Caught between change and stability, many companies find themselves hesitating on how to square the two. The pace of change is increasing in the age of AI, and the weight of making inspired choices has only become more critical. GS Caltex, one of Korea’s leading refining companies, faced the same dilemma and recently embraced a new guiding principle of good risk taking — a phrase reportedly often heard in GS Caltex meetings, and initially proposed by company CEO Hur Sae-hong. “Once the word ‘good’ was added to ‘risk-taking,’ a culture began to spread where people are willing to attempt any challenge,” says CIO, CDO, and DX Center head Lee Eunjoo.
Amid growing uncertainties around crude oil prices and product demand, intensifying competition over production scale, and demographic decline, the value of good risk taking is pushing the company to pursue new opportunities and innovation. And a changing mindset is reshaping the organization from within.
The AI platform changing the enterprise
Even without any top-down mandate, it’s common at GS Caltex to see not just IT but LOB teams in production, sales, finance, legal, PR, and HR building and using AI agents in their day-to-day work. Finance, for instance, recently built an FAQ agent and asked Lee’s team to review it. “It’s incredibly rewarding to see employees actively using the new technologies provided by the DX Center.”
