LG Uplus Appoints Hwang Gyubyeol, Former AT&T Executive, as New CDO

Data Expert with Experience at DirecTV, AT&T, and WarnerMedia... Leading Digital Transformation

Hwang Gyu-byeol, the new Chief Data Officer (CDO) of LG Uplus.

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Eun-mo] LG Uplus has decided to foster its data business as a key new business alongside digital transformation (DX) this year and has recruited top experts in this field to actively promote the business.

On the 17th, LG Uplus announced the appointment of Executive Director Hwang Gyu-byeol as the new Chief Data Officer (CDO). Earlier, President Hwang Hyun-sik stated in his New Year's address that the company would closely examine plans for data, advertising, and content commercialization and focus on securing talent and capabilities. Following the recruitment of Lee Deok-jae, a media content expert, as Chief Content Officer (CCO), LG Uplus consecutively appointed Executive Director Hwang as CDO.

CDO Hwang is a data business expert who began his career analyzing customer relationship management (CRM) systems at Delta Air Lines in the U.S., served as Senior Director of Business Analysis at DirecTV, led content intelligence and big data at AT&T, and held executive roles responsible for product, data platforms, and data monetization at WarnerMedia. LG Uplus recruited CDO Hwang, recognizing his experience and expertise at major U.S. telecommunications and media companies, to oversee digital transformation. Hwang will lead not only the data business but also LG Uplus's artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and company-wide digital transformation activities.

This year, LG Uplus plans to expand AI and big data to provide differentiated digital experiences to customers using telecommunication services. The company will focus on offering personalized recommendations for devices, plans, and promotions through digital channels such as its homepage and U+Shop, and quickly resolving customer inconveniences via chatbots.

At customer centers, LG Uplus aims to improve operational efficiency through AI call centers (AICC) and leverage this technology across various industries such as finance and retail to achieve results in its business-to-business (B2B) operations. Additionally, it is upgrading big data analytics to improve subscription processes for corporate clients and enhance commercial area analysis services for small office/home office (SOHO) customers.

Moreover, AI will automatically classify customer complaints and types of consultation calls and predict situations where network quality may deteriorate. Using this, LG Uplus will create a model of potential customer dissatisfaction indices to proactively pursue a ‘zero customer complaints’ initiative.

Furthermore, LG Uplus plans to promote data businesses that deepen customer understanding and enhance customer value in both telecommunications and non-telecommunications sectors by discovering synergies through data partnerships with non-telecom industries and expanding into various data businesses. In particular, the company aims to obtain qualification for the financial MyData business within this year and focus on generating results in the data business by launching ‘lifestyle value services’ that innovate customer experiences based on data.

To strengthen DX capabilities, LG Uplus intends to build a machine learning operations (ML Ops) platform and a data lake to carry out internal DX projects and enhance agility in DX promotion by nurturing data analysis experts within business departments.

Hwang Gyu-byeol, CDO of LG Uplus, stated, “I will take the lead in creating business outcomes related to the digital transformation of the telecommunications business, AI, and data,” and added, “We will promote company-wide activities to strengthen AI, big data, and DX capabilities to play a central role in transforming LG Uplus into a digital innovation company.”