"As the No. 1 operator in the industry, we are collapsing. There is a sense of crisis that we will go under unless we fundamentally change. With our lost original intention, we are trying to return to being a customer-centered company. To do this, an artificial intelligence (AI) great transformation of our existing network and infrastructure must come first. We will boldly invest in the trillions for this."
Jung Jai-hun, president of SK Telecom, held his first press roundtable since taking office on the 1st (local time) in Barcelona, Spain, where the world's largest mobile communications exhibition, "MWC," is being held, and said, "A CEO is the person responsible for change." That day marked 123 days since Jung took office as chief, and the event also served as his first official debut stage.
The change Jung describes is "customer value innovation," and the "AI great transformation" to achieve it. "We are at a golden time when we must innovate customer value and adapt to the new value of AI," he said, adding, "AI is a 'crisis' for corporations—if you fail to catch up, you go under." "This is truly a time to be on edge and get our heads straight," he said. "If we don't do it now, we will spend more expense in the future," he added.
However, he did not disclose exactly how much would be invested in the AI great transformation, noting that board approval is required. The plan is to complete the AI great transformation in the T and network infrastructure institutional sector sequentially within three to five years.
Jung said last year's hacking incident provided an opportunity to realize that what had long been taken for granted should no longer be. It was a time to learn that there is no growth without customers. "We had long declared we were customer-centered, but in hindsight there was no answer to 'what the company actually did to be customer-centered,'" he said. "We will return to the essence of the business."
He initially sought to raise customer-perceived value by providing AI-based services using SK Telecom's data. But problems arose. "Our IT systems and vast network infrastructure were designed before AI emerged and are not AI-friendly," Jung said. "The expense required for the AI great transformation is enormous, but with the existing telecom infrastructure and systems, we can no longer remain No. 1." Jung added, "I believe overhauling the AI business system is the starting point for telecom to become a new innovation business, not a sunset industry."
SK Telecom plans to build all integrated systems—such as sales IT, line management, and billing—around AI through the AI great transformation to immediately reflect ultra-personalized customer demands. Based on this, it will redesign plans, memberships, and roaming. From wireless quality control and traffic management to the operation of telecom equipment and facilities, the company will shift from a human-centered operating model to an AI-based autonomous structure to maximize perceived customer quality. Jung emphasized that ways of working and corporate culture will also be completely reshaped around AI.
On SK Telecom's AI business blueprint, Jung showed confidence, saying, "We can boldly call ourselves a full-stack AI company." "We have invested for a long time and have accumulated know-how in AI services, B2B (corporations-to-corporations transactions), and B2C (corporations-to-consumers transactions), so we can now confidently say we can build an AI business for Korea," he said.
SK Telecom will build more than 1 GW of hyperscale AI data center (DC) infrastructure across Korea. The company plans to create an "AI infrastructure belt" by building the GPU cluster "Haein," the Ulsan AI DC in partnership with Amazon, and the Southwest AI DC in partnership with OpenAI.
SK Telecom is also participating in the government's national flagship AI model development project and passed the first-phase assessment. "Since we cannot invest on the same massive scale as big tech, we will identify demand in specialized areas where we can excel and build models suited to that demand," Jung said. "The foundation model under development is at least 500B in size." He added, "For AI agents, we are also targeting telecom-related AI agents, which is an area where we can do well."
Finally, he said the "Sagrada Familia"—a famous landmark in Barcelona—embodies the direction of beopgochangsin (upholding the old to create the new) that SK Telecom should pursue. "They say the tallest central spire of the basilica was completed after 144 years," Jung said. "While adhering to a framework of basics and principles, many people have built the structure through innovative yet creative changes along the way, and built that way, it seems it will be a building that endures forever."