Hyundai Motor Group is accelerating its group-wide artificial intelligence transformation (AX), with about 80 percent of its employees already using AI tools to improve productivity.
From Software to Hardware
The conglomerate held an AX performance briefing at its headquarters in Seoul on Thursday, unveiling the results of digital and AI-driven workplace innovation initiatives launched in 2019. According to the report, Executive Chairman Euisun Chung has been actively promoting AI adoption, recently taking part in hands-on training in vibe coding, a method of creating AI outputs using natural-language instructions.
Chung has also called for executives to receive direct training, saying they need to experience AI themselves to understand its capabilities and limitations. The conglomerate has standardized global collaboration by introducing workplace platforms including Jira, Dooray, and Confluence, as well as Microsoft 365. It has also built a Global One Data Pipeline linking data generated across the vehicle development production and sales processes.
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Hyundai Motor Group has encouraged company-wide AI adoption through its in-house generative AI platform, H Chat Pro. The platform allows employees to securely use external AI models such as ChatGPT and Gemini. More than 300,000 Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. employees, or about 80 percent of general and research staff were using the platform as of last month.
While the software rollout seems to be moving at a rapid pace, the transition to physical AI is still in its early stages. The group has also developed AI agents that employees can create and use themselves, helping establish an AI-driven workplace culture.
Making the Data Work
AI adoption has produced measurable efficiency gains across key business areas. In research and development (R&D), the conglomerate introduced a Crash Safety AI Assistant that integrates and analyzes vast amounts of historical crash-test results and analysis data. This tool cut engineers’ time spent searching for information by about 90 percent.
At manufacturing sites, an AI Automation Recognition Service, which cross-checks vehicle identification numbers in real time, has been deployed at about 70 locations worldwide. This arrangement generated annual savings of 5.24 billion won ($3.9 million). The Transfer Cart Sequencing Optimization Technology, which optimizes vehicle transfer routes, has also reduced unnecessary production downtime by about 86 percent.
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Customer service response times have improved as well. The conglomerate developed a solution in which AI analyzes customer reviews and even drafts responses, slashing the processing time per case from 35 minutes to five minutes. AI now handles more than 85 percent of all reviews. At overseas maintenance sites, a Maintenance Support AI Service has reduced response times by about 42 percent.
Hyundai Motor Group plans to expand AX beyond office operations into physical AI, combining AI with physical entities such as vehicles and robots. It also plans to support AX adoption among small and midsize companies based on its own experience.
The event also marked the official debut of Jin Eun-sook, president and head of ICT Management Division at Hyundai Motor Group, who was promoted late last year to become the conglomerate’s first female president. Jin said, “Hyundai Motor Group’s goal is not to become the entity that uses AI the most, but the company that uses AI most effectively in the world.” She added that “the data, operational experience, and execution capabilities we have accumulated through AX will serve as the strongest foundation for preparing for the coming era of physical AI.”
