GS Retail Launches 'Future Retail' Season 4 with Five AI Startups

GS Retail has officially kicked off projects aimed at solving persistent challenges in the retail field by partnering with artificial intelligence (AI) startups. A defining feature of this initiative is the shift in focus beyond mere technology adoption, toward having business departments directly identify their needs and solve them through external innovative technologies.

GS Retail announced on the 20th that it held a meet-up event for the fourth season of its open innovation program, "The GS Challenge Future Retail," at GS Tower in Seoul's Gangnam district on the 16th, and has commenced proof-of-concept (PoC) projects with the five finally selected AI startups. This fourth season sets "field-centric AI transformation (AX)" as its core objective, with participating startups conducting validation work for approximately four months until mid-November.

The biggest change lies in the program's operational method. While the first through third seasons took a "technology-centric" approach—first examining technologies held by startups and then finding applications for them—Season 4 has shifted to a "field challenge-centric" model, where business units first present problems that need solving on the ground, and startups with suitable technical capabilities are then selected. During the program's planning phase, GS Retail conducted a demand survey across 17 company-wide business units, based on which it established three key focus areas: ▲ Data & AI Intelligence ▲ Autonomous Operation Optimization ▲ Digital Engagement Innovation.

To enhance the quality of collaboration, the selection scale was narrowed from seven companies in Season 3 to five in Season 4. Instead, the selection process was significantly strengthened through pre-meetings between business units and startups to meticulously verify challenge suitability and the practical applicability of technologies in real-world settings. Some projects are planned to be linked with government-supported initiatives to expand the scale of support, allowing selected startups to validate their technologies in a more stable environment.