KT Corp teams up with NH Agri Business Holdings, Microsoft Korea to drive AI transformation in retail

AX execution, operational data and global AI technology combined

Agentic AI customer service, data-driven marketing among planned offerings

Park Sang-won (from left), head of KT Corp's AX business division, Kim Ju-yang, CEO of NH Agri Business Holdings, and Kim Hun-sang, vice president of Microsoft Korea, pose for a photo after signing an MOU. [KT Corp]

KT Corp has joined forces with NH Agri Business Holdings and Microsoft Korea to pursue AI and cloud-based transformation of the retail sector.

KT Corp announced Tuesday that the three companies signed an MOU at KT's Gwanghwamun Building West office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to advance AI and cloud-based retail AI transformation (AX).

KT Corp cited the migration of NH Agri Business Holdings' online agricultural produce marketplace, NH Ssingssingmall, to the public cloud as the catalyst for the partnership. The company migrated the platform's on-premises systems, infrastructure, network and security environment to Microsoft Azure. The relaunched NH Ssingssingmall began serving customers in July and has been operating since.

KT Corp said the project represents one of the largest Azure migration projects in the domestic e-commerce sector, adding that the cloud-based IT environment has improved service scalability, operational efficiency and customer responsiveness.

The three companies plan to expand their collaboration beyond the cloud migration to enhance customer experience through AI. Their joint efforts will focus on four areas: identifying new AX business opportunities in retail and e-commerce; innovating AI-based customer service; advancing data-driven marketing; and embedding AI capabilities within frontline operations while spreading successful use cases.

The partners also plan to build personalized recommendation services and marketing systems drawing on customer, product and order data across NH Agri Business Holdings' key businesses, including retail and food. They will introduce agentic AI services capable of autonomously handling tasks such as customer inquiries, order confirmation and delivery updates.

Representatives of KT Corp, NH Agri Business Holdings and Microsoft Korea pose for a photo. [KT Corp]

Under the agreement, KT Corp will take overall charge of the initiative — identifying and designing AX projects and building and operating an AI customer center. NH Agri Business Holdings will provide a real-world testing environment based on its operational data, while Microsoft Korea will supply global AI and cloud technology and services, including Azure.

KT Corp said it expects the collaboration to deliver personalized services covering product recommendations, order and delivery updates, and customer support. The company added that it aims to boost the operational efficiency of NH Agri Business Holdings' customer service and marketing teams, strengthen its e-commerce competitiveness and help increase sales of domestically grown produce.

"The cloud migration of NH Ssingssingmall goes beyond a simple system upgrade — it is a turning point that has strengthened the distribution competitiveness of our agricultural products through digital technology," NH Agri Business Holdings CEO Kim Ju-yang said. "Building on the expanded AI infrastructure, we will work to open up new sales channels for farming households and contribute to increasing farm income."

"The public cloud migration of NH Ssingssingmall is the starting point for AI-driven retail transformation," said Park Sang-won, head of KT Corp's AX business division. "Drawing on KT Corp's accumulated experience in AX design, implementation and operations, as well as our agentic AI capabilities, we will work with NH Agri Business Holdings and Microsoft Korea to develop new AX business models for the retail sector."

chami@heraldcorp.com