Strategic partnership signed covering finance and AI technology; collaboration to include finance-focused AI projects and talent development

JB Financial Group Chairman Kim Ki-hong (left) poses for a photo with Upstage CEO Kim Sung-hoon after the two companies signed a strategic partnership for finance and AI technology and project cooperation on Monday. [JB Financial Group]
JB Financial Group Chairman Kim Ki-hong (left) poses for a photo with Upstage CEO Kim Sung-hoon after the two companies signed a strategic partnership for finance and AI technology and project cooperation on Monday. [JB Financial Group]

JB Financial Group announced Thursday it will work with AI company Upstage to develop finance-specific AI agents for use in real-world banking operations.

JB Financial signed a strategic partnership with Upstage on Monday covering finance and AI technology and project cooperation. Chairman Kim Ki-hong and Upstage CEO Kim Sung-hoon attended the signing ceremony.

The two companies plan to leverage Upstage's proprietary large language model technology to identify AI innovation projects that can be deployed directly in financial settings. Group subsidiaries — Jeonbuk Bank, Gwangju Bank and JB Woori Capital — will participate in the joint development of finance-specific AI agents.

Specific areas of cooperation include identifying and applying AI-based financial innovation projects, joint education and personnel exchanges to strengthen finance and AI expertise, developing projects in partnership with local governments and communities, and participating in related consortiums. The two companies also plan to nurture regional talent through a finance-AI convergence education program and collaborate on building a local AI ecosystem.

The plan calls for boosting both productivity and customer service competitiveness through AI agents tailored to the operational characteristics of each subsidiary. Earlier, at a group management strategy meeting in August, Chairman Kim directed the CEOs of each subsidiary to personally lead AI transformation efforts, setting a goal of becoming an "AI monetization group" that goes beyond operational efficiency to generate revenue.

Upstage is the lead operator of the government's independent AI foundation model project. The company has raised about 730 billion won ($534 million) in cumulative investment, becoming the first domestic AI software company to achieve unicorn status. Its in-house LLM, Solar Pro4, ranks among the most-used Korean-made models on OpenRouter, a global AI model platform.

The two companies also plan to explore global business opportunities together, including integrating Upstage's AI solutions into JB Financial's subsidiary infrastructure in Southeast Asia.

"Our cooperation with Upstage will raise awareness of AI transformation across the group and serve as an opportunity to identify innovation projects for use in financial operations," Chairman Kim said. "We will lead financial innovation and community development while creating new business opportunities in global markets."


forest@heraldcorp.com