Samsung executives put their heads together with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on management strategy in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). Samsung said on Friday it held an invited session with Altman attended by about 50 affiliate CEOs at Samsung Human Resources Development Institute in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The session included Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jun Young-hyun (전영현), Samsung SDI CEO Choi Joo-sun (최주선) and CEO Mauro Porcini (마우로 포르치니), among executives across affiliates including electronics, finance and bio.

The theme of the session was "The next 10 years changed by AI, corporate choices." Participants discussed where AI technology will develop and how it will be used. They also exchanged views on new markets and business opportunities. The agenda included how corporate decision-making and organizational operations will change with AI and what capabilities executives will need. The company said the session was arranged as part of executive education aimed at raising management’s understanding of AI.

Samsung Electronics signed a letter of intent last October with OpenAI on cooperation to build global AI infrastructure. It has since pushed to supply memory semiconductors for OpenAI’s large-scale AI data center construction project, called the "Stargate" project. Around the same time, Samsung SDS pledged cooperation on AI data centers and enterprise AI services, and Samsung C&T and Samsung Heavy Industries promised joint development of offshore floating data centers. Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong (이재용) visited OpenAI’s headquarters in San Francisco in July.

Ahead of the session, the executives received hands-on training in generative AI. It was an additional course four months after the first intensive AI training in June. The executives used AI to organize previously scattered management materials to create their own "knowledge repositories" and learned how to use AI in decision-making. Samsung views competitiveness in the AI era as stemming from executives’ judgment and execution and is spreading a culture of learning AI starting with its top managers.

Samsung has been carrying out an "AI transformation" since June to introduce AI across research and development, production, marketing and support functions. About 2,300 executives have completed training, and the program will expand to all employees, including rank-and-file staff, by February 2027. AI dedicated teams set up by each affiliate are establishing AX strategies to change work and business methods through AI and are supporting data and AI model operations. It is also increasing work use of external generative AI services. The company said it plans to review AX results by affiliate and make execution tasks more specific.