CEOs of major subsidiaries outline growth and cooperation plans post-split

Kim Do-young, CEO-designate of KakaoX, says synergies and future investment will boost corporate value

The first joint group analyst briefing held Tuesday at Kakao's AI Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. [Kakao]
The first joint group analyst briefing held Tuesday at Kakao's AI Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. [Kakao]

With a corporate spin-off on the horizon, Kakao launched an all-out effort Tuesday to win over investors, with CEO Jung Shin-a and KakaoX CEO-designate Kim Do-young personally presenting the company's blueprint for life after the split.

Kakao said it held its first joint group analyst briefing Tuesday at its AI Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

The event brought together the CEOs of Kakao and its major affiliates — including Kakao Pay, Kakao Bank, Kakao Entertainment, SM Entertainment and Kakao Piccoma. It marked the first time the Kakao group has held a joint investor relations event with its subsidiaries.

The briefing was aimed at key capital market participants, including securities analysts, ahead of the planned spin-off. The heads of each company shared their visions for KakaoAI and KakaoX after the split, along with synergy strategies and growth plans for their respective units. Analysts posed a wide range of questions during an extended Q&A session.

Jung, the CEO-designate of KakaoAI, said she would develop KakaoTalk — which has 50 million users — into an "integrated agentic AI interface." She said the goal is to go beyond connecting users to building a platform that understands individual requests and context and can carry out tasks on their behalf.

The CEOs of major subsidiaries set to be placed under the newly established KakaoX also took the floor. KakaoX will encompass three core business segments: techfin, covering Kakao Bank and Kakao Pay; content, covering Kakao Entertainment, SM Entertainment and Kakao Piccoma; and mobility, covering Kakao Mobility.

Kakao Pay CEO Shin Won-geun outlined a strategy to build a hyper-personalized AI agent-based financial service and a digital asset ecosystem anchored by stablecoins. Kakao Bank CEO Yoon Ho-young introduced plans to transform the bank into an AI-native institution and laid out a future financial platform strategy — particularly highlighting plans to build AI competitiveness based on a proprietary large language model and to expand globally.

Ko Jeong-hee, co-CEO of Kakao Entertainment, identified three core growth pillars: supporting the global expansion of intellectual property through partnerships, deepening fan experiences through platform upgrades, and scaling live entertainment globally. She said the company aims to drive the next wave of growth for Korean IP.

Jang Cheol-hyeok, co-CEO of SM Entertainment, said the company would focus on diversifying its portfolio through continuous new IP creation and accelerating the growth of its global fandom and performance business. Kakao Piccoma CEO Kim Jae-yong said the platform aims to grow beyond its position as a leading reading platform into Japan's top multimedia content platform, expanding into AI video and merchandise.

"The mobility segment is also expected to see future growth through autonomous driving and physical AI expansion," Kim Do-young, CEO-designate of KakaoX, said. "We will create new growth opportunities by connecting the platforms, underlying technologies and customer touchpoints across our core business segments — techfin, content and mobility."

Meanwhile, Kakao has been stepping up shareholder communication around the spin-off. After holding a first retail shareholder briefing in September, it will host a second session Tuesday at the Korea Financial Investment Association center in Yeouido, Seoul.

"We will consistently share and communicate the group's and each affiliate's vision, synergy strategies and specific growth plans with shareholders, employees and other stakeholders in connection with the spin-off," a Kakao official said.


ko@heraldcorp.com