[Power K Women] Lee Yeonsu, CEO of NC AI: "There Is Much for Women to Do in AI... Dream Boldly"

Led AI research and development at NCSoft for 14 years
Launched Korea’s first real-time translation service in gaming
Leads a team of 200 as CEO of specialized AI company NC AI
Envisions a world where anyone can become a creator through AI

Lee Yeonsu, CEO of NC AI, has led artificial intelligence (AI) research at NCSoft for 14 years, driving significant changes in the domestic gaming industry. For example, she broke language barriers and enhanced user convenience by launching the first AI-based real-time translation feature among Korean game companies. In February of this year, she stepped up as a female leader by becoming the CEO of NC AI, a newly established independent AI research organization. Now, her focus is on building a sustainable, customer-centric business. She envisions a future where anyone with creativity can become a creator using AI solutions. To women working in AI, she offers the message: "Be bold, dream big, and take on new challenges."

Lee Yeonsu, CEO of NC AI, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily at the Pangyo office in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do. Photo by Jo Yongjun

-You have spent over a decade in the IT industry, leading major projects. Can you share a memorable episode?

▲After graduating from university, I worked at Samsung SDS. I participated in a project to integrate Samsung Electronics' service center call centers into a single, centralized system. It was a large-scale project worth 10 billion won in 2000, and I joined with just two months left until completion. With little time, I was tasked with developing a web page for customer complaint submissions. After working through the night, I delivered a highly polished product, and later, when I visited the call center, I felt proud to see all the staff using the interface I had created. At NCSoft, the live chat translation system development project stands out most in my memory. The system needed to support real-time multilingual translation for one million users chatting simultaneously worldwide. We had to leverage advanced technology while optimizing costs. By introducing our proprietary AI translation engine, we successfully developed the service in six months, and it has now operated stably for four years. By gradually streamlining the model, we have reduced costs to nearly half of what they were at the start.

-As CEO, your role has shifted from "technology leader" to "business leader." What has been the biggest change?

▲NC AI is still a young company with about 200 employees, so I spend a lot of time promoting the company externally and networking. My workday starts with back-to-back meetings with staff, and in the evenings, I usually meet with external clients. I also started playing golf on weekends. I have a high school-aged child whom I am raising independently (laughs). While drawing on my technical expertise from years of development, I am also striving to learn business manners and communication skills. Previously, when I led AI R&D at NCSoft for over a decade, I evaluated products and services based on technical value. Now, I try to think from the customer's perspective. For example, we developed an AI solution for the fashion industry, but it combined features for both designers and marketers, which could be inconvenient for users. We are now developing separate versions for each function.

-You are developing AI solutions for various fields, including fashion, media·content, and gaming. What is the ultimate goal of these solutions?

▲NC AI's mission is "Anyone can become a creator." In the past, realizing creative ideas required large teams or lengthy timeframes. For example, creating 3D characters used to involve painstaking manual design and adjustments. With AI technology, tasks that once took a month can now be completed in an hour. Our goal is to empower anyone with creativity to become a creator using AI tools. This direction is also crucial for strengthening the competitiveness of Korea’s gaming and content industries.

Lee Yeonsu, CEO of NC AI, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily at the Pangyo office in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do. Photo by Jo Yongjun

-Less than a year after spinning off, NC AI is already participating in various B2G projects. You have formed consortia to build proprietary AI foundation models and have been selected for projects to promote K-content using AI technology.

▲I believe our consistent AI research and accumulated technological capabilities over 14 years led to our selection for government projects. Now, we are quickly exploring new applications beyond gaming, expanding into media·content and other fields. Unlike before, recent B2G projects are increasingly focused on industry innovation through AI. Our aim is not simply to generate profit, but to use B2G projects to understand upstream and downstream industries and strengthen the AI value chain. By participating in the creation of new national pipelines, we hope to expand the AI market and collaborate with outstanding partners.

-Did you anticipate such an AI revolution when you were a computer science student?

▲I have enjoyed science fiction movies since I was young. I was fascinated by stories where humans and robots converse, robots do human work, or even emotionally connect with people. As a student, I often wondered, "What IT will the next generation use?" but I honestly did not expect these ideas to become reality to this extent. Even when I studied natural language processing, my focus was on popularizing the technology. One of AI’s key benefits is that it allows people who are not tech-savvy or lack specialized knowledge to enjoy the advantages of technology.

-What is the proportion of women participating in AI technology development?

▲Since the pool of women in engineering is small to begin with, women account for about 10% of research and development staff at NC AI. However, women are more prevalent in data work, planning, and design. Even without an undergraduate major in AI, women can participate in AI work and build their careers, with many opportunities to demonstrate their abilities. For example, the communicator role is important. It involves coordinating interests among various organizations, where communication skills are critical. Women also excel in tasks requiring attention to detail and meticulousness, such as creating prompts or designing data for AI models. User preferences vary widely by gender, age, and region, and the nuances of AI responses change accordingly. In this process, empathy and a sensitivity to the humanities are essential for ensuring AI safety and reliability.

-What message would you like to share with women who are working in or aspiring to enter the AI field?

▲I hope women will be bolder, dream bigger, and take on new challenges. There are more opportunities for women in the AI industry than one might think. For example, women can play the role of problem-solvers addressing social issues related to AI. Defining problems, setting directions, validating solutions, and charting the way forward are all very important. Women can also design excellent software for future generations. There will be challenges such as marriage and childbirth, but I hope women will not give up, instead leveraging their strengths to build a sustainable career and pursue their ambitions.

▶About Lee Yeonsu, CEO of NC AI

Born in 1975, Lee Yeonsu earned her bachelor's degree in computer science from Korea University and completed her master's and doctoral degrees in natural language processing at the same institution. After working at Samsung SDS, she led AI research and development at NCSoft for 14 years. Since February, she has served as CEO of NC AI, an independent AI company spun off from NCSoft. NC AI develops a variety of generative AI solutions, including image, text, and speech generation and 3D character creation, utilizing its proprietary large language model (LLM) "Barco."