Hong Beomsik, LGU+ President, "To Compete with the Global Top 1%, Management Innovation is Necessary"

"Domestic Companies Must Also Meet Global Standards"
Becoming a CEO That '30-Something Startup CEOs' Want to Work With
Overall Management Approach Must Change... "Competing With the Top 1%"

Hong Beom-sik, CEO of LG Uplus, emphasized the need to innovate overall management methods to win in competition with the global top 1-2%.

On the 19th (local time), Hong held a casual meeting with the press at LG Technology Ventures located in San Jose, California, USA, stating, "We believe that if we fall even slightly behind the speed of this world, it could become difficult, and we feel a strong sense of crisis."

Hong Beomsik, President of LG Uplus, is having a meeting with the press on the afternoon of the 19th (local time) at LG Technology Ventures located in San Jose, California, USA. Photo by LG Uplus

Having emphasized the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) development during his first 100 days in office, Hong visited the U.S. to attend NVIDIA's annual developer conference 'GTC 2025' held in San Jose.

When asked, "What do you want to change at LG Uplus?" he replied, "I would like to change the overall management approach."

He added, "From the perspective of G7 countries, Korean companies used to compete with the remaining 98%, but now they must compete with the last 1-2%. The organizational management model going forward will be different from the model of the past 30 years."

He further explained, "Now, it is difficult for one smart person to lead many because the members already know a lot. When each individual combines their strengths, collective intelligence emerges, creating the possibility to win within the competition of the top 1-2%."

He also said, "Although LG Uplus is a domestic company, I think we must align our standards with global standards. Korean customers' expectations have already risen significantly." He emphasized, "Naturally, we have no choice but to become an 'AI company.'"

He remarked, "Participants paid over $2,000 each to attend GTC. How good must the products be for about 20,000 people to pay that much to listen to advertisements?" He added, "Not just as the CEO of LG, but as a Korean, I hope such a company emerges in Korea."

Hong stressed that LG Uplus must also change its paradigm of thinking. He said, "There are only a few companies in Korea leading the AI field worldwide. I wonder how we can overcome this situation together."

He continued, "I believe that services in the graphics processing unit (GPU) field will be the most influential business area in the future. There are several stages within the GPU cloud sector, and we are considering which stage we should enter to demonstrate leadership."

He said that CEOs like himself should take the lead and become people who want to work well with '30-something startup CEOs.'

He explained, "In the AI era, startups might collaborate with us. The reason for investing in startups is to understand future prospects and prepare from now on."

He also emphasized the intention to enhance the functionality of LG Uplus's AI call application 'IXIO.' Hong said, "We want to create a solid AI in the telecommunications area," and added, "We are considering overseas expansion." He mentioned that he met with representatives from the IT company Google during the GTC period.

Hong Beom-sik, President of LG Uplus, is having a meeting with the press on the afternoon of the 19th (local time) at LG Technology Ventures located in San Jose, California, USA. Photo by LG Uplus

Regarding the open source 'ExaOne' being developed by the affiliate LG AI Research, he said, "Using their engine is advantageous for us and inevitably beneficial for ExaOne as well," adding, "We are a company that can meaningfully collaborate with ExaOne within the enterprise."

He lamented that while data center development is essential, it is difficult to attempt due to massive investment requirements. Hong explained, "You need to put GPUs into data centers to train and file patents, but it is hard for anyone to lend them readily and make huge investments. Nevertheless, operators are trying to find ways to break through."