Hyundai Motor Group Hosts 'HMG Tech Talent Forum'...Bringing Together Technology Talent and Key Leaders

Nine Companies Including Hyundai Motor, Kia, Boston Dynamics, and Motional Join

Sharing Growth Visions in AI, SDV, Robotics, and Energy

Hyundai Motor Group announced on the 29th that it had successfully concluded the 'HMG Tech Talent Forum (Hyundai Motor Group Tech Talent Forum)', an event that brought together global technology talent and key technology leaders.

The forum was held over two days from the 17th (local time) at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in California, USA. Under the theme "Go Beyond Together," the event introduced Hyundai Motor Group's vision for future technologies and examples of innovation, and provided a platform for global talent to discuss the future direction of mobility development.

Jose Munoz, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company, Hyundai Motor Group

The event was attended by nine companies, including Hyundai Motor, Kia, Hyundai Motor America, Kia America, Hyundai America Technical Center (HATCI), Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA), Boston Dynamics, Motional, and 42dot. Approximately 380 participants, including technical talent from North America, invited guests, and Hyundai Motor Group employees, gathered to share technology visions and development cases across six areas: AI, robotics, autonomous driving, smart manufacturing, software·IT, and hydrogen·energy·battery sectors.

The opening keynote speeches were delivered by Jose Munoz, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company; Manfred Harrer, President and Head of R&D at Hyundai Motor Group; Park Minwoo, President and Head of AVP at Hyundai Motor Group and CEO of 42dot; and Kim Hyein, Executive Vice President and Head of Human Resources at Hyundai Motor Group.

President Munoz presented the Group's strategies for connecting future technologies such as AI, Software-Defined Vehicles (SDV), robotics, and energy to actual products and business. He stated, "Hyundai Motor is evolving into a physical AI company that develops robotics, autonomous vehicles, and the software that organically connects them,” and added, “Based on the Group’s core businesses and scale, we will realize our future vision together with top-tier technology talent from around the world."

President Harrer suggested that the Group would increase development speed and efficiency by integrating AI and virtual development technologies into their engineering capabilities, which have ensured quality, safety, and performance in large-scale vehicles. President Park introduced the vision of a physical AI system that continuously learns by utilizing data accumulated from actual environments such as vehicles, factories, and robots.

Executive Vice President Kim described Hyundai Motor Group’s global innovation ecosystem—comprising over 75 group companies, about 336,000 employees, and R&D centers worldwide—and emphasized the opportunities for global talent to grow by taking on challenging projects.

The subsequent Leaders Panel Talk featured President Park, President Harrer, Kim Changhwan, Executive Vice President, Electrification and Energy Solutions at Hyundai Motor Group, Jack Jackowski, Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO) of Boston Dynamics, Phil Michel, Head of Autonomous Driving & AI at Motional, and Alpesh Patel, Managing Director of SDF Initiatives at Hyundai Motor Group. The participants discussed the impact of AI, robotics, autonomous driving, electrification, and smart manufacturing on industries, and shared strategies for applying core technologies to actual products and production sites.

Participants of the HMG Tech Talent Forum interacting in the exhibition space. Hyundai Motor Group

During the forum, sessions for each of the six technology fields were also held. On the first day, group leaders and experts from the participating companies discussed directions for technology development and major challenges; on the second day, each company presented project cases and exchanged technical viewpoints with attendees through Q&A sessions.

An exhibition under the theme “Moving Beyond Mobility, Transforming What's Next” highlighted the Group’s technologies expanding into vehicles, robotics, and industrial sites. The exhibition was organized into three sections: "Beyond the Vehicle," "Beyond the Road," and "Beyond the Industry."

On site, exhibits included Boston Dynamics’ quadruped robot Spot, the next-generation mobile robot platform MobeD, the SDV architecture CODA, Motional’s IONIQ 5 Robotaxi, Hyundai Motor’s CRATER concept car, as well as hydrogen fuel cell systems. A total of 16 key technologies and projects were also showcased, including the next-generation humanoid robot Atlas, Thermal Runaway Prevention (TRP) technology, Autonomous Trailer Hitching (ATH) technology, Atria AI, Gleio AI, Vision AI and AI Platform, and smart manufacturing solutions. Live demonstrations featuring Spot, MobeD, and CODA were also held.

Hyundai Motor Group also ran programs linking the forum to recruitment. An "HR Coffee Chat" was provided, where hiring managers met one-on-one with participants, and candidates from the "HMG Global Tech Talent Recruitment" initiative, which has been ongoing since April, were invited for on-site interviews.

A Hyundai Motor Group representative said, "This forum was a venue for in-depth communication with global tech talent, based on the Group’s technology vision and execution capabilities. Going forward, we will further expand exchanges with global core technology talent to strengthen our technological competitiveness in leading the next generation of mobility."

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