C A R E E R

Big Jay

CEO / Advisor (Sales & Marketing) 

"We believe that substantial growth is important. Companies can only exist in relation with markets, and the amount of cash flow you can generate translates to the apt size of growth…"

1. Please introduce to us what Sales & Marketing Function in Ailys is.

Business Function focuses on method R&D of establishing and introducing the products by Ailys to the world. All members related to sales, marketing and technology gather to build specific sales strategies and experiences, not to mention discussing business/product/sales plans. Strategies and plans are then solidified into sales missions designed to target Korean and Japanese channels, and afterwards actually applied in real life sales and marketing.

2. If you could pick a special characteristic in Ailys Business, what would it be?

We develop and sell products that have never existed before. Thanks to the current trends, marketing is extremely advantageous for AI and Big Data, but in actual business fields there is a major unclarity on why and how these should be applied. Among all this confusion, we business members intend to provide knowledge for customers so that they view the technology optimistically and help them make sensible decisions. Conventionally sales/ marketing function is considered to sell (off) products in order to increase sales figures, but we don’t agree. We firmly believe that we stand in an honorable stance of voicing out the practical values of technology at the frontline of high tech.

3.  What abilities should Sales & Marketing Function member of Ailys have?

To be honest, it is crucial to have a high level of skillset and capacity or else this work will be extremely challenging. First and foremost, one should carry a complete perspective to an artistic level of being able to cope with given challenges, rather than containing a specific skillset or competency. 

There is no right or wrong as we do things that have no prior examples. We encounter new scenes every time and solve the problem in the field through numerous decisions and executions. There’s a common misconception on Sales&Marketing that people here would be outgoing, but what’s important is the learning and planning ability to understand customers’ work and figure out how to apply our technology and products, along with strong initiative and leadership to understand complex interests and decision structures to throw winning shots. Most importantly, one should have powerful self-confidence in that ‘we generate the world’s top value’. We are bound to deal with such intense work. There’s no expert in this criteria. Rather, we’d name ourselves a group of people determined to willingly become experts for one another. It’s actually a paradox discussing ‘professionalism’ in such a dynamic, fast-changing world. And there comes an insight…after all, loving what we do is the key factor, isn’t it?

4. Tell us about an enjoyable experience working in the ‘Business’ function.

‘An offer one can’t refuse’… It’s a well-known quote by Don Corleone of ‘The Godfather’. Although in the film the offer was turned down with brutality, the quote’s power lingered for a long time. Such happenings occur in our business field too, from time to time. Since the opposite side’s reaction is unpredictable, people try their best to make a good offer and then toss it to fate. However, Ailys business always tries to design ‘an offer one can’t refuse’.

To make an undeniable offer one should throw extremely deep and fundamental questions on the needs of the counterpart. Reading potential, subconscious needs in advance should take place. And once the whole process is molded into a series of anticipated simulations of decision-making frames, we encounter the moment of ‘Eureka! We won’. As a good example, we were already grinning with conviction when a customer (whose information is confidential) decided to select our product as their approximately thousand subsidiary companies’ standard platform, moving on from their previous number of years of using an American AI solution.

An offer one can’t refuse pierces through the counterpart’s desires, therefore in other words means that we are truly get into other’s shoes. This is precisely why we form a strong trust with our customers.

5. How will Ailys grow and develop from now on?

Typically, expected answer would usually be filled with sales goal, market share, or vision. However, I want to share the value and attitude of Ailys’ business with you. I hope this interview can act as a chance for you to think about the future we would manifest together.

It is easy to make the following assumption: ‘Ailys= AI tech company’, but actually our company’s mission is ‘Practicalizing Future Technology’. Of course, future technology isn’t just limited to artificial intelligence. We are also expanding our business to diverse AI technology domains such as unsupervised/ semi-supervised learning, natural language processing, time-series analysis and so on. But the ultimate goal of utilizing big data or machine learning is ‘optimization of decision-making process’, so we are right now expanding our R&D range up to ‘optimization’. The past 3 years(2018~2020) has been the constructive period of promoting DAVinCI LABS, machine learning AutoML solution, for the first time and start prepping with business modeling and marketability. Counting 3 years from now (2021~2023) will be the period of proving our scalability. Therefore, we are reorganizing and rearranging everything, all the way from our method of working, products, development, sales and marketing.

