Daedong AI Lab appoints "AI expert” Choi Jun-ki as CEO
Daedong AI Lab appoints "AI expert” Choi Jun-ki as CEO
- Choi Jun-ki, Ph. D., previously led the AI business at KT... Expected to accelerate the development of agricultural AI and robot S/W, and also promote other related businesses
- With three subsidiaries and 70 research experts, the new AI & Robot Center will drive Daedong’s future businesses forward
- Daedong AI Lab’s new CEO and the AI & Robot Center are expected to generate synergy, and help the company train experts in agricultural AI and build up critical competencies
Daedong has recruited an AI expert and opened a new R&D center to boost the competitiveness of its AI and robot business.
Daedong (Co-CEOs Kim Jun-Sik and Won Yu-Hyun), a leader and pioneer in future agriculture, announced on September 2 that it appointed Choi Jun-ki, Ph. D., who had previously led KT's AI business division, as the CEO of Daedong AI Lab - Daedong Group’s AI robot S/W subsidiary - to add a new spark to its R&D activities in AI and robots.
Choi received his Ph. D. in computer science from KAIST and worked at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) before working at KT for 18 years, where he held key positions in the AI field. Perhaps most notably, Daedong AI Lab’s new CEO helped create and launch KT’s new AI speaker “Giga Genie” service, which secured 3 million subscribers, while working at KT’s AI/BigData business division. He then took charge of the AI Business division and oversaw the “Trust” initiative using generative AI as well as the KT MyData business, and led the Artificial Intelligence Call Center (AICC) business, recording double-digit sales growth (on average) in the B2B sector.
Daedong expects that Choi, as the new CEO of Daedong AI Lab, will contribute to platform-based smart agriculture and mobility businesses with his abundant experience in R&D and new ventures in the AI field, as well as secure the AI technology necessary for the “robotization of all Daedong Group products,” and thus contribute to the revitalization of Daedong’s robot business. To that end, Choi expressed his ambition to “add AI and robots to Daedong Group’s smart agricultural portfolio to make sure it becomes more competitive and also a global leader.”
In addition to recruiting one of the leading experts in AI, Daedong opened its new AI & Robot Center (Seocho-gu, Seoul), which is expected to serve as an R&D outpost for future businesses with a particular focus on data, AI, and robots. The Group’s subsidiaries and research centers operating in the AI and robot field, including Daedong Agtech, Daedong AI Lab, and Daedong-KIRO Robotics Center, moved into the new AI & Robot Center this month, meaning the Center already has more than 70 researchers and other staff working on AI and robots. These subsidiaries will share technologies and information in future business areas to accelerate the “AI Transformation” of Daedong Group through consistent communication and collaboration between researchers, and also facilitate the development of AI-powered agricultural and industrial robots.
More specifically, Daedong Agtech will be in charge of building a platform commonly used in smart agricultural machinery, agricultural robots, precision agriculture, etc. by utilizing ICT, AI, and big data from agricultural applications, whereas the Daedong-KIRO Robotics Center will be tasked with solutions such as electric technology and driving control needed in driving platforms for robots and mobility devices.
Meanwhile, Daedong AI Lab will focus on developing AI for agriculture and robots mounted on the platform and hardware, and create synergy in the R&D for AI and robots. The Lab plans to develop an autonomous driving on-device AI mounted on agricultural machines such as tractors, an AI Agent for smart farm and precision agriculture customers, and the Daedong Robot Foundation model for multi-functional robots capable of performing a variety of tasks required in agriculture. Superior data and a deep understanding of agriculture secured from places such as Daedong’s Connected Agricultural Machinery Demonstration Complex will serve as the competitive edge Daedong needs in creating competitive AI solutions.
Meanwhile, the three companies that have moved into the AI & Robot Center are working closely with each other to push robot development projects forward. The first couple of products coming out of this arrangement is expected to be a pest control robot and a level 4 autonomous driving tractor.