LG Uplus said on Tuesday that Chief Executive Officer Hong Beom-sik (홍범식) will deliver the opening keynote at MWC26, the world’s largest mobile communications exhibition, in Barcelona on March 2 local time. It is the first time an LG Group executive has been an official MWC keynote speaker.

Hong will use the keynote to announce the start of the AI call agent era under the theme “Humanizing Every Connection.” Other global CEOs taking the stage include AT&T CEO John Stankey, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon and Nokia CEO Justin Hotard.

Hong prepared the keynote with the idea that ixi-O, LG Uplus’ in-house artificial intelligence call agent, can create a new customer experience in voice calls and make connections between people more valuable.

During the keynote, the company will also show a video telling the story of a family that comes to feel each other’s value through voice calls. Through the video, it plans to share LG Uplus’ “human-centered AI” philosophy, “Humanizing Every Connection,” with the world.

LG Uplus launched ixi-O, South Korea’s first on-device AI call agent, at the end of 2024 and applied it to a range of telecommunications services. In addition to call recording and summarisation, ixi-O introduced new features such as real-time voice phishing and AI-altered voice detection. It recently also unveiled a service developed in collaboration with global IT company Google that provides generative AI-based search during calls.

Hong will also attend a dinner hosted by Spain’s King Felipe VI ahead of the opening of MWC26. Each year, the Spanish king invites CEOs from GSMA member companies who deliver MWC keynotes to the dinner. Hong plans to actively promote the excellence of South Korean AI technology at the event.

Hong’s keynote is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. South Korean time on March 2. It can be watched live on GSMA’s MWC26 YouTube channel.