Koo Kwangmo: "Delve Into the Impossible"... LG Accelerates AX

Chairman Koo Calls for Powerful Innovation in 2026 New Year's Address
LG Energy Solution and LG Display Launch Organizational Restructuring
Boosting AI Execution to Enhance Efficiency and Core Competitiveness

Koo Kwangmo, Chairman of LG Group, has called for "powerful innovation" that goes beyond existing formulas for success amid rapidly changing technological paradigms and a fiercely competitive global environment. He made it clear that he recognizes the severity of the situation, stating, "Without intense focus that digs into areas others consider impossible, we cannot open a new future." Following his call to accelerate group-wide innovation based on "selection and concentration," affiliates such as LG Energy Solution have begun organizational restructuring to use artificial intelligence transformation (AX) as the starting point for innovation and to apply it across all areas of work.

Koo Kwangmo, Chairman of LG Group, stated in a New Year's message video delivered to domestic and international group members on the 22nd that "At the inflection point where a new future opens, new innovations that surpass the previous successful methods are necessary." LG Corporation

In a New Year's message video delivered to LG Group members both in Korea and abroad on December 22, Chairman Koo said, "The pace of change in the world is accelerating just as much as our efforts," and added, "At the inflection point where a new future opens, new innovations that surpass the previous successful methods are necessary." His "selection and concentration" strategy emphasizes choosing a single core value that resonates with customers and achieving outstanding value through intense focus.

Chairman Koo presented clear choices as the starting point for innovation, saying, "Only when we clarify a single, non-negotiable core value can we set the direction for innovation and unite our efforts." He continued, "After making that choice, we must dig in to the level others consider impossible," stressing, "Intense focus is what creates experiences that make customers feel things are truly different and delivers outstanding value that raises the bar for the world."

Following Chairman Koo's call for innovation, major LG Group affiliates are moving quickly. LG Energy Solution plans to regularly hold an "AI Transformation Conference" starting next year, led by Chief Digital Officer (CDO) Lee Jinkyu and attended by key executives. The conference will focus on how to build next-generation infrastructure through AX and how rapidly to execute the company's business strategies.

For LG Energy Solution's battery and energy storage system (ESS) business, managing cost, yield, and quality variance is crucial. In addition to intensifying competition with China, the expansion of local production in North America and Europe is increasing the capital expenditure burden. It is expected that regular meetings will lead to AI-based standardization of production infrastructure. This is seen not as a simple introduction of new technology, but as an effort to directly connect AI systems to company-wide investment, manufacturing, and quality decision-making processes.

LG Display recently transformed its Digital Transformation (DX) Group into the AX Group and elevated it to report directly to the CEO. Three executive-level positions have been newly established: ▲AI Big Data, ▲Supply Chain Management (SCM) AX, and ▲Development and Manufacturing AX. Among these, integrating AX into supply chain management is expected to enable immediate profitability simulations in response to material price fluctuations or adjustments to line operation rates. After ceding LCD leadership to China, LG Display has focused on the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) market, and given its technological edge, the company is now concentrating its strategy on securing structural competitiveness.

An industry official stated, "The AX that the group is focusing on is aimed more at enhancing productivity and fundamental competitiveness than at mere technological improvement," adding, "Under the core principle of selection and concentration, the emphasis is on rapid execution."