Naver accelerates AI strategy as it eyes record earnings

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon delivers a keynote speech during the Naver DAN25 conference at Coex in Seoul, Nov. 6, 2025. Courtesy of Naver.

By Lee Gyu-lee

• Published Jan 21, 2026 2:59 PM KST

Naver strengthens C-suite leadership as it pushes deeper into AI

Naver is strengthening its C-suite leadership to drive further growth in artificial intelligence (AI) as it expects to post record-high earnings for 2025 with an aggressive push to embed AI initiatives across key services such as e-commerce, advertising and cloud.

The company announced that it will appoint three new top-level executives, effective Feb. 1, reshaping its leadership team.

Naver named Kim Kwang-hyun, head of the company’s search and data platform division, as the new chief data & contents officer, tasked with accelerating the rollout of AI agents across Naver’s core services and advancing the integration of search and data technology platforms.

Yoo Bong-seok, the former head of policy and risk management, will be chief corporate responsibility officer, overseeing company-wide policy and risk management amid tightening global regulations and growing scrutiny of platform responsibility. Hwang Soon-bae, head of human resources, will be promoted to chief human resources officer to lead organizational strategy in the AI era.

The move comes as Naver is widely expected to record its strongest-ever annual financial performance, slated for release on Feb. 6. Its annual revenue is projected to reach 12.08 trillion won ($8.7 billion) with operating profit estimated at 2.19 trillion won, possibly making the company the first internet platform company in Korea to surpass 12 trillion won in annual sales.

The performance follows the successful deployment of Naver’s hyperscale language model, HyperCLOVA X, into the company’s search, advertising and commerce platforms to enhance personalization and engagement, such as AI-powered shopping recommendations and briefing functions in search results.

By combining search and shopping data with advertiser information, AI systems can target users with higher purchase intent, improving conversion rates and extending time spent on the platform. Naver’s shopping service has gained traction, especially with Naver Plus Store’s launch last year, expanded logistics options, such as same-day and next-day delivery, and various collaborations with platforms such as Netflix, Spotify and Kurly.

Its search engine’s AI Briefing feature, introduced last year, has also seen rapid adoption, now accounting for roughly one-fifth of all searches, with summarized answers sourced from verified institutions across areas such as health, public policy and finance.

The company plans to roll out a unified AI tab this year, designed to link search results directly to actions such as booking or purchasing.

The optimism comes despite the recent setbacks with Naver’s surprising elimination from the government-led national AI foundation model project earlier this month. The company said it will continue to execute its own road map in AI focused on its proprietary technology, new AI-driven business models and global partnerships, regardless of the project’s result.

Looking ahead, Naver aims to activate its personalized AI agent, Agent N, which will connect search and browsing to real-world execution. A shopping-focused agent is set to debut in the first quarter of the year, followed by broader integration across services later in the year.

Naver also unveiled Bank of Korea Intelligence, a sovereign AI platform for finance and economics, on Wednesday, partnering with Korea's central bank to provide cloud infrastructure and HyperCLOVA X.