[AI Revolution](117) 'Hyundai Motor Collaboration' Surromind... "Making AI More Convenient with AI Automation"

Interview with Jang Ha-young, CEO of Surromind, on the 8th
Supporting automation of Hyundai Motor parts failure detection model
"Contemplating to become a specialist"

"Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also a type of software (SW). I believed there are essential skills needed to use software well, and I focused on what methods could automate or make these skills more convenient to use."

AI Revolution - Jang Ha-young, CEO of Surromind, is being interviewed by Asia Economy at the office in Gwanak-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Recently, at the Saromind headquarters in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Jang Ha-young, CEO of Saromind, explained the AI technology the company is developing. Saromind was founded in July 2015 by Professor Jang Byung-tak of Seoul National University's Department of Computer Science, along with doctoral researchers including CEO Jang. Professor Jang, who served as the head of the AI research institute at Seoul National University, became the chairman of the company, while CEO Jang has been leading as the CEO since then. CEO Jang said, "Since I have been studying only AI, I did not have extensive expertise in various industrial sectors. While contemplating what to do in AI, we created an automated machine learning (AutoML) product."

The 'Saro' in Saromind is derived from the movie "Surrogate," which deals with human replication. CEO Jang explained, "It implies that if AI replicates human characteristics, the ultimate technology will emerge," and gave "personalization," which possesses characteristics unique to oneself, as an example. True to its name, Saromind provides the Saromind AI Studio, a machine learning operations (MLOps)-based software platform that supports efficient AI development and business operations. The platform features data integration management, AI model development specialized for video and noise data, model storage and management, as well as real-time model testing and deployment functions.

AI Revolution - Jang Ha-young, CEO of Surromind, is being interviewed by Asia Economy at the office in Gwanak-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Hyundai Motor Company's Namyang Research Center also offers services utilizing AI Studio technology. Hyundai has its own models that check for part failures based on noise and vibration data of automotive components, but the hassle of creating models for each vehicle type has been resolved through automation. CEO Jang stated, "We delivered a solution that automatically retrains the model even when the data changes," and added, "We have been collaborating continuously for four years now." He further mentioned, "This year, we plan to add a feature that can derive the reasons behind the judgment of 'failure.'"

Saromind also offers the Saromind AI Square. When companies are unsure about which AI model to apply to their business, they can quickly find and directly experience the necessary models through AI Square. Saromind supports companies through to the actual adoption of the models. CEO Jang said, "This service was originally created for internal company needs but was turned into a customer service," and explained, "As the number of AI models increases through development or updates, management becomes an issue. When personnel change, it is difficult to know which model is the latest, so initially, we organized models like an encyclopedia from a developer's perspective." He added, "Now, it is created from the customer's perspective and used for model recommendation, demonstration, and performance comparison."

Saromind, which has been developing AI for AI, is contemplating evolving from a generalist to a specialist. CEO Jang said, "Working across a broad range offers scalability, but it also feels like capabilities do not deepen," and explained, "While the overarching goal is cost efficiency through automation, we believe that specializing through development automation and lightweighting based on AI Studio is necessary for the company to establish itself in the long term."