Samil PwC: "Korean AI Agents Should Focus on Specialized Models in Healthcare and Beauty"

Publication of AI Agent Strategy Report

As the new government accelerates efforts to formulate policies with the goal of becoming one of the "top three AI powerhouses," there are claims that, for South Korea to secure competitiveness in next-generation AI agent technology, it should focus on developing models specialized in specific fields rather than general-purpose models to target niche markets.

On July 21, Samil PwC announced the publication of its report, "The Age of Agents: Giving Wings to AI," which contains these insights. The report was prepared to examine the concept of AI agents, the development trends among major companies, and to provide strategic direction for South Korea.

The report diagnoses that AI agents are emerging as a bridge from the current "conversational AI" to "physical AI," such as autonomous vehicles and humanoids. Unlike existing AI models that simply respond briefly to user queries, AI agents go a step further by autonomously analyzing, making decisions, and utilizing external data and tools. They are expected to serve as more specialized assistants than traditional language models in both personal daily life and corporate operations. According to market research firm Grand View Research, the global AI agent market is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 46%, reaching $50.3 billion by 2030.

The report goes on to compare the current status of domestic and international companies engaged in fierce competition in technology development, mentioning that in South Korea, cloud companies, telecommunications providers, and major platform companies are entering the AI agent market. Overseas, companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI are developing general-purpose agent models capable of handling a variety of tasks, while specialized models have also been released, such as Google’s coding AI agent and Amazon’s shopping AI agent.

The report suggests that, given the limited experience of domestic companies in developing large language models, South Korea should focus on developing models specialized in specific fields rather than general-purpose models to secure competitiveness in the AI agent market. In particular, it recommends a strategy of developing specialized agents in fields where South Korea has strengths, such as healthcare, beauty, and manufacturing.

Additionally, the report foresees opportunities for demand creation in "Guardian Agents," which are automated control technologies that support the safe use of AI. The report emphasizes, "If highly autonomous agents are introduced into industries, the potential scale of damage from malfunctions or misuse could be very large," and stresses the importance of developing technologies that can monitor and track AI behavior and adjust or block actions when necessary.

The report further advises that preparations should be made for future AI services to be embedded in physical hardware such as humanoids. To this end, it will be necessary to establish collaborative frameworks with key players in the robotics value chain to explore convergence between AI and hardware in advance.

The report points out, "We must not neglect technological independence by relying excessively on overseas AI foundation models," and advises that the development of proprietary AI foundational technologies should be pursued in parallel to achieve "Sovereign AI."

Jung Jaeguk, Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) Industry Leader (Partner) at Samil PwC, stated, "In the era of AI transformation that will be accelerated by AI agents, AI sovereignty is both an advanced language representing the nation and a source of competitiveness," adding, "We must foster future competitiveness through proactive investment with a long-term perspective."