[Interview] "Taiwan Is the Backbone, Korea Is the Muscle"... AVEVA Executive Highlights the Strengths of 'K-AI Factories'

Interview with Doug Warren, Senior Vice President at AVEVA

"South Korea, a Testbed for Next-Generation Industrial Intelligence"

South Korea's manufacturing industry has been recognized as having world-class capabilities in the practical application of artificial intelligence (AI) to production sites. However, in order to leverage this strength, it is necessary to convert existing smart factories into AI factories and to develop measures to secure data sovereignty at the same time.

Doug Warren, Senior Vice President at AVEVA, said in a written interview with The Asia Business Daily on July 21, "Companies now need to prepare not just for smart factories but for AI factories." AVEVA is a UK-based industrial software company that supports equipment control and data monitoring in manufacturing, energy, and infrastructure sites. In 2023, AVEVA became a subsidiary of Schneider Electric.

Doug Warren, Senior Vice President of Aviva, held a media briefing at Computex 2026, Asia's largest IT expo, held in Taipei, Taiwan, on the 2nd of last month. Schneider Electric

In Korea, the shipbuilding sector holds significant weight, with the 'Big Three'—Samsung Heavy Industries, Hanwha Ocean, and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering—all using AVEVA Marine Solutions to design and manufacture ships. Shipbuilding accounts for more than half of AVEVA's sales in Korea.

Warren identified South Korea and Taiwan as the two pillars of the global AI ecosystem. He explained, "If Taiwan has laid the foundation for AI factories through semiconductor and server production, South Korea has world-leading capabilities in advanced manufacturing fields such as semiconductors, batteries, automobiles, and shipbuilding." He added, "Taiwan's strength lies in the infrastructure that powers AI, whereas South Korea's strength is in its ability to apply AI." According to the National Assembly Budget Office, South Korea's manufacturing sector accounts for about 28% of its gross domestic product (GDP), which is twice the average of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

An AI factory is a facility that produces AI itself, rather than tangible products like cars or semiconductors. It refers to a site where tens of thousands of graphics processing units (GPUs) are used to train AI models and generate results. Warren stated, "While smart factories have digitized the process of manufacturing goods, AI factories are facilities that produce intelligence."

The challenge lies in electricity and heat. Operating a large number of GPUs results in power consumption and heat generation that far exceed those of conventional data centers. This is why Warren considers digital twins essential. By constructing a virtual replica of the factory, companies can verify power distribution and cooling performance in advance, preventing costly design modifications after investing hundreds of billions of won.

Regarding concerns over technology leaks, Warren suggested data sovereignty as a solution. He said, "Process knowledge and recipes are the most valuable assets for manufacturers," adding, "Through a hybrid cloud and customer-hosted approach, we help companies maintain control over sensitive operational technology (OT) data."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.