Huh Tae Soo: "Combining Digital and Traditional Technologies Is GS's New Growth Engine"

At the 4th Group Hackathon, Chairman Huh Encourages Employees and Answers Questions
"If AI Is Integrated into Petrochemicals, New Business Models Will Emerge"
"Defining the Problem Is Most Important... Focus on the Customer Perspective"

GS Group is accelerating its strategy for "on-site problem-solving artificial intelligence (AI)." Chairman Huh Tae Soo is actively encouraging employees to utilize the company's AI platform, emphasizing, "Defining the problem is the most important task. The answer should be found from the customer experience, not from the company's perspective."

At the 4th GS Group Hackathon held on September 8 at the Harmony Ballroom of Parnas in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Chairman Huh personally explained the company's approach to AI adoption, as well as its balanced strategy amid sluggish core businesses. When asked by the press about the potential for monetizing AI, he responded, "AI itself is not the goal. The more on-site problems we identify, the more they accumulate to enhance customer satisfaction, and sales will naturally increase. AI can only function properly when there is sufficient on-site domain knowledge."

Huh Tae-soo, chairman of GS Group, is answering questions from the press at the 4th GS Group Hackathon held on the 8th at The Westin Seoul Parnas in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. GS

Regarding GS's self-developed AI transformation platform "MISO," he stated that the focus was placed more on employee convenience and resolving on-site challenges than on business profitability. He explained, "We improved billing, security, and work suitability so that employees can use AI without inconvenience. When AI is applied, it can solve on-site problems that could not be resolved in the past, allowing employees to focus on improving the customer experience."

When asked whether all employees can utilize AI, he replied, "It has already become part of our organizational culture." Chairman Huh added, "Within our in-house innovation organization '52G (Open Innovation GS),' 7,000 employees have already received training. Sharing and downloading assignments through the application has become a routine part of our operations."

In response to questions about the underperformance of core businesses such as oil refining and energy, he acknowledged, "It is true that our foundational businesses are stagnant." However, he projected, "If we integrate AI into businesses like oil, petrochemicals, and gas, new business models can emerge." He further stated, "The combination of digital and traditional technologies will become a new growth engine for GS." Regarding additional investment plans for the second half of the year, he briefly commented, "I will discuss that next time."

Huh Tae Soo, chairman of GS Group, is encouraging participating employees at the 4th GS Group Hackathon held on the 8th at The Westin Seoul Parnas in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. GS

This year's hackathon saw a record participation of 837 people from 58 companies (256 teams). Participants proposed on-site projects such as improving the efficiency of new product operations at convenience stores, safety guidance at gas stations, heat demand forecasting, and automating power plant work documents. Chairman Huh visited each team, advising, "Start with simple tasks and expand quickly," and "Find data in customer behavior." In particular, he emphasized the importance of defining problems from the perspective of customer experience to the GS Retail team, saying, "Sales performance is just company data; what matters more is why customers buy or don't buy."

GS plans to expand its focus on increasing on-site applicability, at a time when the domestic AI discourse is centered on infrastructure such as semiconductor chips and large language models (LLMs). Chairman Huh stated, "When employees' on-site knowledge is combined with generative AI, we can find the key to problem-solving. AI only realizes its value when it is applied to real business. GS will actively develop and share platforms and use cases to help advance South Korea's AI ecosystem."