The Birth of an AI Startup: The Story of ImpactfulAI
What was your role as a founding member of an AI startup?
I'm Park Jung-hyun, COO of ImpactfulAI. I joined the company as a founding member when it was established, and in the early days, my role focused on organizational operations and business system building.
While the CEO at the time led technology development and strategy formulation as an AI expert, I was in charge of stabilizing the overall business, including internal operations, organizational structure, and business foundation. Currently, I am leading the core management activities with the members of the business planning team to create the company's growth together.
What is the role and importance of the management planning team in an AI company?
In an AI company, the management planning team goes beyond simple administrative functions to play a crucial role in setting the organization's strategic direction and connecting it to execution. Since we're not yet a large organization, our management planning team establishes foundations across a very broad scope. We cover the company's core operations comprehensively, including budget planning, government-funded project management, investment and shareholder meeting-related tasks, finance and accounting, human resources, and marketing.
Especially in the AI industry, where the pace of change is rapid and competition is fierce, having a foundation that can strategically design and stably operate the entire organization is just as important as technical capabilities. In that sense, I believe the management planning team is the central axis that designs both the sustainability and growth potential of the company. Setting the business direction and creating a foundation for growth that allows technology to function well is our team's most important role.
How were the initial vision and business direction of the AI startup established?
When the company was founded, the business concept itself originated from our CEO's vision. Based on my work experience across various industries, we established common ground on collaborating in terms of business models and organizational operations, which led us to start the company together.
At that time, AI technology was receiving social attention, but I felt it was unfortunate that technical talent wasn't being properly utilized in industrial settings. So we founded the company under the vision of creating practical AI solutions that could solve real problems, and then officially launched by recruiting talented doctoral-level individuals around our CEO as directors.
Our core business direction hasn't changed much from the beginning until now. Developing innovative, technology-based AI solutions and fundamentally solving customer problems through them - that's the direction we've pursued all along.
Innovative Organizational Culture and Operational Philosophy of an AI Startup
What does an effective organizational culture look like in an AI startup?
We value 'autonomy' as an important principle. We've created a horizontal communication environment where everyone addresses each other by English names without a hierarchical system. For example, we regularly run trend-sharing sessions called 'Wednesday Gourmet Club,' where anyone can freely share knowledge and insights.
In company-wide meetings, we've also created an atmosphere where anyone can express opinions and ask questions regardless of department or role. This 'free' culture is partly influenced by foreign companies where I previously worked, but it's also a direction we've chosen to preserve the creativity and speed unique to startups.
Above all, I find it effective in creating a culture where members voluntarily participate and take the initiative to think and act. In that sense, I believe our organizational culture is an important foundation for the company's growth.
If you're interested in learning more about ImpactfulAI's organizational culture, check out the articles below.
How do you achieve both a horizontal structure and work efficiency in an AI startup?
We aim for a horizontal culture based on free-form addressing, but at the same time, we have a structure where roles and responsibilities are clearly distinguished at the team level.
Each team has a team leader who presents the big picture and strategy, while team members take the initiative on detailed execution through collaboration. In other words, we maintain a horizontal communication culture overall while having a systematic and efficient collaboration structure in terms of work organization.
Personally, I find that this horizontal culture is actually more effective in increasing productivity and efficiency. In a vertical environment, people often hesitate to speak up even when they have opinions, but in an atmosphere like ours where people can freely suggest ideas, thoughts like "How about this direction?" or "What if we try this approach?" can naturally flow, and I believe this free communication ultimately leads to faster and more flexible execution.
Are there any special systems to promote knowledge sharing and communication among AI talents?
Yes, we run an internal program called 'Wednesday Gourmet Club.' This program started with the intention of sharing rapidly changing AI technologies and trends with team members.
Through this time, we discuss AI-related issues encountered in practical work or create opportunities to learn the latest technology trends and business insights together by inviting external experts. It's one of our organization's valuable cultures where knowledge sharing happens across teams.
Also, every Monday, we have a company-wide meeting where all employees gather to share last week's achievements, this week's plans, key issues, and announcements. Through this meeting, all members can understand other teams' activities, technology development status, and project progress, enabling organic communication within the organization to occur naturally.
I think these two programs are working well as a bridge between AI talents and an important channel for sharing knowledge and perspectives.
Talent Acquisition and Growth Strategy for AI Startups
What are the key strategies for recruiting and retaining AI talent?
I believe the most important thing in recruiting and retaining talent in a startup is growth. There's energy in a company that's growing, and AI talent wants to work at growing companies.
