A First Look At How Kakao CEO Shina Chung Is Using OpenAI Tech To Reinvent The Korean Internet Giant In Forbes Asia’s July Issue

The tumultuous times we live in pose a stress test for leaders across the spectrum. Those helming businesses are required to make a crucial call about staying the course amid uncertainty or forging a brave, new path.

The protagonist of this issue’s cover story, Shina Chung, CEO of Korean internet giant Kakao, opted for the latter. Just over a year into her current assignment, Chung is going all-in on AI, through a landmark alliance with OpenAI, to provide a catalyst for Kakao’s growth. The company is gearing up to offer the next generation of virtual assistants later this year to the 49 million users of its superapp KakaoTalk. Senior editor John Kang, who met Chung at her office in South Korea’s tech hub of Pangyo, narrates how this could be a game-changer for the company.

Change has been a constant in the five-decades-plus career of Isidro Consunji, a widely respected industrialist in the Philippines. His profile by Ian Sayson and Jonathan Burgos recounts how this second-generation heir took his family’s construction business to the next level by scooping up troubled companies—from a coal miner to a power producer—and turning them around. At age 76, Consunji’s taken on yet another challenge with the $660 million acquisition by his DMCI Holdings of Mexican giant Cemex’s money-losing cement unit in the Philippines.

Another highlight of this edition is the inaugural list of the World’s 50 Richest Self-Made Women. The largest number in this group—24—hail from Asia-Pacific, of which 18 are from China (including Hong Kong.) However, despite the increasing numbers of women entrepreneurs, the world’s 50 richest self-made men are collectively worth 14 times as much as their female counterparts.

The wealthy in Thailand are showcased in our annual list of the nation’s 50 richest, compiled this year by contributing editor Phisanu Phromchanya. Amid tariff and political turmoil, their net worth got a gravity-defying, double-digit boost with the top three notching the biggest wealth gains.

An annual exercise of note is the Forbes Global 2000, a roster of the world’s largest public companies, now in its 23rd year. There are a total of 765 Asia-Pacific companies among them, with China (including Hong Kong) leading the group. Significantly, all four metrics—sales, profits, assets and market value—used to rank these 2,000 companies are higher this year despite global uncertainties. Their leaders, undoubtedly, have made the right calls. As always, comments welcome at executiveeditor@forbesasia.com.