New KB Chairman Yang Focuses on Growth with People in Inauguration Speech

Chairman Yang Jong-hee of KB Financial Group delivers his inaugural speech at an inauguration ceremony at the new headquarters building of KB Kookmin Bank in Yeouido, Seoul, on Nov. 21. (Photo: Yonhap News Agency)

KB Financial Group held an inauguration ceremony for its seventh chairman, Yang Jong-hee, at the new headquarters building of KB Kookmin Bank in Yeouido, Seoul.

In attendance were more than 150 people, including customers, small business owners, partners, heads of social companies and employees on Nov. 21.

In his inaugural speech, Chairman Yang Jong-hee said that he asked himself, “What roles should KB Financial Group play now and what is KB Financial Group’s calling of the times?”

Yang expressed his gratitude to customers for their unwavering trust and love for KB Financial Group, shareholders for their strong support for KB Financial Group’s growth and Financial Group employees. Partners were thanked for doing their best in their respective fields.

Chairman Yang went on to say he deeply feels the importance of the roles and responsibilities of finance, as many people in society are still experiencing difficulties.

As CEO of a financial company that has grown and been receiving strong support from neighbors around us, Yang expressed his wish to create a KB Financial Group that grows together with the people.

To this end, he proposed four management directions: management that constantly coexists with society; management that gives customers the best experiences; management that gives employees pride and dreams and management that can repay shareholders’ support.

Chairman Yang Jong-hee first promised management that constantly creates a win-win situation with society.

He emphasized that this is a standard for Korean finance, saying that he believes that companies can only move forward sustainably if they pursue not only financial value but customer and social value in a balanced manner.

Yang also promised to continue to discover areas where KB Financial Group can fulfill its social responsibilities and to communicate with society to set an example as a leading financial group.

As the second management direction, Yang emphasized that KB Financial Group will create the best experience for customers.

The new chairman said that the best experience starts with graceful sales by financial company’s employees. That is based on customers’ strong trust and financial companies becoming exemplary financial institutions that do not cause financial accidents.

Chairman Yang added that KB Financial Group will make customers’ future bright and he will make sure to empower KB Financial Group to create dignified and stately sales so that all people will be able to enjoy happiness and prosperity.

Third, Chairman Yang said that he will make KB Financial Group a financial group that can give employees strong pride and chances to realize dreams.

He presented a management direction that enables employees to work happily with dreams and hopes so that they will be able to create an environment where they can work with excitement and be duly rewarded for their hard work.

Chairman Yang revealed his commitment to realizing management that can repay shareholders for giving KB Financial Group strong trust and support in spite of difficult circumstances.

Finally, Chairman Yang expressed his ambition to embark on a new journey to create a better tomorrow for all of KB employees and customers.

KB Financial Group Holds KB Tech Forum to Strengthen Competitiveness and Foster Talent

On Nov. 24, KB Financial Group held the KB Tech Forum at the Multipurpose Hall of KB Bank’s new headquarters building in Yeouido, Seoul.

In the forum, more than 200 people, including KB Chairman Yang Jong-hee and employees from the digital and IT departments, shared the development and success of KB Financial Group’s projects in the tech, data, AI and digital sectors.

The KB Tech Forum was first held in October 2021, organized by KB Kookmin Bank to sharpen KB Financial Group’s platform competitiveness.

An increase in interest in the technology, data, AI and digital sectors has expanded the event to include all employees of KB Financial Group’s affiliates in charge of these areas, as well as other KB employees who wish to participate.

The fifth edition of the event was named “KB Tech Forum for Young Leaders” to actively support the growth of MZ generation developers in the group who will lead KB Financial Group in the future.

The forum began with a greeting from Chairman Yang, followed by a keynote speech under the theme of “Growth of Developers in 2030 in the Age of Gen AI,” and a developer session where developers shared their experience and knowledge.

“IT and digital are no longer a means of supporting a bank’s business, but a core sector that must lead the bank’s business at the forefront,” Chairman Yang said.

“We need to shift the perspective of all businesses from face-to-face to non-face-to-face, and change and improve items related to all customer experiences, such as products and UI/UX accordingly.”

In the keynote speech, Kim Seung-il, CEO of Modu Labs, founder of AI Innovation School Aiffel, discussed skills and competencies required for developers in the era of generative AI.

In the Developer Session that followed, presentations were made on the following topics - Building a visitor management system using low codes; Real-time quotation processing by M-able, a high-performance financial platform; building a super app that provides all services of KB Insurance in one stop; building a CJM-based scenario-based wave campaign environment to activate AI marketing; AWS operation strategy to improve global service speed; business support based on internalized generative AI models; the development of a dashboard for monitoring channel platform integration for new employees; business improvements thanks to the introduction of new API technologies and the customization of Redis-based flow control function in Spring Cloud Gateway.

“In the era of working with artificial intelligence (AI), it is important for KB Financial Group to spread a culture where technology is valued and developers are respected for sustainable growth and excellent human resources,” said an official of KB Financial Group.

“We will strive to set up a culture where developers learn, share, and grow together within KB Financial Group.”

KB Investor Insights 2024 for Customers’ Successful Investment

KB Financial Group held KB Investor Insights 2024, a conference for individual and corporate customers to diagnose current uncertain market conditions and share KB Financial Group’s investment philosophy, at the multipurpose hall of KB Kookmin Bank’s new headquarters building on Nov. 22.

The conference was under the theme of “Anti-fragile: KB Financial Group’s Challenges for New Prosperity beyond Uncertainties,” with the attendance of KB Chairman Yang Jong-hee and executives from the financial group and its affiliated companies.

“Anti-fragile” is a concept first proposed by Professor Nassim Taleb, author of “Black Swan.”

It means the ability to not only withstand shocks and uncertainties, but to thrive by obtaining benefits from them.

KB Investor Insights 2024 was held for the second time after the first one in a metaverse format in January this year.

The investment information event consisted of two sessions: a CEO message session and a panel discussion.

KB Investor Insights 2024 was held in conjunction with KB Analyst Day 2023, where analysts from KB Securities provided their outlooks on financial market to institutional investors.