We've been growing by 2-3 times every year since our early stages. Along with that, I think it's important how much opportunity for personal growth is available within the company. Talented individuals feel fulfillment when working in an environment where capabilities are accumulated and competitiveness increases. We're creating various growth support systems internally to ensure that company growth leads to personal growth.
Additionally, since development capabilities are crucial in forming an AI expert team, we focused on creating a people-centered culture where talents can freely demonstrate their capabilities along with presenting a clear company vision. Our members make good use of flexible working arrangements, and we focus on results rather than processes.
We've tried to become an 'organization where people want to work' for AI talent by creating an environment that guarantees horizontal communication structures and research autonomy, and in fact, this has led to rapid company growth as excellent talents who resonated with this culture joined us.
How do you define the core values and talent profile of an AI startup?
The core values we consider important can be summarized in three points:
First, 'Learning' - we value the attitude of continuously learning and growing with an open mind.Second, 'Creating' - we pursue creating the best results in creative ways.Third, 'Giving' - we include the desire to give back and share our experiences and knowledge with society.
These core values naturally extend to our talent profile. The people we want to work with are 'people with outstanding expertise,' 'problem solvers,' and 'people who create value in the world.'
These three values and talent profiles are not just slogans but form the foundation of our organizational culture and serve as the standard by which ImpactiveAI grows together.
Performance Evaluation and Reward System for AI Startups
How should an effective performance evaluation system be designed for AI talent?
We're building a performance evaluation system that balances quantitative indicators and qualitative assessments. Quantitative evaluations are based on objective performance indicators such as revenue, number of clients, and project contribution, while qualitative evaluations are broken down into common competencies, job competencies, and character areas to examine the overall growth and contribution of members.
We're not just looking at performance or model metrics that appear in numbers but comprehensively evaluating problem-solving ability, task completion, innovation capacity, and collaboration skills. We also reflect value-centered attitudes that we consider important, such as cooperation, communication, humility, and diligence, as key items.
From the early stages, we've implemented an OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework to ensure that individual and team goals are closely aligned with the company's strategic direction. We aim to enhance the system to support members' continuous growth through periodic feedback and goal reviews.
These evaluation results are used not only for simple compensation but also as a basis for various decision-making processes such as leadership development and identification of key talent.
How do you balance individual and team performance in an AI startup?
This is a point that many AI companies struggle with. Problems can arise when measuring only individual performance or only team performance. To solve this, we're trying to adopt a systematic approach that evaluates both individual and team performance together.
While individual capabilities and performance are important, cooperation and mutual support culture are also very important, so we plan to appropriately allocate weights by comprehensively considering both aspects. Through this, we aim to build a balanced evaluation system that promotes both individual achievement and teamwork.
Global Expansion and Future Vision of an AI Startup
What are your goals and growth strategies as an AI startup moving forward?
Our core goals are continuous revenue growth and full-scale global expansion. To achieve this, we're currently building a system to enhance the AI development process in a more systematic and automated way, while also pursuing the establishment of overseas offices and securing local talent as major strategic tasks.
Particularly last year, we recorded approximately 3.5 times revenue growth compared to the previous year, which was shared at the shareholders' meeting and received positive reactions and expectations from investors.
We plan to continue this growth momentum while advancing both AI technology capabilities and market expansion. Our mid to long-term direction is to create sustainable and global growth based on technology-centered competitiveness.
What are the global expansion strategy and target regions for an AI startup?
We already have experience delivering AI solutions to the United States and Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Indonesia, etc.). In Africa, we've built networks through social contribution activities like AI education and supporting the establishment of local AI companies.
We're actively signing agreements with overseas companies and are considering North America, Europe, or Southeast Asia as priority regions for expansion. We plan to select the optimal region through market research and additional discussions. A major advantage for our global expansion is that our AI solutions can be applied to the global market without language barriers.
What are the workforce expansion plans for the AI startup?
We plan to gradually recruit staff, focusing on key personnel. We're continuously hiring for our development and sales teams. As the company grows rapidly, we're making sure that staffing happens at the right time.
We anticipate needing both AI development personnel and support staff as we establish overseas offices and expand our client base. However, rather than large-scale hiring to increase size in the short term, we carefully recruit personnel who align well with the company's direction and values, and who have high growth potential in line with the company's growth.
What would you like to say to the members of AI startup ImpactiveAI?
I believe that each and every member of ImpactiveAI is truly valuable and excellent. I always feel grateful to be able to work with such wonderful people who share our vision.
I think our team is the best. And I believe my most important role as COO is to create an environment where all members can work joyfully and comfortably.
I sincerely hope that we continue to be a team that trusts each other and grows together in the future.
If you'd like to learn more about ImpactiveAI's AI technology and solutions, visit our website or contact us for more information.
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