MOU targets AI-human org model and agentic AI platform

Intelligent work ecosystem designed around AI collaboration

System-data-decision integration to drive productivity

SK AX headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. [Provided by SK AX]
SK AX headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. [Provided by SK AX]

SK AX, the AI transformation unit of SK Corp, is partnering with global HR consulting firm Mercer to build an agentic AI platform designed to help companies shift to AI-driven operations. The two firms aim to redesign corporate structures and work processes around AI collaboration to raise employee capabilities.

SK AX announced Monday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Mercer to jointly develop an "AI+Human organizational operating model" and build an agentic AI platform. The signing ceremony was held at SK AX's headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and was attended by SK AX President Kim Wan-jong and Mercer Korea Co-CEO Jang Ji-won, along with other executives from both companies.

Mercer is a global HR specialist and a business unit of Marsh, a world leader in risk, reinsurance and capital, workforce and investment, and management consulting. The firm advises clients in 130 countries.

According to SK AX, corporate concerns have moved beyond simply adopting AI toward what the company calls "harness engineering" — an environment in which AI collaborates with humans and executes tasks autonomously across systems. The model lets repetitive work be handled by AI while people focus on oversight and judgment, maximizing productivity.

SK AX said addressing this shift requires a fundamental overhaul of how companies manage their organizations and HR systems. Rather than layering AI on top of existing processes, companies need to redesign their operations from the ground up with AI as the starting point, the company said.

Under the agreement, the two companies will jointly offer services covering: the establishment of an organizational operating model for human-AI collaboration and the development of AI agent solutions; the building of talent recruitment, development and evaluation strategies and operating frameworks; and AI-based diagnostics for problem-solving capabilities.

Mercer will draw on its global HR consulting expertise to design organization-specific operating models and HR systems, while SK AX will build an intelligent HR platform that enables people and AI to work together in real workplace environments.

SK AX said its intelligent HR platform is competitive as an integrated platform. Beyond redesigning organizational structures around AI, the platform handles everything from talent recruitment and development to performance management and evaluation. It also drives innovation in work practices and company-wide operations based on employee competency and work data.

The partnership will also offer corporate talent development programs, including "AI Literacy," an AI competency diagnostic program developed by SK AX, and "AI Bootcamp," a hands-on AI education program tailored to enterprise needs.

"Competitiveness in the AI era depends not on whether a company has simply adopted AI, but on how quickly it can transform the way it works and operates so the entire organization can move together with AI," SK AX President Kim said. "SK AX will combine its AI transformation experience and technology with Mercer's global HR insights and capabilities to help corporate clients innovate their organizational operations, talent development and work practices around AI."

Mercer Korea Co-CEO Jang said many global companies are now facing a second challenge after adopting AI: transforming their organizations and HR systems. "When Mercer's accumulated methodologies for organizational diagnostics and work design, along with its global HR innovation expertise, are combined with SK AX's AI solution infrastructure, companies will be able to achieve an HR transformation that delivers real, on-the-ground change," Jang said.


chami@heraldcorp.com