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Analyst briefing. / Kakao

Ahead of a planned spin-off, Kakao Group held its first joint investor relations (IR) session, bringing chief executive officers (CEOs) from its major affiliates together in one room. The group fleshed out the roles of Kakao AI and Kakao X following the division, presenting capital markets with growth strategies for core business areas—including techfin, content, and mobility—as well as synergy pathways among affiliates.

According to Kakao on the 14th, the group hosted a joint briefing for securities analysts and related market professionals the previous day at the Kakao AI Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. CEOs from key affiliates—including Kakao, Kakao Pay, KakaoBank, Kakao Entertainment, SM Entertainment, and Kakao Piccoma—personally took the stage to deliver presentations. This marks the first time Kakao Group has held a joint IR session across its affiliates.

Shina Chung, nominee for CEO of Kakao AI, outlined a plan to evolve KakaoTalk beyond a simple communications channel into an "integrated agentic AI interface" that understands individual requests and contexts to execute required tasks.

Following the spin-off, Kakao X aims to position itself as a "future-value investment company" centered on techfin, content, and mobility. The vision is to pursue growth opportunities anchored by three pillars: techfin through KakaoBank and Kakao Pay; content through Kakao Entertainment, SM Entertainment, and Kakao Piccoma; and mobility centered on Kakao Mobility.

In the techfin division, AI and digital assets were placed front and center. Kakao Pay CEO Shin Won-keun introduced strategies for AI agent-based hyper-personalized financial services and the development of a digital asset ecosystem centered on stablecoins. KakaoBank CEO Daniel Yun presented plans to transition into an "AI Native Bank," secure competitiveness powered by proprietary large language models (LLMs), and expand global operations.

Content affiliates also unveiled their respective growth pillars. Kakao Entertainment Co-CEO Ko Jeong-hee emphasized intellectual property (IP) growth through global partnerships, platform enhancements, and the expansion of live entertainment. SM Entertainment Co-CEO Jang Cheol-hyuk highlighted the rollout of new IP alongside growth in global fandom and concert businesses, while Kakao Piccoma CEO Kim Jae-yong detailed plans to expand the multimedia content business in Japan utilizing AI video and merchandise.

Kim Do-young, nominee for CEO of Kakao X, stressed connectivity across business units in addition to individual affiliate growth. In mobility, he highlighted autonomous driving and physical AI as new growth areas, detailing plans to discover additional business opportunities by connecting the platforms, underlying technologies, and customer touchpoints shared across techfin, content, and mobility.

"By connecting the robust platforms, foundational technologies, and customer touchpoints of our flagship business sectors, we will create new growth opportunities and translate those results into enhancing Kakao X's long-term enterprise value," Kim said.

Kakao is also continuing its dialogue with shareholders ahead of the corporate split. Following its first meeting with retail shareholders last month, the company plans to hold a second session on the 20th at the Korea Financial Investment Center in Yeouido, Seoul. A company official noted, "Following the spin-off, we will continue to share the vision, synergy strategies, and growth pathways of both the group and each affiliate with stakeholders, including shareholders and Krew members."

                                                                                                           Son Kang-hoon