2.3. Customized internal training programs to strengthen company-wide AI capabilities

While an Agentic Coding Guidebook and Cheat Sheet provide a standard for the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of Kakao’s AI collaboration, developing the ability of members to actually embody and utilize it is another significant challenge. This is because systematic and continuous education is essential to cultivate practical AI utilization skills.

For innovation based on AI technology, Kakao plans and operates the following multifaceted education programs to support all members in understanding AI’s present and future, and deriving their own application points from practical experience.

Set direction: Kakao AI Talent Award and Technical Competency Definition

“What kind of education should we provide?” To answer this question, we began with the essential question, “What kind of AI talent does Kakao need right now?” Kakao also defined three main competencies that AI talents should possess:

Service development/improvement capabilities: The ability to use AI as a key tool and partner to solve problems and upgrade existing services or develop completely new services.
Ability to enhance work productivity: The ability to maximize work efficiency and productivity by utilizing various AI tools, platforms, and AI agents within one’s job and development area.
Ability to respond to AI changes and establish direction: The ability to quickly grasp rapidly changing AI technology and market trends, and to establish responsible AI policies or discover new business directions based on them.

Kakao AI Business Talent Award

Based on the talent award defined in this way, competencies were again systematically defined by level, from basic to advanced, and the specific actions expected at each level were clarified.

For example, at the Basic level, we set specific goals, starting with “creating your own chatbot and sharing insights,” and at the Advanced level, to “developing and evaluating/improving new models” and “solving complex problems using in-house AI infrastructure.”

Examples of Behaviors Demonstrating Kakao AI Competencies

Execution strategy: Establishing an AI technology training roadmap and running customized training for each level

Based on the talent awards and competencies defined earlier, the training was organized by dividing technical keywords dealing with unchanging AI theory and basic knowledge, and technical keywords dealing with advanced topics due to changes in AI technology.

All training is a hands-on course, designed to enhance practical business-oriented competencies using Kakao’s internal AI platform, tools, and APIs.

Kakao AI Technology Training Roadmap

Strengthening common competencies across the enterprise: Tech Flagship Day

AI technology is changing very rapidly, even at this moment. In order for all members to understand the AI era and participate in the changes, it is important not to miss the latest trends.

Kakao continued to invite top speakers from home and abroad to give special lectures on technology and trends through an in-house event called “Tech Flagship Day” (AI Trend Seminar), and supported members to grasp the latest trends in AI.

As a result, more than 15,000 members participated in over 60 special lectures from 2023 to the present, and formed a company-wide consensus on AI. In particular, in addition to tech jobs, there was a very high level of participation from design, service, and staff positions, which showed that changes caused by AI are affecting not only developers but everyone’s work.

Tech Flagship Day in-house event example

Customized training for each level ①: AI Native Course

The ‘AI Native’ course was launched to teach students how to deeply understand Kakao’s various AI platforms and effectively apply them to their own services. In-house AI platform personnel directly participate in training course planning and lectures to share technical experiences and points to consider when applying actual services.

Business inquiries and user reviews from the training course create a virtuous cycle that again leads to platform improvements.

Customized training for each level ②: The AI Basic Course

‘AI Basic’ is a course dealing with the foundations of AI technology that anyone with Python knowledge can participate in. The goal is to understand core knowledge and technologies that do not change, such as the basic structure of models and model prompts that must be known even when AI technology changes.

In order to improve the timeliness and accessibility of education, Kakao provided 15 or more regular training sessions per year in consideration of the business schedule, and also designed and implemented a VOD online course for members who have difficulty participating in the field due to business. As a result, over 60% of Kakao’s entire technical team participated in AI Basic training.

Customized training for each level ③: The AI Advanced Course

‘AI Advanced’ is an advanced course for members who have completed the AI Basic Course or have equivalent knowledge. It is designed with “project-based learning (PBL)” to solve deeper technical problems encountered when applying AI to actual services.

Participants will directly experience advanced technologies essential for actual service application through projects, such as RAG deepening, function call, AI agent development using LangGraph, on-device AI, and model fine-tuning and evaluation.

For smooth learning, we provide the necessary infrastructure such as guide documents, GitHub Repo, and LLM API in advance to support all members to achieve their learning goals within a given time.

AI Advanced Course Objectives and Curriculum Images

Customized training for each level ④: The AI Intensive Course

“AI Intensive” course is a “one-topic intensive education program” designed to dig deep into specific technical topics and bridge the gap between technical learning and business application. Based on an education needs survey, the technology currently most needed in the business (e.g. Prompt engineering, Spring AI, RAG, data preprocessing, etc.) were selected as topics, and through exercises based on actual service scenarios, they were able to immediately develop competencies applicable to the business.

Training Outcomes and Achievements: Growth proven by Kakao members’ voices and data

Here are some excerpts from reviews by actual AI training participants:

Some excerpts from actual AI training participants' reviews

Kakao is making steady progress with the goal of deepening AI capabilities through this systematic training program. As a result, over 60% of all Kakao developers have knowledge of AI-based technology and have the ability to directly understand and apply generative AI/LLM related technologies to their own services.