As competition in AI technology intensifies and core corporate strategies shift from 'adoption' to 'control,' SUSE Software Solutions (SUSE) has presented a new response direction by leveraging its open-source-based AI infrastructure.

SUSE Software Solutions held a press conference at the Westin Seoul Parnas Hotel on the 18th and announced its technology and market strategies, focusing on changes in corporate AI strategies due to the spread of Agentic AI and Edge AI and the necessity of securing 'digital sovereignty'.

The event proceeded with Imran Khan, SUSE's Chief Customer Officer (CCO), Peter Lees, Vice President of Solutions for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, and Lee Dong-woon, Country Manager of SUSE Korea, giving presentations in sequence, followed by a Q&A session.


First, CCO Imran Khan assessed that the global corporate environment is becoming more complex with the expansion of AI adoption.

He explained that companies are facing common challenges such as securing data and system sovereignty, minimizing dependence on specific vendors, strengthening security responses, modernizing IT infrastructure, and ensuring AI scalability.

He emphasized that, especially in the AI era, not only the utilization of technology but also the ability to operate it independently is becoming increasingly important.


Vice President Peter Rees then presented the 'Production Chasm,' which companies experience in the process of applying AI to actual business, as a major challenge.

This refers to the technical and operational limitations that arise when scaling AI verified in the experimental phase into a large-scale operational environment.

He explained that three factors—manpower shortages, system fragmentation, and operational complexity—are the main obstacles, and emphasized the need for an integrated infrastructure approach to address them.

SUSE presented an open-source-based AI infrastructure strategy as a response to these problems.

The key is to build an environment not dependent on a specific cloud or operating system, allowing companies to select and operate AI models and infrastructure in the form they desire. It is to enable it.

To this end, SUSE proposed a structure that integrates and manages the entire hybrid environment by combining a Linux-based operating system, a Kubernetes platform, and multi-cloud management technology.

The company also emphasized the direction of applying AI technology to infrastructure operations.

The explanation is that operational efficiency can be enhanced by establishing an intelligent operating environment that automatically analyzes system status and responds to failures.

In addition, it presented a foundation for companies to build their own AI environments through AI infrastructure packages developed in collaboration with NVIDIA.


Branch Manager Lee Dong-woon separately explained the strategy for the Korean market.

He diagnosed that domestic companies are simultaneously facing complex challenges, such as security issues, infrastructure availability, securing GPU resources, and vendor lock-in, along with the acceleration of AI transition.

In particular, it was added that the demand for infrastructure reconfiguration is increasing due to changes in the virtualization market, and based on this, there is a possibility that the adoption of new platforms will spread.

In addition, the effectiveness of open source-based infrastructure was presented through actual application cases in industrial settings.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries improved operational stability and cost efficiency simultaneously by adopting the SUSE platform without major system changes while maintaining its existing legacy Linux environment. It was presented as a feature that the approach involved maintaining and supplementing existing CentOS and RHEL-based environments without completely replacing them.

In another example, a global cosmetics company was introduced as having enhanced operational efficiency in a multi-cloud environment by adopting a Kubernetes-based platform to centrally manage its large-scale IT infrastructure. The focus was on reducing operational complexity by integrating systems distributed across various environments into a single management framework.

In the public sector, the case of the Korea National Railway Corporation was mentioned.

Ahn Jin-hyuk, Deputy Director of the Korea National Railway Corporation, who was present at the press conference, stated that SUSE technology was applied during the process of re-examining the existing VMware-centric structure and reviewing alternative infrastructure to respond to changes in the virtualization environment. He specifically mentioned that, given the critical importance of stability and availability due to the nature of railway infrastructure, a phased transition and ensuring operational continuity were key considerations.

Branch Manager Lee explained that these cases are all based on a “structure that allows for a gradual transition while maintaining the existing system.”

In other words, a strategy of maintaining compatibility with the existing environment, rather than a complete replacement, acts as an important factor in the actual implementation process.

In addition, the expanding trend of edge computing was presented as a key strategic area. Analysis suggests that the demand for platforms to integrate and manage distributed systems is increasing as real-time data processing and the use of AI grow in railway, manufacturing, and logistics sectors.

At the meeting, the importance of the Korean market amidst global AI competition was also mentioned.

Based on market research data, SUSE assessed that Korea holds strategic significance in terms of the speed of AI adoption and infrastructure demand, and stated that it views it as a major hub for the future expansion of AI infrastructure.