Major financial holding companies are accelerating AX (AI transformation) to overhaul their structures. As the new administration selected a "leap to the world's top three in AI" as a core state agenda and took the lead by creating a 150 trillion won National Growth Fund to push the AI transformation project, they appear to be aligning with the government's stance.
In the financial sector, the introduction of "AI agents" is accelerating beyond generative AI. If a generative AI-based "chatbot" only performs simple conversations or provides information, an AI agent is more advanced, characterized by autonomously handling complex tasks without instructions. It analyzes customer data to propose tailored strategies. It is the key to realizing "hyper-personalized, customized" financial services, and the AI race among financial holding companies is expected to intensify.
According to the financial sector on the 4th, Shinhan Financial Group established an "AX·Digital Division" within the group and an "AX Innovation Group" within the bank as of the 1st. By setting up an "AI control tower," the goal is to establish the group's AI utilization strategy and vision and to lead AI innovation by concentrating affiliates' capabilities.
Shinhan Financial is focusing on AI across the organization. Jin Ok-dong, Shinhan Financial chairman, held a second-half management forum in Jun. under the theme "AX-Ignition, Shinhan's Future Leadership" and called for strengthening executives' AI utilization capabilities. The judgment is that leaders must internalize AI technology to apply it to business. Last month, the group also invited leading AI corporations such as Google and MS in succession to give lectures to executives. Jin's direction is to turn the organization's DNA into AI.
Woori Financial Group is also concentrating its capabilities on accelerating AX. Declaring this year the first year of AX, Yim Jong-ryong, Woori Financial chairman, said at a recent press meeting, "Categorically, whether we achieve AX preemptively will determine financial companies' competitiveness," and announced that he would build implementation systems such as group AX governance, performance evaluation, and infrastructure. Woori Financial has also finished reorganizing. In Jun., Woori Financial upgraded the organization leading the groupwide AI strategy from a department to a center and established the AI Strategy Center. It also recruited a former Mirae Asset Global Investments executive as center head, bringing in an outside expert.
Behind AX becoming the hot topic in finance lies growing demand to conveniently receive hyper-personalized, customized financial services. AI can analyze massive data to grasp customers' financial behavior patterns and investment tendencies and provide optimal product recommendations and asset management solutions. What is needed to realize this is an AI agent.
Shinhan Financial decided to apply a customer-tailored AI agent to "Shinhan Super SOL," the group's integrated application. The goal is to use it for customers' asset management, data analysis, and insurance design. Woori Financial plans to first use AI agents to improve work efficiency. It will apply them to the corporate credit process to support everything from document registration and selection of eligible recipients to screening support, verification of document authenticity and information, and post-loan management. Chairman Yim said, "There are a total of about 700 bank tasks, and among them, about 190 can apply AI," adding, "We will first apply it to 50, then gradually expand to the rest."
In addition, KB Financial Group has established its grand AI transition strategy, "KB with AI," and is pushing AI agent development based on it. It expanded and reorganized to two Financial AI Centers within the holding company and recruited external experts as center executives. In Apr., it built the group's joint platform, the "KB Gen AI Portal," to support AI agent development.
However, some say AX should not become a declarative move just to match the government's code. A financial industry official said, "Since the government said it would go all-in on AI over its five-year term, financial holding companies also appear to be emphasizing the AI agenda," adding, "It must not become a performative, declarative AX transition."
☞ AI agent
An AI agent is a system that can autonomously understand goals and plan and execute the necessary tasks. If generative AI is limited to content creation—such as text, images, and music—and simple responses, an AI agent can directly solve problems and carry out complex tasks on behalf of the user.