(123rf)

Korea’s top 30 conglomerates have doubled the number of artificial intelligence specialists in executive management and board of director positions in the space of a year, shows data released Tuesday.

According to Leaders Index, a local business analysis and research center, which reviewed first-quarter regulatory filings submitted by 295 companies from the 30 business groups, there are now 187 executive-level managers specializing in AI.

This figure marks a significant increase from the first quarter of 2023, when the figure stood at 89.

The research center classified executive-level managers and directors with experience AI-related departments or projects as "AI specialists."

AI specialists now account for 1.6 percent of the total number of executives in the top 30 groups, or 11,343 executives.

Among the conglomerates, LG Group leads with 55 AI expert executives, a rise from 25 in the first quarter of last year. This figure includes 15 working at LG AI Research, the group's artificial intelligence think tank, and 19 at LG Electronics.

SK Group follows with 53 AI expert executives, up from 14 from a year ago. This increase is primarily due to SK hynix creating a new AI Infra division, appointing 25 executives specialized in AI, including division head Kim Ju-seon. SK Telecom also has 22 executives with AI backgrounds.

Other notable conglomerates include: KT with 28 executives specialized in AI, Samsung Group with 19, Hyundai Motor Group with 6 and Naver with 4.

At Samsung Group, 11 of its 19 executive-level AI experts work for Samsung Electronics.