LG CNS, KDDI team up on AI business in Asia-Pacific
LG CNS Executive Vice President Park Sang-gyun, right, and Kentaro Matsuura, deputy head of KDDI’s Business Growth Division, pose for a photo during a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding on artificial intelligence and digital transformation projects in the Asia-Pacific region. Courtesy of LG CNS
LG CNS, the information technology services affiliate of LG Group, signed a memorandum of understanding with Japanese telecom company KDDI to work together on artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation projects across the Asia-Pacific region, the Korean company said Wednesday.
KDDI is one of Japan’s three major telecom operators. It provides consumer mobile and internet services as well as business IT services such as AI, cloud and network infrastructure. It runs business operations at 19 sites in 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The partnership combines LG CNS’ AI and digital transformation expertise with KDDI’s telecom infrastructure and global network to find new business opportunities in AI, smart cities, telecommunications and integrated IT system management.
The two companies will explore developing agentic AI services — AI systems that can carry out tasks on their own — tailored to local businesses in KDDI’s regional markets. The services will be based on AgenticWorks, LG CNS’ agentic AI platform.
They will also consider working together on automation using “physical AI,” meaning AI built into robots and machines. Through its robotics platform PhysicalWorks, LG CNS would provide integrated robot management services to manufacturing, logistics and retail customers.
In Southeast Asia, where cities are actively modernizing, the two companies plan to build a joint smart city business model. It will combine LG CNS’ smart city solutions, such as integrated city control centers and intelligent transportation systems, with KDDI’s telecom infrastructure.
They will also share technology and expertise in telecommunications and IT system management, KDDI’s core businesses, to expand joint projects.
The companies have formed a working group and are prioritizing Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and China.
“This agreement will allow the two companies to combine their capabilities and create new business opportunities in the Asia-Pacific market,” LG CNS Executive Vice President Park Sang-gyun said.
Kentaro Matsuura, deputy head of KDDI’s Business Growth Division, said the partnership aims to “create a new industrial foundation that combines AI, telecommunications and data.”
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.