI adoption among small businesses, suppliers

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said the AI tipping point for industry will only arrive when small businesses and suppliers can also adopt the technology with ease, calling for a broader foundation for AI use across the entire supply chain.

Naver said Monday that Choi held a special dialogue on industrial AI with Siemens Group Chairman Roland Busch at the 19th Asia-Pacific German Business Conference (APK 2026) at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas on Saturday.

APK is an international economic forum that began in 1986, bringing together government officials and corporate executives from the Asia-Pacific region to discuss industrial cooperation. The dialogue focused on ways to combine Germany's and Asia's respective technological strengths as AI use expands into manufacturing, energy, mobility and other industrial sectors.

"The true tipping point for AI in industry will come when even small companies can use AI with ease," Choi said. "Only when the foundation for AI adoption extends to small and medium-sized enterprises and their suppliers can individual companies' gains translate into productivity and competitiveness gains for the industry as a whole."

Choi also stressed the importance of human oversight as AI takes on a wider range of tasks. "The broader the scope of work AI performs, the more critical the human role becomes in verifying and judging the results," Choi said.

"The real measure of AI adoption is not just the quality of what AI produces, but whether it actually solves problems on the ground — and whether the time and resources saved through AI are being channeled into more valuable work," Choi added.

Busch also underscored the importance of global cooperation in spreading industrial AI. "Industrial AI has reached a pivotal moment for realizing new possibilities," Busch said. "The value of industrial AI is only fully realized when it is deployed safely and reliably in the field and scaled across industries."

Busch also outlined a vision for ushering in a new industrial era by combining Germany's engineering expertise with Asia's capacity for technological innovation.

Following the dialogue, Siemens Group executives visited Naver's second headquarters, 1784, to discuss technology cooperation. The visit included Busch, Siemens M&A head Dagmar Mundani, Korea Siemens CEO Jeong Ha-joong and Korea Siemens Digital Industries head Stephanie Frank.

On the Naver side, Choi and Naver Labs CEO Seok Sang-ok took part. The two companies shared cases in which Naver's digital twin technology has been applied in real industrial settings and discussed ways to expand into global markets in conjunction with Siemens' industrial solutions.

They also explored potential cooperation centered on next-generation technologies Naver is developing, including robotics and robot foundation models. The executives then toured the 1784 building to see how Naver's advanced technologies are deployed in an actual working environment.

Meanwhile, Naver Cloud signed an MOU with Korea Siemens in June to advance AI transformation in the manufacturing industry. The two companies agreed to cooperate on developing industrial solutions that combine Siemens' industrial automation and digital twin technologies with Naver Cloud's AI and cloud infrastructure. They are also pursuing joint customer development and expansion of industry-specific AI transformation projects.