Ahnlab to invest $73.14 mil. over 3 yrs for 'AI-native' transformation
Kang Suk-kyoon, the chief executive officer of the cybersecurity firm Ahnlab, speaks at a press conference in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
Korean cybersecurity firm Ahnlab said Wednesday it plans to invest 100 billion won ($73.14 million) over the next three years in an effort to restructure its business around subscription-based services.
Such plans were announced at a press conference in Seoul as it vowed to transform the company into an "artificial intelligence native" cybersecurity firm.
According to the company, the investments will focus on building artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, as well as improving its research and development capabilities and attracting AI-related talent.
Building on this, the company also plans to triple its sales from 300 billion won this year to 1 trillion won by 2035, Ahnlab's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kang Suk-kyoon explained.
"We need to grow by an average of 15 percent every year to attain that goal, but given our growth trend, we think such a goal is achievable," he said, noting the company could consider carrying out merger and acquisition deals or new investments to scale up.
Ahnlab also plans to expand its overseas sales to 30 percent by 2035 from the current 10 percent while planning to establish what it calls a "cyber defense center" in the Middle East.
"We are seeing growing demand for data and AI sovereignty in various regions," Kang said.
Founded in 1995, Ahnlab is the largest cybersecurity company in Korea, best known for creating the pioneering V3 antivirus software. The company posted 130.37 billion won in sales and 7.3 billion won in operating profits in the first six months of the year, according to its regulatory filing.