Education Industry Accelerates Entry into AI-Driven B2B English Education Market

Simple Tasks Handled by AI, Relationships and Persuasion Remain Human Roles
English Skills Grow in Importance Amid Global Collaboration
AI Solutions Take Center Stage in the Corporate English Education Market

The education industry is accelerating the supply of artificial intelligence (AI)-based learning solutions to capture corporate demand for English education. This is because English communication skills have emerged as a core competency in the workplace due to the spread of remote work and global collaboration. In particular, as personalized learning using AI becomes possible, the growth of the B2B (business-to-business) English education market is expected to accelerate even further.

According to the education industry on October 24, more and more education companies are targeting the B2B market by offering English education solutions that incorporate AI technology. Weverse Brain, a company specializing in AI education, operates one-on-one AI video English coaching applications called "MaxAI" and "MaxAI World." "MaxAI," which was launched last year, recently introduced version 2.0, further improving the quality and stability of conversations with the AI tutor. The company is collaborating with over 150 companies, including Nongshim and Nexen Tire. In particular, "MaxAI World" converts materials owned by companies and institutions into learning content to provide industry-specific foreign language education. Weverse Brain also plans to expand its business to public institutions.

Employees of the Naver Webtoon HR team who participated in the 'Speak Challenge' awards ceremony and on-site event held at the Naver headquarters last June are taking a commemorative photo. Speak Easy Labs Korea

Speak Easy Labs Korea, which operates the AI English speaking app "Speak," is expanding its presence in the market through its corporate AI English learning solution, "Speak for Business." This solution offers minute-based learning content and industry- and job-specific customized curricula tailored to the work environment of office workers, supporting conversation-focused learning that can be used in real work situations. Recently, the company has been running the participatory program "Speak Challenge" at Naver Webtoon, POSCO International, and Hyundai DF, where employees achieve set learning goals every day for a month, thereby increasing employee learning retention. A Speak Easy Labs Korea representative stated, "We will continue to provide learning that is both practically helpful in the workplace and enjoyable to participate in."

The intensifying B2B competition is attributed to the rising value of "social skills" in recent times. According to the Bank of Korea's report, "The Increasing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market," released in June last year, the proportion of jobs requiring social skills such as cooperation and persuasion increased from 49% in 2008 to 56% in 2022, a 7 percentage point rise. During the same period, the share of jobs requiring mathematical thinking or technical skills for problem-solving increased by a smaller margin of 5 percentage points (from 50% to 55%). An analysis of average labor input by job type also showed that social work rose to 54.8 (on a percentile basis), outpacing both mathematical and repetitive work.

In terms of wages as well, the value of social skills is increasing. When an individual's social skills improve by one unit (one standard deviation), wage compensation was 4.4% higher from 2007 to 2015, but this gap widened to 5.9% from 2016 to 2020, an increase of 1.5 percentage points. In contrast, the value of cognitive skills decreased by 1.6 percentage points over the same period, from 10.9% to 9.3%. As AI rapidly replaces numerical calculation and analytical work, the value of uniquely human social skills such as persuasiveness and emotional understanding is being reassessed and reflected in employment structures and wage systems.

In particular, as remote work and global collaboration become routine, "practical speaking skills" for communication in English have become an essential competency in the workplace. According to the Korea TOEIC Committee, 70% (535 cases) of 722 major corporate job postings in the first half of this year (January to July) required TOEIC Speaking scores. Internally, as AI technology enables personalized learning for each employee, companies are increasingly adopting AI English education solutions as a means to strengthen employee competencies.