Hello! I'm the Lead of IAB (Innovate and Beyond) team.

My name is Seungduk Kim.

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What does Yanolja NEXT mean to you?

When we first came up with the name Yanolja NEXT, we actually thought of the name ‘Skunk Works’.

Like Skunk Works, we started with the goal of maximizing efficiency.

‘How can we make travel 10X easier?’

We wanted to answer that through technology.

That’s the organization we aim to be.

As leaders in this organization, our job is to make sure that as our members work.

We continuously help clear any roadblocks and check whether we're still heading in the right direction, constantly reviewing those things and offering support along the way.

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Which team are you part of, and what is your team’s mission?

Everyone has different expectations from their travel experience.

Their needs and wants vary widely.

At IAB team, we focus on how we can reflect those differences through technology.

We keep exploring ways to solve these challenges.

The deeper we look into the travel industry, the clearer it becomes that much of it is still run manually.

For example, when you book a flight or a hotel, we just click on a website and make a payment and think, ‘Okay that’s it, I’m done’.

However, behind the scenes, someone is manually writing down the booking info, calling the hotel to confirm ‘Did the reservation go through? Has the payment been received?’.

There’s a lot of human work happening behind the scenes.

And that means hidden costs are stacking up in the background.

Those costs eventually get passed on to the consumers.

So in order to reduce those costs, the products end up being standardized and less flexible for users.

If we can cut these backend costs as much as possible, we’ll be able to offer a wider variety of travel products to customers.

That’s why we’re leveraging technologies like AI to solve these problems in smarter, more scalable ways.

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What are the key tech stacks your team uses at Yanolja NEXT?

We work with a wide range of technologies.

Even just in terms of programming languages, we use Go, Python, and TypeScript.

If there’s another language that fits the need we don’t hesitate to use it.

So it’s hard to say we rely on any one particular stack.

There isn’t a fixed answer.

We focus on the problem we’re trying to solve and choose the technology that best suits that purpose.

That’s how our team operates.

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Could you share a key recent project from your team?

Our team has worked on a variety of projects so far.

One of the most interesting projects lately was a project called ‘Tella’.

As I mentioned earlier, in the background people make lots of phone calls.

‘Has our reservation gone through?’

‘Has the payment been received?’

That kind of manual confirmation happens a lot.

However, if you think about it, the questions and the answers are actually highly repetitive and structured.

It’s just the same pattern over and over again.

So we thought, ‘Can’t AI handle this pretty well?’

That became our starting point.

And by applying AI to this process, it wasn’t just about using new technology.

It allowed us to improve the cost structure that would’ve otherwise been passed on to consumers.

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What sets Yanolja NEXT apart from other R&D organizations?

I actually think about this a lot.

It’s something that’s always on my mind.

And the word that comes to mind is ‘trust’.

We don’t tell you like ‘This is exactly how much work you need to do’.

Instead we work more flexibly, and that naturally raises a concern.

‘Will this person really take ownership and get things done?’

However without trust, you end up second-guessing each other, which creates all sorts of inefficiencies.

Yanolja NEXT was founded with a clear goal ‘To push efficiency to the limit’, so I believe trust is absolutely essential.

While working together, we’re always thinking about and practicing ways to build and maintain that trust.

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What do you enjoy most about working with your peers to solve challenges?

You know what we call a ‘dad’s smile’.

I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m the team lead or anything like that.

Even just as a teammate whenever I see our team members passionately debating, I catch myself smiling without realizing it.

It hits me like ‘Wow, we’re really digging deep into this problem’.

And every time I see that happening I can’t help but feel proud.

It just brings a big smile to my face.

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What kind of career growth can you expect at Yanolja NEXT?

I still have a lot to learn myself, but I think I’m pretty good at recognizing potential in others and helping them fully unlock that potential.

I’ve had many chances to work with junior team members.

Thankfully, most of them have grown so much in their roles.

So if you join our team, I’ll do my best to continuously guide you toward the most efficient, and effective path with ongoing feedback so you can grow in a meaningful way.

I’ll be here to support that growth.

Oh, and if you join us you won’t need to go abroad for language training.

From meetings to documentation, and even code reviews, everything is done in English.

You might wonder, "What if I’m not good at English?’

Honestly, don’t worry.

Most people who joined didn’t speak much English either.

They joined without speaking much English, and within two to six months they’re able to work comfortably in English.

It’s not about perfect grammar, it’s just the English you need to get the job done.

In fact, many say later on that they actually feel more comfortable using English than Korean when it comes to work.

So, don’t be intimidated by the English-speaking environment.

Instead, see it as a great opportunity.

It could really open doors for you.