Establishing a Dedicated AI Team to Lead the 'Everyday AI' Era
Establishing a Fast and Clear Decision-Making Structure and Organization
Kakao announced on the morning of the 28th that it has newly appointed CEO Jung Shin-ah at the 29th regular general shareholders' meeting and board of directors held at Kakao's headquarters in Jeju Island.
Jung, who was appointed CEO last December, has served as the head of Kakao's Renewal Task Force (TF), co-chair of the CA Council, and chair of the Strategy Committee. He dedicated himself to setting the direction for Kakao's renewal and establishing detailed execution plans by conducting over 20 face-to-face meetings with more than 1,000 employees. Based on this, CEO Jung plans to vigorously promote securing new growth engines centered on artificial intelligence (AI) and establishing a responsible decision-making structure.
Kakao is forming an integrated AI organization by gathering related teams scattered across the company to intensify AI technology and services. Under this organization, multiple teams experimenting with various generative AI-based services will be created to promote rapid execution and strengthen research and development (R&D) capabilities. By combining Kakao’s platform development experience with the latest technologies, the company aims to lead the 'AI in everyday life' era.
To this end, Kakao has recruited Lee Sang-ho, former SKT Chief Technology Officer (CTO), as Chief AI Officer (CAIO). This CAIO is a leading domestic AI and data expert who has served as head of SKT’s AI Business Unit, head of Daum Search Division, founder and CEO of Dialoid, and head of Naver Search Quality Lab. Based on his expertise, experience, and understanding of Kakao’s culture, the CAIO will lead the overall development of AI technologies and services.
Kakao is also implementing an organizational restructuring to build systems commensurate with its rapidly growing business scale and to enable fast and clear decision-making befitting a tech company. The core is to simplify decision-making steps and streamline organizational and positional structures to clarify responsibilities and authority. The fragmented technical capabilities by business and purpose will also be consolidated to resolve technical debt and secure tech initiatives.
Furthermore, the company plans to flexibly build and operate organizations according to the nature of each business. Through this, Kakao aims to maximize its platform business capabilities and continuously provide the best customer experience to users.
Kakao has newly appointed internal and external directors with expertise to ensure responsible management and secure future growth engines. Alongside CEO Jung, Kwon Dae-yeol, chair of the CA Council ESG Committee, and Cho Seok-young, head of the CA Council Group Compliance Management Office, were appointed as new internal directors. They will actively communicate with various stakeholders and demonstrate expertise in establishing advanced governance systems and ethical management.
New external directors include Ham Chun-seung, CEO of PH&Company, and Cha Kyung-jin, professor specializing in Management Information Systems at Hanyang University. CEO Ham is a financial and capital market expert who previously served as CEO of Citigroup Global Markets Securities. Professor Cha is an expert in data and AI, expected to provide proactive advice on future growth strategies and business opportunity discovery based on his deep understanding of the field.
CEO Jung said, "We will accelerate the renewal process to achieve innovation that meets the expectations of internal and external stakeholders and shareholders," adding, "We will also secure new growth engines through AI-based service development that only Kakao can deliver."
At this regular shareholders' meeting, a total of eight agenda items were approved as originally proposed, including ▲appointment of directors ▲approval of financial statements ▲partial amendment of the articles of incorporation ▲appointment of audit committee members ▲approval of director remuneration limits ▲cancellation of treasury shares ▲revision of director retirement pay regulations ▲approval of stock option grants.
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