SK launches AI talent development program, offering young people 3 million won a month

[Financial News] SK Group is launching a new educational program to develop young talent who will lead the AI era. The program aims to move beyond existing education focused on earning degrees or preparing for employment, and help young people use AI to solve real-world problems and chart their own career paths.
SK announced on the 12th that it will launch SK AIGEN, a two-year non-degree talent development program. The name combines AI and Generation, referring to a generation of young people familiar with AI.
AIGEN will be centered on projects in which participants identify problems faced by individuals, businesses and society, then use AI to solve them. Unlike conventional education, where students complete set courses before moving on to practical training, the program is designed to help participants acquire the knowledge and skills they need as they work on real-world challenges.
The program will run full-time for two years. In the first year, participants will plan and carry out projects individually or in teams, developing skills in using AI and collaborating with others. In the second year, they will gain hands-on experience solving problems in the field, following their chosen career paths and project plans.
SK is also partnering with Seoul National University's AI Institute to strengthen the program's expertise. Drawing on its research experience combining AI with disciplines such as sociology, economics and public administration, the institute plans to help participants broaden their humanistic perspectives and develop concrete career plans.
The program will also provide financial and educational support to help participants focus on their projects. SK will pay each participant a monthly growth stipend of 3 million won for two years, and provide skills training, expert mentoring and workspaces for individual and team projects. However, completing the program does not guarantee a degree or employment at any particular company.
Applicants must be aged 19 to 34 and able to participate in the two-year full-time program. There are no restrictions on educational background or field of study. SK plans to select people with the drive to solve problems and the potential to grow in a range of fields, including technology and research, culture and the arts, the public sector and society.
Applications for the first cohort will be accepted from November 1 to 15. Following the selection process, SK plans to confirm around 50 participants by late December and begin the first program in March next year. An in-person information session will also be held on the 28th at the conference hall of the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies.
The program also reflects SK's philosophy of “Devotion to the Nation through Nurturing Talent”—contributing to the development of the country and society by cultivating talent. Participants will have no obligations after completing the program. This approach echoes the talent development model of Choi Jong-hyun, former chairman of SK Group, who founded the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies in 1974 and provided scholarship recipients with full funding for overseas study without significant conditions. At a lecture last May, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won also stressed, “It is important to build holistic capabilities that enable people to adapt to various changes and have a range of choices.”
SK plans to select participants every year and develop AIGEN into the group's flagship AI talent development program.
Park Sang-gyu, president of mySUNI, SK Group's talent development platform, said, “SK developed AIGEN to support young people who want to build skills suited to the AI era. We plan to select participants every year and establish it as SK's flagship talent development program.”

[email protected] Im Su-bin Reporter