[Exclusive] Naver Simplifies Job Titles to C-Level and Leaders... 'Choi Soo-yeon's Leadership Strengthened'

Abandoning In-House Independent Company After 9 Years and Abolishing Responsibility Leader System
Strengthening CEO-Centered Leadership... Accelerating Company-Wide Projects Including AI

Naver is abolishing the responsibility leader system and simplifying the hierarchy to just the C-level executives and leaders. The company is eliminating the Company in Company (CIC) system after nine years and reorganizing into specialized teams, thereby simplifying the organizational structure between upper and lower levels. This move is interpreted as an effort by CEO Choi Soo-yeon, now in her third year in office, to directly oversee all organizations and respond swiftly to changes in the artificial intelligence (AI) era.

According to the IT industry on the 4th, Naver will restructure its rank system from C-level?CIC representative?responsibility leader?leader to C-level?leader. By abolishing CIC through the organizational restructuring, the CIC representatives and mid-level managers called responsibility leaders will be unified under the title of leader.

On the 3rd, Naver announced a reorganization plan that eliminates CICs and divides the company into 12 specialized teams. These are broadly categorized into ▲Product & Platform ▲Business & Service ▲Content areas, further subdivided by business sectors such as advertising, shopping, and local services. This flattens the hierarchical CIC structure into function-based teams, minimizing the chain of command.

Naver introduced the CIC system in 2015, appointing CIC representatives to independently manage overall operations with autonomy. In 2019, the responsibility leader rank was created because as the number of CICs increased, a mid-level management position was needed between CIC representatives and leaders. As the company grew and business areas expanded, the number of responsibility leaders also increased.

However, entering the AI transition period, the company judged that agile decision-making is paramount. Leaders can now freely voice their opinions without going through multiple layers. Based on this, the management can swiftly promote collaboration between organizations and company-wide support. To support this, three committees?‘Global Management,’ ‘Product & Tech,’ and ‘Employee Growth’?were newly established directly under CEO Choi in the reorganization. These committees serve as focal points to ensure that company-wide innovation projects emerge by reflecting leaders’ voices.

A Naver official explained, "When each leader voices their opinions, the committees will interpret these, share information, or unite organizations accordingly," adding, "Team Naver-level projects like AI can be activated more quickly."

There is also a plan to strengthen the leadership system centered on CEO Choi. The businesses that used to operate separately under each CIC will now be directly overseen by CEO Choi. Since her inauguration in 2022, she has made small-scale organizational changes regularly, but this is the first major restructuring. Given the pressing challenges such as securing new growth engines in the AI era and boosting stock prices, it is interpreted as an intention to directly lead company-wide projects.

CEO Choi said, "By minimizing hierarchy and flattening the organizational structure to allow diverse insights to emerge based on expertise in each area, discussions and collaboration between organizations have become more important," adding, "We will develop a working culture that enables information sharing and collaboration at the company-wide level to proceed swiftly."