LINE WORKS Celebrates 10 Years in Japan, Dominates B2B Market..."Solving Problems with AI Technology"

LINE WORKS Ranks No. 1 Business Messenger for 7 Consecutive Years
"B2B Software Export Case is the Largest Yet"
Integrating AI into Senior Welfare with 'Carecall'
"Solving Social Issues with AI Aligns with the 'Sovereign AI' Philosophy"

"We aim to become a globally recognized partner through field-oriented B2B services based on cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies."

Kim Yuwon, CEO of Naver Cloud, made this statement at a press conference held on the afternoon of the 9th at the Hilton Hotel in Osaka, Japan, as he unveiled the major achievements of the business collaboration tool 'LINE WORKS' over the past ten years and shared the future direction of the company's B2B business in Japan.

Kim stated, "AI technology has tremendous potential," and added, "I believe that using this potential to propose solutions for the needs of our society aligns with the philosophy of 'Sovereign AI.'"

Kim Yuwon, CEO of Naver Cloud, is making a presentation at a press conference held at the Hilton Hotel in Osaka, Japan, on the afternoon of the 9th. Provided by Naver Cloud

This press conference was organized to commemorate the 10th anniversary of LINE WORKS' entry into Japan and the introduction of the AI care call service, Carecall, in Japan. Kim emphasized, "Solving social issues faced by each country through technology is the ultimate direction that Naver Cloud pursues through B2B, and it is also the philosophy of Sovereign AI."

LINE WORKS marks 10 years in Japan, solidifies its position as No. 1 business messenger

Kim Yuwon, CEO of Naver Cloud (left), is answering questions at a press conference held on the afternoon of the 9th at the Hilton Hotel in Osaka, Japan. Provided by Naver Cloud

LINE WORKS was first launched in Japan in 2015 under the name Works Mobile. With features focused on the workplace, ease of use, and a user experience (UX) optimized for mobile, it quickly increased its share in the Japanese business messenger market.

According to Japanese market research firm Fuji Chimera, LINE WORKS has maintained the No. 1 market share in the paid business messenger segment for seven consecutive years since 2017. In 2023, its market share rose to 41%. Annual revenue has grown by about 40% each year, and as of July 2025, annual recurring revenue (ARR) surpassed 16 billion yen (approximately 150 billion won). Kim emphasized, "In terms of B2B software exports, I believe this is the largest case not only for Naver but also for all of Korea."

Focusing on the fact that Japan's industrial structure has more field workers, such as sales and store staff, than office workers, LINE WORKS was designed as an easy-to-use messaging-based app. This approach proved effective. Although global collaboration tools with high market shares, such as Salesforce's Slack and Microsoft's Teams, have also entered the Japanese market, they were introduced without localization, requiring Japanese customers to learn how to use them.

The company also successfully targeted Japanese customers' preference for separating personal and business messengers. Kim explained, "Even I do not know the personal contact information of Shimaoka, the CEO of LINE WORKS," adding, "The fact that we tapped into a culture where business chat is clearly separated from daily life became a driving force for growth."

Naver Cloud plans to further evolve LINE WORKS into an AI-based business platform. Already, various features have been introduced to LINE WORKS, including the AI voice recording service 'Ai Note,' the speech-to-text (STT) service 'Roger,' the call answering service 'Ai Call,' the AI analytics cloud camera 'Vision,' and the image recognition-based document processing function 'OCR.'

LINE WORKS will continue to expand its range of AI features that enhance work efficiency, including the 'AI Agent' function, which automatically analyzes and processes repetitive tasks using AI.

AI makes care calls to seniors..."Bringing AI to sites slow to digitize"

Donghoe Kim, Director of AI Solutions and Clova Carecall JP, is presenting at a press conference held on the afternoon of the 9th at the Hilton Hotel Osaka. Provided by Naver Cloud

'Carecall' is an example of applying AI to welfare sites with a high dependence on human labor. Recently, Izumo City in Shimane Prefecture, Japan, signed an agreement with Naver Cloud to introduce the AI care call service Carecall. This is the first case in Japan where AI has been applied to phone check-in tasks previously performed directly by welfare workers.

Donghoe Kim, Director of AI Solutions and Clova Carecall JP, explained, "Previously, each care manager was responsible for managing about 70 seniors," adding, "With Carecall now handling status checks for seniors, managers can focus more on directly caring for them."

Kim Yuwon stated, "Both Carecall and LINE WORKS are examples of integrating AI technology into sites that have been slow to digitize," and added, "Although they started in different fields, both are using AI to supplement workplaces where the human workforce is gradually decreasing."

In the subsequent Q&A session, Kim discussed Naver Cloud's global market entry strategy, saying, "It is financially burdensome to compete one-on-one with global cloud providers such as Microsoft or Amazon Web Services (AWS) in advanced markets like the United States or Japan," and explained, "We are focusing on vertical (specialized) software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions with clear use cases."

He also stated that the LINE Yahoo incident would have no impact on Naver Cloud's business in Japan. Kim explained, "There have been concerns related to LINE, but the fact that there has been no recent discussion means the issues have been well resolved," adding, "We have taken various safety measures in response to concerns, and there have been no artificial adjustments in terms of capital. LINE WORKS is collaborating as a good partner with LINE."

Regarding the impact of the relationship with LINE on Naver Cloud's future business, Kim stated, "Naver Cloud's business and LINE have never been closely related," and added, "Since Naver Cloud has not provided infrastructure to LINE, even if the infrastructure is separated, there will be no impact on revenue."

Kim also added, "I believe that clearly distinguishing between what LINE does and what Naver does will prevent confusion for Japanese customers."