2021/03/25

• UPSTAGE SIGNS A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH KB KOOKMIN BANK FOR AI TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

• HELP AI TRANSFORMATION IN THE FINANCIAL SECTOR BASED ON EXPERTISE IN AI FIELDS SUCH AS COMPUTER VISION, NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING, AND RECOMMENDATION SYSTEMS

• CONSULTATION ON AI SOLUTIONS IN VARIOUS FIELDS OTHER THAN FINANCE 

(Upstage = 2021/03/25 ) Upstage (CEO Kim Seong-hoon), a startup that helps companies transform AI (artificial intelligence), enters into a strategic partnership with KB Kookmin Bank to build AI services in the financial sector.

ON THE 25TH, UPSTAGE CEO KIM SEONG-HOON AND KB KOOKMIN BANK TECH GROUP VICE PRESIDENT YUN JIN-SOO PROMISED OVERALL TECHNICAL COOPERATION THROUGH THE CORE CAPABILITIES OF THE TWO COMPANIES THROUGH A NON-FACE-TO-FACE SIGNING CEREMONY HELD AT EACH COMPANY BUILDING. THE EVENT WAS PREPARED TO STRENGTHEN THE AI TECHNOLOGY COMPETITIVENESS OF COMPANIES AS THE TRANSITION TO NON-FACE-TO-FACE SERVICES IN THE FINANCIAL INDUSTRY ACCELERATES.

UPSTAGE WILL INTRODUCE ADVANCED AI TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS AI VIRTUAL COUNSELING SERVICE FOR KB KOOKMIN BANK'S AI TRANSFORMATION. THE MAIN CONTENTS OF THE BUSINESS AGREEMENT ARE ▲DIAGNOSIS OF KB KOOKMIN BANK AI STATUS ▲INTERNALIZATION OF FINANCE-SPECIFIC AI TECHNOLOGY ▲DEVELOPMENT OF AI TECHNOLOGY ENGINE SPECIALIZED FOR KB KOOKMIN BANK ▲DESIGN OF KB KOOKMIN BANK’S MID- TO LONG-TERM AI TECHNOLOGY BLUEPRINT.

CURRENTLY, UPSTAGE IS BUILDING A NON-FACE-TO-FACE AI SERVICE THAT CAN BE APPLIED DIRECTLY TO THE FINANCIAL BUSINESS BASED ON THE EXPERTISE OF ITS AI DEVELOPMENT TALENT. IN FACT, UPSTAGE HAS MANY DEVELOPMENT AND BUSINESS LEADERS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCE OPERATING ACTUAL AI SERVICES AT GLOBAL IT COMPANIES SUCH AS NAVER, KAKAO, NVIDIA, AND EBAY.

CEO KIM SEONG-HOON, WHO FOUNDED UPSTAGE, IS A FORMER NAVER CLOVA AI LEADER AND IS ALSO A PROFESSOR AT THE HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. CTO LEE HWAL-SEOK, WHO SERVED AS THE FORMER HEAD OF VISUAL AI AT NAVER CLOVER, IS ALSO ACTIVE IN UPSTAGE. IN PARTICULAR, UPSTAGE HAS A LARGE NUMBER OF COMPUTER VISION, NLP (NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING), AND RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM EXPERTS, AND IS RECOGNIZED FOR ITS HIGH TECHNOLOGY IN RELATED FIELDS.

BASED ON THIS EXPERTISE, UPSTAGE IS NEGOTIATING FOR AI TRANSFORMATION WITH COMPANIES IN VARIOUS FIELDS AS WELL AS FINANCE.

AN OFFICIAL FROM KB KOOKMIN BANK SAID, “IN A SITUATION WHERE COMPETITION IS INTENSIFYING DUE TO THE FULL-FLEDGED ENTRY OF LARGE PLATFORM OPERATORS INTO THE FINANCIAL INDUSTRY, WE HAVE ENTERED INTO THIS STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP TO BRING ABOUT INNOVATION IN TECHNOLOGY IN THE FINANCIAL SECTOR THROUGH THE INTERNALIZATION OF KB KOOKMIN BANK’S OWN AI TECHNOLOGY.” IN THE FUTURE, WE PLAN TO BUILD OUR OWN AI ROAD LAB WITH UPSTAGE TO ADVANCE AI TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIZED FOR KB KOOKMIN BANK.”

SEONGHOON KIM, CEO OF UPSTAGE, SAID, “WE ARE DELIGHTED THAT UPSTAGE, WHICH HELPS COMPANIES WITH AI TRANSFORMATION, HAS SIGNED AN AI TECHNOLOGY AGREEMENT WITH LEADING BANK KB KOOKMIN BANK.” WE WILL ESTABLISH OURSELVES AS A LEADING COMPANY.”

MEANWHILE, UPSTAGE ALSO ESTABLISHED A HONG KONG BRANCH IN DECEMBER OF LAST YEAR TO ABSORB NOT ONLY DOMESTIC BUT ALSO FOREIGN AI TALENT. IT PLANS TO PROVIDE AI SOLUTIONS TO MORE DIVERSE COMPANIES BY RECRUITING AI TALENT.

Contact

Upstage | Geun-Kyo Kim, PR Director | 010-8229-7240 | keunkyo@upstage.ai

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