"AI·Robot Gambit" KT Koo Geon-mo Team Recruits 'World-Renowned Scholar' Dennis Hong

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] KT announced on the 25th that it has recruited key talents in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) to leap beyond the framework of a telecommunications company and become a digital platform company, a ‘Digico.’

This reflects the will of CEO Koo Hyun-mo, who desires unparalleled leadership in the ABC (Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Cloud) domain. The strategy is to become a top-tier company in the AI field, the future growth engine, through recruiting smart young talents and focused investment.

Professor Denis Hong

▲Recruitment of Top AI and Robotics Talents Including World-Renowned Robotics Authority Professor Dennis Hong

As its first move of the new year, KT recruited Professor Dennis Hong, a world-renowned authority in robotics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as an advisor. Han Bo-hyung, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University, was appointed as an advisor for ‘deep learning and AI image recognition’ technology, and Dr. Bae Soon-min was recruited as the head of the AI2XL (AI To Everything Lab) research institute.

Through recruiting outstanding talents, KT plans to strengthen AI technology, the core growth engine of the future, and advance its AI business strategy to lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution era.

Professor Dennis Hong is a distinguished scholar who has received awards such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) ‘Young Scientist Award,’ the ‘GM Young Investigator Award,’ and the ‘SAE Education Award’ from the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). He was also named one of the ‘Top 10 Young Genius Scientists’ by the world-renowned science magazine Popular Science. After serving as a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Virginia Tech and director of the RoMeLa Robotics Laboratory, as well as working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he currently serves as the director of the Robotics Mechanisms Laboratory at UCLA RoMeLa.

Professor Dennis Hong agreed with CEO Koo Hyun-mo’s vision to elevate KT’s robotics technology competitiveness to a global top level and decided to join KT. He will serve as an advisor across the entire robotics business and will play a role in expanding the domestic robotics industry market by judging and consulting at robotics startup competitions.

Professor Han Bo-hyung earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer engineering from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Maryland. In 2015, he won first place in the object tracking algorithm competition ‘VOT (Visual Object Tracking) Challenge’ at ICCV (International Conference on Computer Vision), an international conference in the field of AI pattern recognition. He also received the ‘AI Focused Research Award’ selected by Google in 2018 and has been conducting joint research for three years. Going forward, Professor Han will advise on the direction of technology development that can address social and ethical issues related to AI and machine learning, as well as research and development of the latest AI and deep learning technologies.

The keyword for this talent recruitment is ‘innovation.’ For the first time in its history, KT appointed a research institute head born in the 1980s, injecting young blood with innovation and creativity. Dr. Bae Soon-min will serve as the head of the newly established AI2XL research institute within the Convergence Technology Institute, presenting strategies for making AI the number one technology and playing a pivotal role in KT’s growth as a digital platform company.

Dr. Bae graduated from the Department of Computer Science at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from MIT. She led research and development in robotics, CCTV, video, and avatar AI at Samsung Techwin and Naver. As a Vision AI expert, Dr. Bae will present a multifaceted blueprint for qualitative growth in KT’s AI overall strategy and AI field. Vision AI refers to AI that replicates human visual recognition capabilities.

In addition, KT recruited Lee Sang-ho, who served as the head of the Robotics Business Division at ABB Korea and oversaw the entire business division, as the head of the AI Robot Business Unit in the AI·DX Convergence Business Division. Executive Director Lee is responsible for AI robot business models and product development. He will also develop service platforms that lead changes in customers’ lives, securing new growth engines for KT.

▲Establishment of R&D Win-Win Triangular Belt... Expected to Serve as an ‘ABC Nurturing Cradle’ Where AI Talents Can Freely Conduct Research

KT is building an R&D (Research and Development) win-win triangular belt in Yangjae-Pangyo-Bundang to foster a venture and startup symbiotic ecosystem and nurture digital New Deal projects represented by the ICT industry, cultivating it as a cradle for advanced ABC technologies.

The new Pangyo headquarters, located in Sujeong-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, is expected to establish itself as a space for developing and demonstrating KT’s future convergence technologies and collaborating with ventures and startups in a win-win manner.

KT will lease office space free of charge for up to 10 years to nurture ventures and startups with excellent technology. This accounts for about 20% of the total office space in the Pangyo new headquarters. In Pangyo, where IT ventures and startups are concentrated, KT will actively provide opportunities for global expansion, promote networking among companies, and support consulting linked to KT’s ABC business. The completion of the Pangyo new headquarters is scheduled for the second half of 2022.

The KT Umyeon Research Center, which was in charge of KT’s R&D business, will oversee the development of foundational technologies to lead future growth industries and provide testbed programs such as the 5G Open Lab for ventures and startups moving into the Pangyo new headquarters. It is also expected to become a hub for producing global-level R&D outcomes through research exchanges with resident companies.

The KT Bundang headquarters tower will support securing AI core technologies such as next-generation AI video and voice recognition and analysis technologies and data intelligence that predicts optimal decisions based on big data. Additionally, it will be used as a specialized educational space for nurturing AI talents both inside KT and for ventures and startups located in Pangyo.

CEO Koo said, “KT will enhance innovation in advanced technologies together with world-class AI scholars and increase understanding of new businesses to leap as the number one Digico. We will focus on technologies and businesses that make customers’ lives more valuable.” He also emphasized that the R&D win-win triangular belt connecting Pangyo, Bundang, and Yangjae will play a role in amplifying the multiplier effect across the entire Korean industry.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.