KIAT Selects "Top 10 Promising Industries" Including Humanoids and Low-Carbon Materials

Presenting a Growth Roadmap for Industry in Line with AI-Driven Transformation Policies in Manufacturing

The Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) on February 11 announced its selection of the "Top 10 Promising Industries for 2026," in line with the trend of artificial intelligence (AI) becoming embedded across all industries.

KIAT presented 10 sectors as promising industries for 2026: intelligent edge system semiconductors, sensor-fusion intelligent displays, AI-based manned–unmanned teaming systems, autonomous agent AI, autonomous-process platforms, humanoids, distributed energy storage systems, low-carbon manufacturing materials, bio-med data, and robotic mobility.

In the process of selecting these promising industries, KIAT derived key themes for 2026 by analyzing global megatrends and policy and technology issues, and on this basis defined four major domains and eight sectors: "strategic autonomy," "convergence innovation," "energy transition," and "future leap." It then conducted a comprehensive review of domestic and overseas patent and paper keywords, industrial growth drivers, and policy support factors, while also carrying out a public survey to reflect the level of social interest and awareness.

In particular, this year KIAT pilot-tested the use of generative AI tools to structure and analyze global outlook data and policy documents. It then enhanced reliability and objectivity by having the results validated by 93 experts from industry, academia, and research institutes. Since 2021, KIAT has been selecting promising industries every year and continuously advancing its data-based analytical methodology.

The selected promising industries will be reflected in policy-making and project planning, including improvements to laws and institutions, technology support, and talent development. KIAT explained that they will also be used in connection with research and development (R&D), the establishment of demonstration infrastructure, and the training of specialized personnel, so that the effort can extend all the way to direct corporate support.

KIAT President Min Byungjoo said, "Now in its sixth year, KIAT's selection of promising industries goes beyond technology- or issue-centric forecasts to jointly consider industrial growth trends and the spillover effects of policy support," adding, "We will strengthen support aligned with the policy stance on AI-driven transformation of manufacturing, in order to respond to environmental changes in which AI is becoming embedded across all industries."

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