SK to nurture 10,000 AI talent, introduce Board 2.0 to enhance governance

SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, said on Monday it plans to nurture 10,000 artificial intelligence professionals over the next three years to bolster the country’s AI industry.

Separately, Chairman Chey Tae-won said the group will introduce a Board 2.0 system to enhance corporate governance across its affiliates.

SK’s initiative to train 10,000 AI experts involves expanding its internal, online AI training platform 'Sunny' into a program for university students.

In a related move, SK recently launched a six-week AI Academy program for 1,300 university students.

AI Academy is operated by SK’s Supex Council in partnership with two major affiliates – SK Telecom Co. and SK Hynix Inc. – to provide AI and data analysis training.

SK said it plans to scale up the program so it can educate over 10,000 participants over the next three years.

The program features beginner and intermediate courses.

The beginner course focuses on Python, a general-purpose programming language, and machine learning fundamentals.

In the intermediate course, participants simulate real work experiences.

For this, SK Telecom shares projects on developing CCTV image classification models and anomaly detection models, while SK Hynix provides training on predicting the waveforms of DRAM circuits.

LACK OF AI TALENT POOL

Hiring AI talent is a significant challenge for large companies in Korea.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Research Institute for Professional Education and Training, there will be a shortage of 12,800 AI professionals in Korea by 2027.

SK Group said its program is designed to enlarge Korea’s AI talent pool by supplying skilled professionals.

“To capture business opportunities when the AI era arrives, we must strengthen our core competencies,” said Chairman Chey Tae-won during the SK Directors’ Summit 2024 held last week.

BOARD 2.0 INITIATIVE

At the meeting, the chairman also said SK Group will introduce Board 2.0, which strengthens each affiliate board’s role in the management and supervision of their businesses.

The conglomerate said Board 2.0 aims to redefine the board's role, allowing management to focus more on decision-making while the board concentrates on setting medium- and long-term strategic plans, cross-checking management’s decisions and conducting follow-up supervision of business activities.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.