SK Group Sets AI Flywheel Strategy at 2026 CEO Seminar

By Grace Kim

About 50 chief executives from major SK Group (034730.KS) member companies gathered for the group’s 2026 CEO Seminar, held from the 12th through the 14th at the SKMS Institute in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.

SK Group disclosed the meeting on the 15th. Chairman Chey Tae-won, Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won and Chey Chang-won, chairman of the SUPEX Council, SK Group’s top management decision-making body, attended alongside the executives.

In a keynote on the seminar’s final day, Chey called on every affiliate to move beyond its existing business framework. He said: “We must break out of the framework of our existing businesses and redefine ourselves as ‘AI companies.’”

He added: “Let us build an ‘AI flywheel’ structure in which every member company finds a new role among the opportunities we have not yet discovered beyond our existing areas, connecting all the way through to AI services and the token economy.”

Chey also stressed: “In the AI era, no one can do everything alone. Raising our capabilities and speed through open cooperation with global partners is essential.”

SK’s core businesses are semiconductors, infrastructure and energy. The group intends to extend beyond them into service areas such as AI models and applications, while seeking a leading position in the “token economy,” a market where AI computing and services are traded as core resources.

Under the “AI flywheel,” a reinforcing cycle in which growth in one area drives growth in the next, competitive AI chips expand the AI factory business. That expansion creates demand for power, energy and AI services; competitive energy supply and broader service adoption then accelerate advanced-chip and AI factory innovation.

Executives agreed to identify still-undefined business opportunities around three pillars: AI chips, infrastructure and energy. Each member company will take the lead in carrying out its assigned role.

What does the AI flywheel change for SK’s businesses?

For SK, the practical change is that member companies must define roles within one cross-company growth cycle rather than limit business development to their existing boundaries. Their operations must connect to AI models, applications, services and the token economy.

Instead of hearing position reports, participants held in-depth discussions on one another’s business ideas from an outside perspective, seeking opportunities beyond the group’s established businesses.

SK executives also decided to advance “Portfolio Rebalancing 2.0,” which targets inefficient businesses and reinforces core operations. Capital allocation will use cash-generating capacity as a criterion, balancing financial soundness against future investment.

The group will spread a “hands-on AI transformation” across the organization, combining field expertise with data to generate profit and reform how employees work.

Where AI is already changing operations

• SK hynix (000660.KS): The company is improving production efficiency by adding AI and digital twin technology to its “smart fab,” or digitally managed chip-fabrication operation. A digital twin represents a physical process digitally.
• SK Innovation (096770.KS): The company has improved yields at its Ulsan Complex (CLX) through a process ontology, a formal representation that links equipment and operating data.
• SK Telecom (017670.KS): AI-based network and service automation are being used to transform work productivity and the customer experience.
• SK Gas: The company is accelerating decisions by applying AI to market-condition analysis and converting operational knowledge into an asset.

An SK official said: “This CEO seminar was an occasion to look back on the restructuring process so far and to review each member company’s role and execution tasks within the AI flywheel strategy. We will continue to build fundamental competitiveness based on our operations and strengthen our execution capabilities.”

The immediate operating agenda combines portfolio cleanup with AI deployments already underway. SK’s stated task is to connect chips, infrastructure, energy, AI services and token markets through defined member-company roles and external cooperation.