SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate after Samsung, said on Monday it plans to nurture 10,000 artificial intelligence professionals over the next three years to support 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 the conglomerate’s affiliates.
SK’s initiative to train 10,000 AI talent 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.
The 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 to educate over 10,000 participants over the next three years.
The program is divided into beginner and intermediate courses.
The beginner course is about Python, a high-level, general-purpose programming language, and machine learning fundamentals.
In the intermediate course, participants can 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 major 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 about 12,800 AI professionals across industries by 2027 in Korea.
SK Group said its program is designed to increase 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 directions, cross-checking management’s decisions and conducting post-supervision of business activities.
By Hyung-Kyu Kim
khk@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.