We consider growth with internal stability very important. Companies can only exist within relationships with the market, and we should note that the size of the cash flow we can generate is the size of apt growth.

Investments can be of great help if utilized appropriately according to business models. Sizing up by investments with ideas and a lot of PR could lead to a fairly easy brand construction. But however sweet the moment of brand construction might be, we would end up losing the unexchangeable real-life practical experience. Sudden growth lacking in actual capability and culture is as only as stable a sand castle facing a stormy wave is. Thus Ailys will carry on with our current way of steady growth, armed with competence and sincerity in the market field. You shouldn’t muddle up ‘steady’ and ‘slow’. Our past 3 years of sales has multiplied by eight times, as well as our talented employees, and surprisingly 70% of sales is based on overseas global business. Our talented members are from around 14 countries, including Russia, France, Sweden, Germany and Japan, forming a fun diversity in this small startup company. All these results are purely from our skills and efforts.

What do you think? Could you picture the future path Ailys with create in the future?

I’d like to conclude with finally throwing a question to you: Are you a salesperson, or are you a future pioneer?

Yury Tsoy  Ph.D

Advisor (Machine Learning Development) 

"We have a company with a very supportive atmosphere, that encourages growth, respect, freedom and responsibility. Realizing this every week is very rewarding for me ."

1. Self-introduction (what keywords or tags would you choose to best express yourself? Why?)

I am a recovering researcher who strives to do useful things, that could have a real effect in this world. Some people are consumers and some people are creators. I want to be a creator.

Tags / keywords:

• Useful -- I believe that learning and creating something useful is a rewarding experience.

• Simple -- I like minimalism. And even simple concepts can create very complex and beautiful things such as music, arts, poetry, snowflakes, fractals and strange attractors.

• Curiosity -- this is mandatory for exploring the world and learning.

2. What is your current role at Ailys? Please introduce your function as well.

I am in charge of machine learning development in Ailys. Our unit is focusing on research and implementation of data transforms and machine learning algorithms for our software. Also part of our responsibilities is designing ML pipelines and incorporating them into the system.

One of our main goals for the DAVinCI LABS is improvement of quality and speed of modeling to make AutoML as accessible and efficient as possible. For this we need to be able to take into consideration applications of the ML and variety of usage scenarios.

The ultimate goal, from my opinion, is to make ML as context-aware as possible. Meaning that at the end our products shall incorporate some domain-specific knowledge and information about different problems. At the same time our methods should be flexible enough to be applicable to wide range of domains.

That should be helpful in order to produce better results, enhance explainability and transparency of models, and help our users make better decisions.

3. What was the most rewarding and pleasurable moment at Ailys?

It is hard to single out one special moment. We have a company with a very supportive atmosphere, that encourages growth, respect, freedom and responsibility. Realizing this every week is very rewarding for me :)

4. What does it mean to work together in Ailys? (How does Aliys work as a whole?)

We have a lot of diversity in terms of characters, backgrounds, nationalities, interests and life trajectories. There are a lot of things to learn from every single person. And there are a lot of opportunities to help the colleagues and feel value and purpose.

5. If you are like these people, please apply! (Who type of people do you work with?)

Open to learn and test their skills. Inspired. Growth oriented. Proactive. Helpful and kind. Sense of humour is a must (you will have to compose a short humorous sci-fi story to pass the interview with our CHO: Chief Haha Officer).

