AI, Shaping the Future of 

Search

From a Ph.D. in AI to a Knowledge Graph developer on the Google search team and an AI chatbot startup, Skelter Labs, Kyungwon's career has always been focused on 'AI' and 'technical challenges.' Now, Kyungwon is redefining the search platform for travel at Yanolja NEXT.

We met with Kyungwon Kang, who leads several teams as the Head of Search and an Uber Tech Lead, to hear about his journey and the future of search envisioned by Yanolja NEXT.

After getting my Ph.D. in AI, I worked at a startup for four years and as a member of the Google search team for about 10 years. Among those roles, I was deeply involved in developing 'Knowledge Graph' technology that structures and connects information about all entities (cities, people, etc.) around the world. Afterward, I took on the challenge of creating a deep learning-based AI product for a real-world use at the AI chatbot startup, Skelter Labs. Looking back, my career has always been a continuous process of using AI technology to solve complex and meaningful problems.

To be honest, I didn't know much about Yanolja at first. But the vision and persuasion of my future colleagues moved me. The fact that I could take on a technically meaningful challenge again with people I had built trust with at Google, and Yanolja's global scalability and rapid execution, were very attractive to me.

I chose Yanolja NEXT based on the value of 'half vision, half people.'

I oversee search for the entire Yanolja and also lead machine learning-based data processing technology. I currently manage three teams. 

• Search Team: We develop a search platform that can be commonly used by all member companies. The goal is to create a SaaS-type search engine that can be flexibly applied to various services like the Yanolja app, GGT, and NOL, based on well-designed 'Building Blocks.'

• Nexus Lake Team:  'Product Tagging' is the core of this team. We use OCR and AI technology to extract text from product images and automatically apply meaningful tags like '#cherryblossom_spot_accommodation' and '#near_Lotteworld.' These tags play a decisive role in improving the quality of search and the accuracy of product recommendations.

• Nexus Service Team: We are responsible for 'Property Mapping,' which groups identical hotel products scattered across multiple platforms. We have improved accuracy by replacing external solutions with our own AI technology, and we are laying the groundwork for creating new value based on this grouped data.

The core culture of our team is to foster the ability to define and solve problems on our own initiative.

This is a team that doesn't just implement predetermined requirements but constantly thinks about "Why is this feature needed?" and "Is there a better way?" The team members themselves propose ideas, exchange intense feedback, and actively improve the product. A sense of responsibility and passion come together to create synergy.

Although the team started with only three members, I believe we have maintained a healthy development culture. It's not an organization where leaders give orders; it's a team that creates products together by proposing ideas and rigorously validating them.

The value I consider most important is 'growing together.' I believe that the three axes of individual growth, team growth, and company growth must move forward in a balanced way.

I don't think any one of them can be sacrificed. If an individual is sacrificed, the team is not sustainable, and if the team is sacrificed, the company cannot develop. Ultimately, I believe the role of a leader is to create an environment where all members can happily grow.

Our team is looking for people who are proactive. It would be great to have someone who has a proactive and self-motivated attitude, is immersed in problem-solving, and has a strong desire for technical growth. You don't necessarily have to be a major. If you have the desire to grow, you can quickly improve your skills. If you are not afraid of technical growth and find it fun to define and solve unknown problems, you will be a great fit for our team.