Home > Business > Industry

KT consolidates B2B units into AI-focused 'enterprise' division in restructuring

Published: 29 Nov. 2024, 18:00 Updated: 29 Nov. 2024, 18:01

LEE JAE-LIM
[email protected]

KT's headquarters in central Seoul [YONHAP]

Mobile carrier KT has consolidated its business-to-business (B2B) operations into a single “enterprise” entity in a major restructuring as the company transitions from its traditional sector of telecommunications to a new focus on AI.

The company's AI, cloud and platform B2B units will comprise the new enterprise division, which will provide services from product planning to deployment in all three spaces. A new media division was established, separating media operations from customer segments, to act as the control center for Genie TV, KT Skylife, KT Studio Genie and Genie Music.

KT's restructuring follows recent efforts to downsize the company's work force as part of its AI transition, in which total of 2,800 employees accepted voluntary resignation offers in early November. The company exceeded its earnings estimates for the three months through September, with corporate revenue for B2B services rising 2.5 percent on AI growth.

KT CEO Kim Young-shub emphasized the importance of efficient management of organizations and personnel to effectively transition to an AI Intelligence & Communication Technology (AICT) company, stating that the firm would “lead the B2B IT market through global collaborations while ensuring safe and advanced network operations.”

KT also said it would reorganize its consulting division into three areas under its AICT strategy, to transition from its mainstay telecommunications business to the AI sector.

The three organizations will respectively focus on IT strategy, exploring next-generation IT initiatives, and fostering partnerships with domestic and global tech firms such as Microsoft, with which it recently entered a five-year partnership worth 2.4 trillion won ($1.7 billion) to advance AI investments.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]