6. A message to anyone who wants to apply to Machine Learning Development Function.

It is your life and your choice :)

Larry Kim

Advisor (Machine Learning Development) 

"We try to build a shared vision for the company, then try to empower and trust each invididual to make the decisions that they feel is best for the company in their respective field of expertise. "

1. Self-introduction (what keywords or tags would you choose to best express yourself? Why?)

- I pursue efficiency at workplace, while treating people in a caring, humane & respectful way, while also having fun!

2. What is your current role at Aliys? Please introduce your function as well.

- I am currently serving as the Chief Operating Officer at Ailys, as well as serving as the Advisor for the Finance & Admin Function.

3. What was the most rewarding and pleasurable moment at Ailys?

- Hmmm...

4. What does it mean to work together in Ailys? (How does Aliys work as a whole?)

- At Ailys, we try to build a shared vision for the company, then try to empower and trust each invididual to make the decisions that they feel is best for the company in their respective field of expertise.

5. If you are like these people, please apply! (Who type of people do you work with?)

- If you enjoy having the freedom to make decisions, but also understand the need for self-regulation and consensus-building.

6. A message to anyone who wants to apply to Finance & Admin Function.

- A lot of the work that we do is unseen, but that doesn't make it any less important! If you want to help build the foundations of a company that aims to be caring & humane, respecting each other, while also performing your own work efficiently, come aboard~

Christian Lundgren 

Advisor (Machine Learning Platform) 

"The most inspiring moments to me is seeing other members improving themselves or our product by taking something that exists today..."

1. Self-introduction (what keywords or tags would you choose to best express yourself? Why?)

I am a software engineer, and with my work I want to help create new things and improve the productivity of co-workers and customers alike.

2. What is your current role at Ailys? Please introduce your function as well.

I work with the platform unit at Ailys. We own how data flows into, through and out of our product. That means we have a lot of different users and requirements, but at the end of the day our job is to help ensure that analysts using our tool can go from raw data to having a validated model in production as quickly and easily as possible.

3. What was the most rewarding and pleasurable moment at Ailys?

The most inspiring moments to me is seeing other members improving themselves or our product by taking something that exists today, adding their own ideas and turning it into something better.

4. What does it mean to work together in Ailys? (How does Aliys work as a whole?)

To succeed at Ailys I think it helps to be self-motivated and driven, to understand what our customer's want and need and how you can help improve things for our customers.
There is a lot of freedom at Ailys, and with that comes a lot of individual responsibility.

5. If you are like these people, please apply! (Who type of people do you work with?)
Anyone who is willing to learn, have your own ideas, is open to other's ideas, is a self-starter and enjoy freedom and responsibility.

Jan Feuerbach

Advisor (Software Engineering) 

"My experience at this company, full of open-minded atmosphere is homey and enjoyable. Everyone is treated equally, and we care for each other, respecting every person’s opinion."

1. What is your current role in Ailys?

I am Jan and a software engineer. There are two types of development teams in Ailys at the moment. The scientist team works on machine learning function development and the engineer team manages web application development, which provides interface for machine learning functions. I, as a member of engineering team, deal with diverse tasks ranging from front-end improvement to back-end maintenance. For back-end, we try to design architecture in a fashion that can process and store data efficiently. While we develop web application, we search for new ideas and tech skills that could contribute to improving our problem-solving resolutions. Also, we interact actively with other teams to make sure all customers’ needs are satisfied, and that machine learning is operating smoothly.

2. When was the most rewarding moment while working in Ailys?

I can’t really recall a specific moment as it hasn’t been long since I’ve started working here. Instead, I remember that there wasn’t day where I didn’t want to come to work. It’s all because I enjoy what I do and I like my co-workers. There was no member who was let down on days with a lot of work, and we all helped each other so that was rewarding.

3. Why did you start working at Ailys and how did you succeed in becoming a member here?

I was always interested in machine learning, so I applied to Ailys right away. Once I sent my submission, I searched further about Ailys and decided to work here after the interview, completely charmed with the people and the culture here. What I’ve learned here is that having professional skills is important, but being in good terms with team members comes first. The better the relationship with your co-workers, the more productivity you gain. So I’d like to personally add that it’s important to show your authentic self to your future applicants.

