Leading Korean enterprises are now strategically integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into their core business processes, moving beyond mere pilot projects. This significant shift in AI adoption was highlighted by the top executives of Google Korea and Google Cloud Korea at a recent industry event.
“Korea has historically served as a global testbed during pivotal technological transitions, such as the shift from desktop to mobile,” stated Brandon Yoon, Country Managing Director of Google Korea, at the Google AI for Business 2026 event held in Seoul. “In the current AI era, it has transformed into a dynamic battleground where the world’s foremost AI innovators compete intensely. The advancements and strategies deployed here frequently set precedents for other international markets.”
Yoon further emphasized Korea’s evolution from an early adopter to a crucial market where global artificial intelligence companies strive to demonstrate tangible, real-world business value and robust return on investment (ROI) for their solutions.
This year’s event marked a strategic convergence, combining Google’s annual Google Marketing Live conference with Google Cloud’s AI Live and Labs. This integration underscores the accelerating fusion of marketing strategies, enterprise technology solutions, and cutting-edge artificial intelligence capabilities.
Ruth Sun, Managing Director of Google Cloud Korea, reiterated that Korean companies are transitioning from experimental AI initiatives to comprehensive, enterprise-wide deployments. A key driver for this change is the demand for clear, measurable returns on their AI investments.
Sun cited Samsung Electronics as a prime example of this advanced AI integration. Employees at Samsung are leveraging Gemini Enterprise, Google’s advanced workplace AI platform, to significantly enhance their daily productivity. Furthermore, the two companies are collaboratively developing customized AI agents designed to tackle more intricate and specialized tasks.
“We are observing a fundamental shift where employees are moving beyond simple information retrieval, proactively utilizing AI to solve complex business challenges,” Sun noted.
Another notable case is CJ Olive Young, which is deploying Gemini Enterprise across its diverse operations, including merchandising, marketing, and in-store management. Remarkably, employees without traditional coding expertise are empowered to build sophisticated AI tools for analyzing market data. Concurrently, store staff are utilizing multi-modal inputs – text, image, and voice – to efficiently manage inventory and optimize store operations.
Yoon highlighted that Korean companies are not content with generic, off-the-shelf AI models.
“These organizations are actively seeking to combine advanced AI models with their unique proprietary data, specialized expertise, and established workflows. This approach allows them to forge distinctive capabilities that provide a significant competitive advantage and are difficult for competitors to replicate,” he explained.
He also added that the Korean workforce generally perceives artificial intelligence as a powerful tool for productivity enhancement rather than a potential threat to job security.
Yoon also discussed how AI is profoundly reshaping consumer behavior. Data presented at the event indicated that 76 percent of Korean consumers utilize AI-powered or multimodal search functionalities to discover products. However, 75 percent subsequently revert to conventional search methods before finalizing a purchase decision.
“While AI can significantly accelerate the initial stages of product research and discovery, receiving an answer through AI is distinct from being fully prepared to make a purchase,” Yoon clarified, emphasizing the nuanced role of AI in the modern customer journey.
yeeun
