KT has moved to strengthen its business-to-business AI transformation capabilities by working with global AI company Palantir to identify AI agent projects that solve on-the-job problems.

KT said on July 16 it held an in-house AI hackathon, dubbed 'Agent Camp', for employees from July 13 to 15 at its Bundang office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

The event was designed to flesh out KT's forward-deployed engineer, or FDE, strategy and secure execution capabilities that can be verified in the field. An FDE refers to an engineer who works with customers and on-site teams to solve problems using technology and data.

The hackathon presented three projects that can be applied across KT's major business areas: an AI network security monitoring agent, an AI energy operations optimization agent, and a data-for-AI agent.

Participants designed solutions based on AI and data integration technologies. Using Palantir's data integration platform Foundry and AI platform AIP, they built an ontology that links data in units of meaning and implemented AI agents based on it. Palantir FDEs also joined as mentors to provide technical support and collaboration. Participants tested whether the AI agents they developed could be deployed in real-world settings.

KT plans to expand in-house AI innovation programmes, including Agent Camp, to strengthen FDE capabilities to carry out the full process from data and AI to system building and operations. It aims to train field-oriented experts and boost execution and momentum for its B2B AI transformation business.

Woo-cheol Byun (변우철), executive director in charge of P-FDE at KT's AX Engineering Division, said, "We will prepare a range of AI innovation programmes to strengthen employees' capabilities to use AI," adding, "Through collaboration with global partners such as Palantir, we will secure execution capabilities and expand competitiveness in the B2B AX market."