4. What is one strength in our team you discovered after you started working here?

As I’ve mentioned, I was fascinated with the people and the company culture here. Initially, I hadn’t had high expectations working in Korea as I had heard a lot about Korean companies not only from foreign friends but also from Korean mates. However, once I’ve joined Ailys, what I experienced was totally opposite of what I’d heard. My work life in the open-minded atmosphere of Ailys is homey and enjoyable. Everyone is treated equally, and we care for each other, respecting every person’s opinion.

5. What type of co-worker would you like to work with?

Some might refer to having a strong fundamental knowledge of engineering, but we say it depends on how well you can learn new things and adapt. In terms of personality, we look for people who are eager-to-learn, friendly and open minded, able to respect, listen and interact.

6. How would you like to be remembered in Ailys?

I want people to remember me as a member to gladly work with. Also, I hope people would remember me as someone who tried his best for the company and its people.

Bill Yoon

Advisor (QA) 

"There are some hints from the above as to what type of person would fit here at Ailys, but for the quality assurance (QA) position, I would add some more details as below..."

1. Why do you work at Ailys?

I’ve worked at several companies before joining Ailys, and I would say that Ailys has the most amount of freedom, great work-life balance culture, and most importantly, members who are self-motivated and work efficiently with high level of performance. In short, this would be the most ideal company to work at if you are the right fit.

2. What do you do at Ailys?

I am responsible for the overall quality assurance of our solution, DAVinCI LABS, and this is our main product that is being globally acknowledged as a top automated machine learning solution. As a QA (Quality Assurance) manager, I make sure that our solution is being perfected towards user experience (UX), stability, and performance level. The work itself is worthwhile and meaningful, especially when the Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) industry is growing exponentially these days.

3. What kind of people do you work with?

I work with highly self-motivated and passionate people here at Ailys. With a diversity in culture and people, every member is unique in character, and each and every member has skill sets and capacity that would be considered top tier wherever they work. There are companies, especially in Korea, where there is a hierarchical structure, but here it is very horizontal, and every one works and cooperates with one another with much harmony and teamwork. One of the main reasons why people do not switch jobs is because they work with such great people they can always learn from in terms of work and life, and Ailys is where you can find all these people.

4. What kind of teammate do you look for?

There are some hints from the above as to what type of person would fit here at Ailys, but for the quality assurance (QA) position, I would add some more details as below:

* Someone who is highly interested in manual software testing.

* Someone who is meticulous and habitually pays close attention to details, even if they are small.

* Someone who is self-motivated and can be satisfied even after completing long redundant mundane tasks.

* Someone who is able to focus on a single task rather than multi-tasking.

* Someone who is able to write concisely yet including all necessary details.

Since our solution is very customized and sophisticated, it requires more manual than automated testing, especially from the QA side, so if you are interested and suitable, please apply!

5. What is your ultimate goal at Ailys?

Simple. Good Things with Pleasure!

Yonghwan Cho

Advisor (CFDS) 

"Our unit works most closely with the customers. As I work in representation of the company when carrying out a project, evaluation towards me eventually becomes the overall evaluation of the company."

1. What is your current role in Ailys?

I am Yonghwan Cho, Advisor of CFDS Functional Unit in Ailys. CFDS Functional Unit utilizes Ailys’ DAVinCI LABS for projects with the customer, staying in the customer’s company. We check customer data and analyze it, carry out custom consultations and execute machine learning modeling through DAVinCI LABS. Throughout every step, we communicate with the customers regarding actual customer data to create results. At moments of no assigned projects, we try to convey our current machine learning technology, modeling process and other technical content to both inside and outside subjects of the company. We provide answers in multiple forms, covering content of meetings, conferences, and documentation people are usually curious about. CFDS is the most extensive and deeply connected unit in the company.

