The small and midsize business sector agreed that the AI transition (AX) is no longer a future task but an "immediate action item," and said data acquisition, on-site–centered AI adoption, and government support for talent and systems must move together.
At the "2026 SME AX (AI transition) Leaders Forum" hosted by ChosunBiz on the 9th at the Westin Josun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, a panel discussion was held on ways to strengthen small and midsize enterprises' competitiveness in the AI era, strategies for entering global markets, and the direction of government support.
Kim Se-hoon, head of Korea and Southeast Asia at BCC Global, served as moderator, and the panel included Professor Kim Chang-hyun of CEIBS, Cho Hyeong-jin, head of Korea at A.T. Kearney, Myung Chang-guk, executive director in charge of the Smart Logistics Center and Robotics Business at LG CNS, Kim Deuk-hwa, CEO of PUNGEIN, and Kwak Jae-kyung, head of the Small Business AI Diffusion Promotion Team at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.
The discussion opened with how small and midsize enterprises should prepare for the AI era at a time when Korea's AI investment lags major global countries.
Professor Kim Chang-hyun of CEIBS assessed that "AI is not a simple automation technology but an innovation that changes industrial structures themselves."
Kim said, "AI is the last industrial revolution led by humanity, and after that AI will lead industry," adding, "We need a mindset that changes processes themselves to fit AI and uses AI agents." He added, "If you cannot distinguish between automation and AI, it is hard to be competitive."
Strategies for adopting AI at small and midsize enterprises were also a key topic. Cho Hyeong-jin, head of Korea at A.T. Kearney, advised, "Rather than preparing long-term AX projects like large companies, it is important for small and midsize enterprises to execute quickly first."
Cho said, "Large companies spend months on planning and data preparation to drive AX projects worth tens of billions of won, but AI technology evolves again in the meantime," and added, "For small and midsize enterprises and startups that must develop technology quickly and differentiate in the market, it is more suitable to execute first and improve rather than spend time preparing projects."
Asked whether private equity views AI adoption as a key factor in valuing corporations, Cho explained, "AI is linked not only to expense reduction or growth potential but also to 'experience liability,'" adding, "The longer you delay adoption, the less experience you build using AI, which undermines future competitiveness and ultimately affects corporate value."
Data was cited as the key factor that will determine the AI competitiveness of Korea's manufacturing sector. Myung Chang-guk, an executive director at LG CNS, said, "First, data; second, data," and added, "You have to systematically turn maintenance records and the manufacturing data accumulated during production into data and use them to train AI models to create Korea's unique competitiveness."
He continued, "LG CNS is advancing AI models based on manufacturing data through a manufacturing AI project with Nvidia," and advised, "For small and midsize enterprises, rather than rebuilding every system from scratch, selectively adopting services that are already commercialized is a practical approach."
Strategies for new industries using AI were also discussed. Kim Deuk-hwa, CEO of PUNGEIN, said, "K-defense must now prepare for round two by integrating AI," and added, "For small and midsize enterprises, targeting the business-to-business (B2B) market in collaboration with defense corporations is more realistic than business-to-government (B2G) transactions."
He emphasized, "Along with defense corporations' AI investment, physical AI technology must be integrated into weapons," adding, "Policy support from the government is also necessary so companies can secure domestic references."
Government AI support policies and plans for training talent were also introduced. Kwak Jae-kyung, head of the Small Business AI Diffusion Promotion Team at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "The government is building a system that supports corporations in line with their AI investments and is promoting various programs so small and midsize enterprises can integrate AI on the ground."
Kwak added, "We provide tailored education by audience, including incumbent workers, startups, chief executive officers (CEOs), and students, and for small merchants we offer one-on-one on-site education as well as mentoring programs linked with large corporations and mid-tier companies," and said, "Over the medium to long term, we plan to expand incentives such as tax benefits and RSUs (restricted stock units) to support securing AI talent."