Kakao will work with 145 students at 5 regional national universities to develop agentic AI services that solve social problems.

Kakao said on Thursday it held the 'Kakao Tech Campus Ideathon' on Aug. 22 and 23. Students from Kangwon National University, Kyungpook National University, Pusan National University, Chonnam National University and Chungnam National University took part.

Kakao Tech Campus is an environmental, social and governance (ESG) program Kakao has run since 2023 to reduce gaps in technical education outside the Seoul metropolitan area and foster regional talent. The ideathon was set up as a process in which students choose social problems to address and develop AI-based service ideas in detail.

Kakao revamped this year's curriculum from a focus on web and application development to a focus on planning and developing agentic AI services. The programme runs from May to November and consists of a 'pre-course' covering the basics of AI service development, a 'step 1 project' for hands-on agentic AI training, and a 'step 2 project' that runs from problem definition through service planning, development and deployment.

The ideathon marks the start of the step 2 project. Jaeha Song (송재하), Kakao's chief technology officer, and 10 other employees in service planning and development took part as mentors and reviewed factors including service differentiation and technical feasibility.

The top prize went to Chonnam National University's 'customised developer mock interview AI'. The service analyses code written by applicants and generates follow-up interview questions. Awards of excellence went to an agent guiding small business owners through closure procedures, an AI agent for organising careers, customised AI for childcare decisions, and an AI for reading expenses on comprehensive income tax returns for sole proprietors.

Based on the selected ideas, students will develop and deploy the services themselves over about 3 months. Kakao will provide mentoring by working-level experts, and participants are expected to present their results at each university in mid-November.

Eunhee Seo (서은희), a leader for fostering technical talent at Kakao, said demand is growing in industry for capabilities to plan and implement agentic AI services. She said Kakao will reflect industry changes in the curriculum to help regional students build practical skills.