2. When was the most rewarding moment while working in Ailys?

I know it’s cliché, but it’s when we successfully wrap up our project. Of course I don’t set the definition to what ‘success’ indicates. It depends on the internal evaluation of the customers and Ailys. Running a project contains lots of meanings. As much as we learn and extract new insights from actual data, we go through a lot of issue, challenges and stress. I can definitely sense that Ailys trusts me and tries to be considerate so that I can focus on the project. That’s why I could receive positive feedback on the project in and out of the company. I can’t describe enough how rewarding it is when I successfully put an end to a project, being aware of the trust towards me from the company.

3. What does ‘working together’ mean Ailys?

Ailys is a horizontal organization. There is no distinction between the newcomer and the experienced. In other words, it means any member could be assigned as the representative of the company. Such manners encourage members to actively express and discuss their opinions to produce an output. And then they make decisions based on that output and carry them out. Therefore, it is easier to execute work with active synergy. Thanks to the coworkers who help me stretch my potentials to a far extent, I try to reciprocate as well. Put simply, it feels great to work together.

4. To those who are willing to apply for a position in the CFDS Functional Unit

Our unit works most closely with the customers. As I work in representation of the company when carrying out a project, evaluation towards me eventually becomes the overall evaluation of the company. Naturally, you could feel burdened and get stressed. In that process you should decide on the optimal strategy between the customer and Ailys, as well as execute it. Of course, you don’t make all the decisions by yourself. All related members get together and come to a resolution. It is preferable if you have a bold mind to contribute to the process, and a flexible mindset that can take initiative in bringing out various ideas. It’s even better if you know well about machine learning, as the projects basically run on DAVinCI LABS, our AutoML solution.

Kisung Song

Advisor (Design) 

"Someone who explains one’s ideas well and communicate with respect towards the counterpart’s work and thoughts always positively affects one’s surroundings, as well as achieve growth both for oneself and the coworkers."

1. What is a keyword or a tag that best describes you, and why is that?

I’m Kisung Song, supervisor of complete category’s designs including UX, web and graphic design of Ailys. I’ve been working as a designer broadening my interest with experiences on CG illustration, image processing, web design, visual design, advertisement, product and GUI design. As I have accumulated diverse designing experiences for a long time, I understand all process linked to the overall project, all the way from planning, marketing and development. That’s why I communicate with members of different functions in order to view product from a bigger perspective rather than being limited to creating designs that merely look good. Probably “#optimization” is the best tag to describe myself. The reason would be the ability to drive the design process so that the best design can be implemented on the planned agenda in the most efficient way of development, thanks to a lot of design experiment.

2. What is your current role in Ailys?

I supervise all fields of design used for promotion or events with the company’s product design, but what I am directly in charge of is DAVinCI LABS’ interface design. I collaborate with data scientists and front-end engineers for machine learning-related development and implementation and focus on converting the product’s main features into the most user-friendly interface. We use Adobe’s various design tools along with zeplin for UX design development, and we are also building Ailys’ brand identity collaborating with a graphic designer and a video designer for product promotion and exhibition/ events.

3. When was the most rewarding and enjoyable moment at Ailys?

The most rewarding moment would be when we receive favorable response from DAVinCI LABS’ users(customers), but when it comes to an enjoyable moment, it’s when we incorporate all these efforts into successfully signing a product supply contract with a new customer or launching a related project. Such results would be from not just me, but created with all members from marketing and development and so on. Nevertheless, as I am confident that I am personally contributing to the company’s growth and the product’s development, such moments act as a huge motivational factor for me personally.

4. What does ‘working together’ mean Ailys?

Working at Ailys means planning, executing and growing on one’s own, not following directions or being conscious of others. Role-driven way of working signifies a completely horizontal communication between unit members, each having authorities and responsibilities according to respective roles. We share our plans with each other. Of course each unit includes advisors, but they’re not for conveying orders nor controlling members, but they act as coworkers who facilitate members’ decision-making process and inter-functional communication. That’s why the company culture could be challenging for juniors who’d initially been accustomed to vertical, task-allocating working methods or expected to receive help and directions from seniors. However, over time, once you absorb the merits of such workflow and become capable of managing your own work, I believe you will recognize your independent existence as an autonomous member, with a sense of ownership of the company rather than a mere employee.

