[KT CEO Candidate] ① Cha Sang-gyun with Experience in Large Corporations and Global Firms: "Serving the Nation"

SAP Rises to a Market Cap of 213 Trillion Won with HANA
Involved in Decision-Making at SAP Until 2018
National Scholarship Recipient... Donated 1 Billion Won to Seoul National University

Editor's NoteThe fateful week to decide the head of KT Group, with annual sales of 25 trillion won, has begun. KT will conduct in-depth interviews with three candidates early next month: Kim Young-seop, former CEO of LG CNS; Park Yoon-young, former head of KT's Enterprise Division (President); and Professor Cha Sang-kyun of Seoul National University. If a sole CEO candidate is recommended smoothly after the interviews, an extraordinary shareholders' meeting will be convened immediately. Approval of the CEO requires a special resolution at the shareholders' meeting, with over 60% of the shares present voting in favor. This article provides an in-depth introduction to the three candidates for KT, a company of national importance.

Professor Cha Sang-kyun of Seoul National University is well known for developing HANA, the world's first in-memory database (DB) platform. HANA means "one" in Korean and signifies the integration of database and processing unit into one. The currently commercialized HANA platform is used by leading global companies such as Google, Amazon, Meta, Intel, and HP. The large-scale memory computing market pioneered by Professor Cha has evolved into today's cloud computing market.

Sangkyun Cha, Dean of the Graduate School of Data Science, Seoul National University / Photo by Honam Moon munonam@

The Core Behind SAP's Present Success

What is noteworthy is that Professor Cha is not just a technical expert. Recognized as a global expert in artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, he is a key figure behind the current success of SAP, Germany's largest software company by market capitalization. From 2005 to 2018, he served as an advisor to SAP, playing a central role as a key executive in the company's growth. Reviewing his experience at SAP disproves the claim that he lacks experience in large corporations. SAP is one of the world's leading global companies. As of the 31st, SAP's market capitalization stood at 152.2 billion euros (approximately 213 trillion won). Last year's revenue was 30.8 billion euros (43 trillion won), with an operating profit of 4.8 billion euros (6.7 trillion won). Ten years ago, in 2013, revenue was 16.8 billion euros (23 trillion won).

The story goes back to 2002. Together with 12 students from Seoul National University, he founded a venture company called 'TIM' in Silicon Valley, USA. They researched technology that distributed, compressed, and stored large-scale databases in memory for real-time analysis. The know-how accumulated during his time as a Seoul National University professor began to bear fruit. In 2005, SAP showed interest in this technology and proposed a merger and acquisition (M&A). After handing over his company, Professor Cha continued to lead development efforts, spearheading the creation of the in-memory DB platform. This was the beginning of 'SAP HANA,' now used by over 30,000 companies worldwide.

Professor Cha is regarded as a core figure in creating the SAP HANA ecosystem. He also received mentoring and management training from Hasso Plattner, SAP's co-founder and another key figure. The journey was not always smooth. At one point, there was an internal power struggle within SAP aimed at ousting Professor Cha. However, holding the core technology, he overcame this challenge with his expertise. In 2008, he persuaded Kwon Oh-hyun, then head of Samsung Electronics' Semiconductor Division and now an honorary advisor, to secure a 1TB high-density memory that had not yet been released to the market. This was a turning point that allowed the project to be pushed company-wide. The result was SAP's dominance in the in-memory platform market. It is said that Professor Cha's judgment and determination changed the market landscape.

◆ A Sole Belief in Serving the Nation

It is not widely known that he was involved with SAP until recently. Professor Cha is currently a professor at Seoul National University. The prestigious title of Korea's top national university makes openly showcasing achievements somewhat delicate. However, the industry is well aware of Professor Cha's accomplishments and reputation. The reason he was selected as the recipient of the Samsung Ho-Am Prize in Engineering last year was in recognition of his contributions.

Professor Cha has received numerous offers to start new ventures from Silicon Valley. There were also tempting proposals promising substantial financial rewards. However, he declined all and decided to join the establishment of the Big Data Research Institute following recommendations from the Future Research Committee led by Professor Lim Ji-soon of Seoul National University's Department of Physics. Vice President of Research Lee Joon-sik and Director of Research Sung Noh-hyun recommended Professor Cha as the head of the new institute. This marked the beginning of the 'Graduate School of Data Science.' He became the inaugural dean of the graduate school. The national policy to nurture one million digital talents, the 'Comprehensive Plan for Digital Talent Development,' also originated from Professor Cha's ideas.

The reason he accepted Seoul National University's call without hesitation lies in his past. Professor Cha was a government-sponsored scholarship student. Due to his family's financial situation, studying abroad was a distant dream, but with state support, he was able to earn his doctorate at Stanford University. At that time, Economic Secretary Kim Jae-ik significantly increased the number of government-sponsored students, making this possible. Always feeling deeply grateful to the nation, Professor Cha has long held the intention to serve the country someday. This philosophy underpins both his past attempt to become Seoul National University's president and his current bid for KT's CEO position. He was also awarded a plaque of appreciation for donating 1 billion won to Seoul National University.

True Expert Unrelated to External Pressures

KT has always faced 'external pressure' controversies whenever it appoints a new CEO. Among the three candidates for the next CEO, there are no politicians, but rumors of external influence persist. These relate to suspicions connected to Kyungbuk National University High School. Coincidentally, both Professor Cha and former CEO Kim Young-seop are alumni of this school. Controversy arose when it was revealed that Lee Jong-seop, elder brother of Lee Kwan-seop, the Chief of National Planning, is also an alumnus of Kyungbuk National University High School.

Sangkyun Cha, Dean of the Graduate School of Data Science, Seoul National University / Photo by Honam Moon munonam@

However, Professor Cha is distant from politics. He has devoted his life to research and global business. In fact, some say his lack of political ties is a disadvantage. During his seven years as a KT board member, he was known as a 'moderate reformist.' He opposed the reappointment of former CEO Hwang Chang-gyu, who was involved in various scandals, and reportedly clashed with former CEO Ku Hyeon-mo. Unlike typical outside directors who are often called 'rubber stamps,' he actively voiced his opinions when matters conflicted with his principles. Because of this, there are even claims that he was ostracized by management.

Another strength of Professor Cha is his network in Silicon Valley, including connections with SAP. His career and network align well with KT's vision. KT is focusing on AI business as its future growth engine and faces the critical task of transforming from a domestic-oriented company into a global enterprise. In this regard, Professor Cha is evaluated as having superior competitiveness compared to other candidates. He also has a deep understanding of the telecommunications industry. Before pursuing his doctorate, his major was electrical and electronic engineering, the foundation of telecommunications. As an AI expert, he is confident in innovative startups and global market development. It is said that Professor Cha has expressed to acquaintances his determination to engage in fair competition for KT's future vision and strategy as a national company.