Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, during his first visit to South Korea in two years, is actively seeking to establish partnerships with local companies. His focus is on fostering alliances with South Korean artificial intelligence (AI) startups, expanding beyond collaborations with major corporations. The move is viewed as a strategic effort to enhance Microsoft’s position in the global AI market.
According to sources within the information technology (IT) sector, Nadella has scheduled a private meeting with five AI startups ahead of the MS AI Summit. The event is scheduled for Wednesday morning at the aT Center in Yangjae-dong, Seoul.
Attendees at the private meeting will include leaders from Wrtn Technologies Inc., Upstage, LINER, and Mathpresso Inc. These companies are current users of Microsoft’s cloud platform, Azure. Wrtn Technologies has also entered a business agreement with Microsoft to advance and broaden generative AI services based on Azure. Officials from Galaxy Corp, the agency representing singer G-Dragon, are also expected to be present.
During these meetings, Nadella plans to explore the AI technologies developed by these companies. The discussions will cover their strategies for expanding services using AI, and potential avenues for support from Microsoft.
Nadella’s itinerary includes a brief meeting with Suh Kyung-bae, Chairman of Amorepacific Corp, at a private location in Seoul. Amorepacific CEO Kim Seung-hwan and other executives will also be in attendance. The meeting is expected to focus on the influence of AI on the future of the beauty market. Amorepacific is heavily investing in advanced beauty technologies and AI-driven internal operating systems. This meeting could lead to collaborations in AI-driven beauty technology and business operations.
On Tuesday, Nadella met with KT CEO Kim Young-shub and HD Hyundai Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun at KT’s headquarters in Gwanghwamun, Seoul. Jung Woo-jin, head of KT’s strategic business consulting division and a former Microsoft executive, also took part in the meeting. KT and Microsoft are reportedly working on the details of their AI business cooperation, initially announced in 2024.
The Microsoft CEO is also set to meet LG CEO Cho Joo-wan on Wednesday and deliver a keynote speech at the MS AI Summit. He will be joined by Microsoft Korea CEO Cho Won-woo and GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke to discuss leading change in the age of AI innovation.
