[AI Revolution](166) "We Aim to Become the Apple of Industrial AI Vision"…AiV's Ambition

Interview with AiV CEO Sung Minsu
"We Will Offer End-to-End AI Lifecycle Services Within Our Ecosystem"
Specializing in AI Vision Solutions with Enhanced Security
Clients Report Zero Defect Rates After Adopting Our Services
Comprehensive Offerings: Inspection, Data, Machine Learning, and Robotics

"Our goal is to become a company like Apple in the field of industrial vision artificial intelligence (AI). We want to enable users to utilize all AI lifecycle services within our ecosystem."

Sung Minsu, CEO of AiV, an AI vision solution company, shared this ambition during an interview with Asia Economy on September 2, stating, "Just as Apple built a product ecosystem with its own operating system (OS) and services, we aim to provide 'one-stop' services in the field of industrial AI."

Sung Minsu, CEO of Ive, is being interviewed by Asia Economy at the office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun

AiV specializes in AI vision solutions. The company primarily provides AI solutions for industrial sites such as manufacturing, focusing on defect detection and logistics operations. Its key strength lies in offering customized AI models, inspection equipment, and robotic automation systems for industrial sites as an integrated package. The company name, AiV, is an abbreviation for "AI Vision Solution."

Sung did not initially set out to become an entrepreneur. With a background in business administration, he worked on business development and global strategy consulting at General Electric (GE) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Aspiring to start his own business, Sung had a keen interest in technology, machine learning, AI, and business-to-business (B2B) services. He noticed that the adoption of AI in logistics, inspection, and assembly at manufacturing plants was lagging behind, which inspired him to found AiV in 2020.

Sung explained, "The challenge for manufacturing plants is to reduce the workforce needed for production while simultaneously increasing productivity and quality. Even at the time of our founding, much of the factory equipment was already automated, but we focused on automating logistics, assembly, and inspection processes that had not yet been automated."

Currently, AiV's main solutions fall into four categories: inspection, data, machine learning, and robotics. These include AiVision, a vision foundation model (VFM)-based inspection solution specialized for manufacturing; AiVOps, a machine learning operations (MLOps) platform tailored for industrial image data; as well as AivData and AiView, which provide data analysis and facility systems for quality inspection. The company also offers AiVot, an AI-based logistics and process automation robot solution.

Sung Minsu, CEO of Ive, is being interviewed by Asia Economy at the office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun

AiV's strategy is to provide these services as an integrated package, delivering end-to-end AI automation for manufacturing and inspection processes. Each solution works organically together, enabling data training, processing, and optimization for AI automation. As an enterprise service, security is also a priority. The AI services are built on-premises (operating solely on the client company's internal servers), ensuring that company data does not leak externally even when using AI services.

Sung emphasized, "One of our clients had a product defect rate of 0.5 to 1 percent, but after implementing our service, there have been zero defects. When a defect is detected, it incurs significant costs for identifying the cause, developing countermeasures, and compensating customers, but our solution eliminates all of these expenses." Currently, AiV has secured clients across various industries, including shipbuilding, defense, secondary batteries, and automotive parts.

Regarding the emerging field of physical AI, Sung believes that domestic companies like AiV can find opportunities in specialized industrial vertical AI. He noted, "Because factories are operated in a closed manner for security reasons, even global big tech companies find it difficult to obtain data for physical AI training. There will be opportunities in industrial vertical AI tailored for specific industries."

Last year, AiV recorded sales of 5.2 billion won and an operating loss of 9 billion won. As a startup, the company incurred operating losses due to development costs, but its technological capabilities were recognized in the market, leading to a Series C investment round from multiple venture capital firms in July last year. The Series C investment amounted to 21 billion won, bringing AiV's total accumulated investment to approximately 37 billion won.

Sung Minsu, CEO of Ive, is being interviewed by Asia Economy at the office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun