Connecting customers, partners, cultures, and markets across the globe — these are the people helping shape the future of travel tech at Yanolja.

In this edition of Meet the Leaders, we spotlight the leaders driving Yanolja’s global business forward.

From their career journeys and experiences working across borders to the insights shaping the AI era, discover the stories behind the people building Global Yanolja.

Meet the Leaders | Behind Global Yanolja

― Jake (Jungyun) Kim, Head of ES Strategy at Yanolja

My Journey So Far

Tell us about your career journey—from where you started to what excites you today.

Hello, I’m Jake (Jungyun) Kim, leading the Strategy Group within Yanolja Enterprise Solutions (Yanolja ES).

Before joining Yanolja, I built my career across major Korean companies including Samsung and SK, and later continued my journey at McKinsey. Spending years immersed in documents, numbers, and strategic planning, I eventually found myself missing the energy of being in the field — building things firsthand and making real decisions in real time.

That desire naturally led me to Yanolja, where I’m now in my fifth year. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to witness the company’s remarkable growth up close, especially through Yanolja ES’s aggressive global expansion and investment. That level of trust and ambition has allowed me to stay deeply immersed in the journey myself.

This year has also been personally meaningful as I experience what feels like a major turning point toward becoming AI Native. Rather than simply talking about AI, I’ve been actively experimenting with it whenever I can. I built an internal AI Agent that identifies image errors across sales channels for our affiliate company, Yanolja Go Global, and on weekends I even create iPad apps for my children. Every day, I’m learning firsthand about the limitless possibilities AI can unlock.

Leading Across Borders

What do you find most rewarding about working globally, and do you have any memorable episodes to share?

One of the most fascinating things about global work is that it never really stops. By the time I finish my day, someone on the other side of the world is just getting started.

At the same time, working with colleagues from different cultures and backgrounds often means that everyone approaches the same issue with completely different contexts. If I were to compare it to AI, it’s almost like each person operates with a differently configured “Harness” that shapes how their model behaves and connects.

Aligning those contexts can be surprisingly difficult. Sometimes projects take unexpected detours or require far more time than anticipated. But when you patiently navigate through those moments and eventually align everyone toward one direction, the sense of accomplishment becomes one of the most rewarding parts of global work.

When leading in a global environment, what core capability do you believe matters more than language itself?

I believe the three most important qualities are curiosity, ownership, and resilience.

Everything starts with curiosity — constantly asking “Why?” and digging deeper into problems. That naturally leads to ownership: the determination to personally solve the issue no matter what. In the field, bold words matter far less than a commitment you can fully execute and stand behind.

Most importantly, in a global environment where unexpected variables emerge every day, resilience becomes what ultimately determines success — the ability to face challenges head-on and keep trying until the problem is solved.

What We’re Building Next

Could you explain the role ES Strategy Group plays in Yanolja’s global journey?

Our ES Strategy Group operates through two major pillars. The Global Strategy team designs the broader business strategy, while the Product Strategy team ensures those strategies can actually work in the field by planning and executing core product initiatives.

In addition, we’ve recently begun working closely with Yanolja NEXT — Yanolja’s advanced technology organization — to explore the next generation of growth opportunities and future travel experiences in the AI era.

What do you find most exciting and rewarding about leading global business at Yanolja?

What excites me most is the opportunity to directly design and provide the massive infrastructure that powers global B2B travel operations — from hotels to travel inventory distribution across markets worldwide.

There’s something incredibly meaningful about seeing a company that started in Korea help build the invisible backbone of the global travel tech industry while creating new standards for the future. It’s a level of impact that’s difficult to experience elsewhere.

As a global leader, what kind of change or impact do you hope to create at Yanolja over the next three years?

Three years from now, I hope the solutions we’re building will be recognized globally through tangible business results and real innovation.

I want our AI Native strategy to go beyond being just a slogan. Through continuous testing, iteration, and feedback, I hope we can prove that Yanolja’s AI Native products are truly world-class.

Ultimately, I want to see global customers and partners move closer to a fully autonomous operational environment — where human intervention becomes almost unnecessary.

Going beyond simple automation, the goal is to build an ecosystem of autonomy where AI can independently make decisions and operate on its own.

One Word That Defines Me

If you had to define yourself in ‘one word’, what would it be?

“I’m Jake Kim, a Hands-on Builder who loves turning ideas into reality.”

In the past, organizations often valued people who acted as bridges between departments. But in the coming AI era, I believe simple coordination roles may eventually become bottlenecks themselves.

Rather than stopping at writing high-level strategy documents, I want to remain someone who actively builds — creating AI tools, developing apps, and solving real-world problems firsthand with practical execution.

👀 LinkedIn Profile | Jake (Jungyun) Kim, Head of ES Strategy at Yanolja