SK to enhance board's role in readiness for AI era

South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate SK Group announced Monday its commitment to further enhance its governance structure by expanding the board's role beyond decision-making to setting directions and evaluating performance, intent to better navigate the era of artificial intelligence.

At SK Directors’ Summit 2024 in Seoul on Thursday, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and chief executives of the group’s affiliates, including Choi Chang-won, the head of the group’s top decision-making body SK Supex Council, introduced the "Board 2.0" initiative. Fifty external directors from 13 SK affiliates also attended the event, the SK Supex Council said.

The Directors’ Summit, in its third year, is one of SK Group’s key strategic gatherings along with the Icheon Forum and CEO Seminars.

Building upon the earlier Board 1.0, the renewed framework aims to push its governance to a global standard by reinforcing the role of its board for long-term strategy planning, cross-checking management decisions and overseeing activities after execution, the council said.

At the summit event, the executives also addressed SK’s future strategies for its key business sectors including semiconductors, artificial intelligence and energy solutions, according to the council.

In his opening speech, Chey Tae-won emphasized the need to enhance the group’s core competitiveness, especially at a time when the AI market is expected to expand significantly by 2027.

“For SK Group to seize AI-driven opportunities, strengthening our core capabilities through operational improvement is crucial,” Chey said. “The board should expand its previous role for decision-making and engage more deeply in setting earlier strategic direction and performance evaluations.”

The conglomerate has been strengthening board-centered management since 2021, driven by Chey’s commitment to reshape the group’s governance and set new standards.

Aside from the directors’ summit, the conglomerate regularly holds several groupwide meetings, such as workshops for new external directors, according to the SK Supex Council.

SK Supex Council Chairman Chey Chang-won reinforced the oversight role of the board and said the Board 2.0 initiative should ultimately advance toward Board 3.0 in his closing remarks.