SK Telecom's AI agent makes entry into Japanese market

SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang, left, poses with TimeTree CEO Park Cha-jin, after signing a strategic partnership and investment agreement in Tokyo, Friday. Courtesy of SK Telecom

SK Telecom said Monday it will invest 2.2 billion Japanese yen ($14.8 million) in TimeTree, the Japanese schedule-sharing app operator, to expand its presence in the artificial intelligence (AI) agent markets in both Korea and Japan.

Under the strategic partnership signed Friday, TimeTree will gain access to the Korean telecom company's technologies and expertise developed through the operation of its A. (Adot) AI agent. This marks the first time SK Telecom has permitted the use of its AI agent for an overseas service.

"Partnering with TimeTree offers SK Telecom a powerful opportunity to extend our AI agent technologies into global markets," SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang said. "Together, we will expand the AI ecosystem across Korea, Japan and beyond."

TimeTree operates a schedule-sharing app with approximately 67 million users worldwide.

SK Telecom said it considers the Japanese firm's extensive data and global user base as crucial assets for advancing its AI agent services and expanding into international markets.

According to SK Telecom, the most notable feature of its partnership with TimeTree will be the "Agentic Workflow," which was implemented in Adot last month to not only execute user requests but also set goals based on user activities and sequentially plan and execute the necessary steps.

"We plan to introduce features such as proactive recommendations and personalized calendar management in the TimeTree app," SK Telecom said in a press release. "We aim to evolve the service into an active AI platform capable of suggesting optimized activities and events tailored to users' schedules, usage patterns and preferences."

TimeTree CEO Park Cha-jin said the company's alliance with SK Telecom will be a turning point in leading a new paradigm of schedule-centered AI.

"The essence of TimeTree's AI agent is to use schedules as natural triggers for action," Park said. "SK Telecom recognized both our unique approach and the value of our 67-million-user dataset, making SK Telecom not only our lead investor but also a true strategic partner."