5. Apply if you have following qualities!

If you have a mindset that you can just work hard at what you're told to do, you wouldn’t fit in at Ailys. It’s best if you actively seek for roles you could thrive in, execute them, and focus on the process to a satisfiable point. It’d be even better if you are confident in the work you’ve done so far. Regardless, having a flexible viewpoint so that you could relate to common opinions rather than a professional’s is great too.

6. Message for all aspiring designers

As a designer, collaboration with different teams is crucial. Design skills, a basic quality you should have as a designer, is considered the most and only important factor by the majority. However, communication skill is an even more valuable quality. Someone who explains one’s ideas well and communicate with respect towards the counterpart’s work and thoughts always positively affects one’s surroundings, as well as achieve growth both for oneself and the coworkers. Those who have these strengths would always be welcomed in all places, not only in Ailys.

Luna Kim

Advisor (People & Culture) 

"If you have intrinsic curiosity towards life and people, boldness, a good heart and patience, we will encounter each other eventually, in any way..."

1. Self-introduction (what keywords or tags would you choose to best express yourself? Why?)

Hello everyone, I’m Luna. It means the moon. I came up with the name hoping to delicately shed some light onto lives of people who are going through hard phases. Moonlight can be both cold and warm, melancholy but hopeful, and more than anything, it’s romantic. I believe the most meaningful and pleasing work I do could contribute as a spark of light for someone’s soul, and I’m always striving to live life mindfully and fully every moment.

2. What is your current role at Aliys? Please introduce your function as well.

I am a part of People and Culture. P&C works around everything related to people and culture, and we discuss them to seek an answer. Our function’s role is, from a big picture, to connect Ailys and the outside world, form connections within Ailys, and substantialize our slogan and value, “Good Things with Pleasure” with links we made. Maximizing individuality, reducing detachment, manifesting an environment where everyone celebrates “our success” rather than “my success”, enabling autonomy and sense of achievement without rules or systems are what we do.

That’s the reason we aspire to help everyone genuinely understand themselves and discover their authenticity, also appreciating the process of finding one’s real inner value and beauty through their optimal decision-making trials. They would be free of external judgement. In that sense, P&C’s essential role would probably be redefining the perspective towards organizations, people and relationships, and constantly questioning whether that would provide us a higher level of sustainable joy.

3. What was the most rewarding and pleasurable moment at Aliys?

Questions inquiring ‘the most’ or ‘the best’ are always the hardest for me because it’s tough to choose only one, and answers always change over time as alternations happen to memories and emotions.

The most memorable and joyful moment at this point is when recently wonderful data scientists from Congo, Kazakhstan, Algeria and France joined us. ‘Multinationality’, one of Ailys’ special identities, has deepened and broadened. 15 different cultures, senses, thoughts, backgrounds and perspectives are near impossible to artificially demonstrate, and the dynamics and cultural evolution they automatically, naturally bring us are at the highest level. Encountering new great members leads to reducing our P&C function’s work overall.

Also, the reason this work is so pleasing is because recruitment is, after all, a gift that is wrapped under the label of ‘inevitability’ that arrives at the end of coincidences.

4. What does it mean to work together in Aliys?

If your life could be defined as ‘a journey to find your true self’, Ailys is where the best environment and people await. It does not unify, generalize, nor standardize your being, and it helps ‘inevitability’, a strange and mysterious but simultaneously precise and surprising word, unravel itself.

5. A message to anyone who wants to apply to P&C Function.

If you have intrinsic curiosity towards life and people, boldness, a good heart and patience, we will encounter each other eventually, in any way. With or without us, we will be working on the same thing. But if we get extremely lucky and get to nourish the joy of making things happen together, that would be a gift too!