"Have the presidents take responsibility and accelerate the AI transformation": Koo Kwang-mo's special directive

"AI Transformation (AX) is a task that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and business leaders must personally set the direction for and drive forward."
LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo has issued a special directive to the presidents of the group’s key affiliates. He called on them to personally step up and accelerate the group’s large-scale transition to artificial intelligence (AI).
■ "Presidents must execute" — emphasis on accountability in management
According to LG Group on the 26th, Koo convened an LG Group "presidents’ meeting" the previous day at the Namsan Leadership Center in Jung District, Seoul. He stated, "The most important factor in AI Transformation (AX) is speed," and added, "We must build up results through fast execution."
Koo went on to stress, "Because we need fast execution rather than a perfect plan, we should quickly implement even small initiatives in areas with real business impact, accumulate results, and then scale them up." He continued, "AX is not a task for a single department. It is a task that the CEO and business leaders must personally set the direction for and lead," calling on the presidents to make clear "choices" and ensure strong "execution." This was widely seen as an emphasis on accountability for AX-driven transformation. An LG Group official noted that "the meeting proceeded in a grave yet calm atmosphere."
The LG Group presidents agreed to accelerate structural innovation by leveraging AX across the entire value chain—from design and production to marketing—based on clear, management-led goal setting and swift execution. Around 40 presidents from the holding company and major affiliates attended. With the chairman’s special mission of a sweeping AX transformation, the pace of change is expected to pick up. During breakout sessions that day, the presidents also had hands-on experience using EXAONE, LG’s proprietary AI model.
■ "We will deliver results with AI" — a promise to shareholders
Koo’s message continued at LG Corporation’s General Meeting of Shareholders on the 26th. In a written greeting to shareholders, he stated, "AI will become a key driving force underpinning LG’s medium- to long-term sustainable growth," and pledged, "We will further advance LG’s proprietary AI models and accelerate the AI transformation of each business so that it leads to tangible results." The message was read on his behalf by Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Brian Kwon, one of LG Corporation’s representative directors.
Koo believes that "technological innovation triggered by AI and the blurring of boundaries between industries are intensifying competition to differentiate products and services." Within LG Group, there is said to be a growing sense of urgency about securing new growth engines. As one of the four largest chaebol groups, voices are growing that the group must foster AI, robotics, and bio and biotechnology businesses as its new core pillars.
Meanwhile, at an LG Corporation board meeting that day, Koo handed over the role of board chair to outside director Park Jong-soo, an accounting and tax expert and professor at the Korea University School of Law. It is the first time in eight years that Koo has stepped down as chair of the LG Corporation board, and the first time in 23 years since LG Group converted to a holding company structure in 2003 that the role has been passed on.
Eun-hyo Cho and Soo-bin Lim, The Financial News (ehcho@fnnews.com)