– Evolving into an AX Pioneer that supports the entire talent lifecycle of a company with AI capabilities.
Presenting a "people-centered" AX, not a technology-centered one… Solving the problem of talent reallocation, not job creation.
– Presenting a collaborative platform created by industry professionals and supported by experts.
Wantedlab announced that it will increase the proportion of its AI transformation (AX) business to 50% this year.
Wantedlab's core business is "Watned," a recruitment platform that combines personal recommendations and AI matching. It connects 3.6 million talented individuals with 35,000 companies, and its AI algorithm, based on over 10 million matching data points, increases the acceptance rate by more than four times compared to general applications. Wantedlab is diversifying its business to include "Wanted Gigs," a freelance matching service, HR solutions, and global services.
Another of Wantedlab's businesses is its AX business. In early 2023, it launched a generative AI solution that quickly answers resume-related questions and applied it to its Watned recruitment platform. The AI capabilities it developed here have since been expanded to support corporate AX. Last year, the AX business generated KRW 4.2 billion in revenue and plans to expand this to 50% of Wantedlab's total revenue by 2026. This strategic declaration positions Wantedlab as an "AI transformation partner" for companies in its recruitment platform.
"If the past decade has been about helping companies achieve their 'digital transformation (DT)', the next decade will be about becoming a partner to support their 'AI transformation (AX)'."
These are the words of Hyungmin Joo, Head of AX Business, who is leading Wantedlab's AX strategy. After three years of consulting at Accenture, Joo spent eight years leading digital innovation at a financial institution. When he joined Wantedlab in 2023, his mission was clear: to translate Wantedlab's AI operational experience into a business for external companies.
We met with Hyungmin Joo, Head of AX Business at Wantedlab's office in Songpa-gu, Seoul, and heard specifics about Wantedlab's AX business direction and strategy.
People-centered AX
The purpose of companies adopting AX is clear: improving productivity. Productivity depends not only on the tools they choose, but even more importantly on how they utilize those tools. Wantedlab's AX started here, creating a solution that answers the fundamental question companies face: "How do we transform the way we work?" Implementing AX also presents a practical challenge: "How do we redeploy our existing workforce?" Wantedlab has incorporated this into its AX business. It directly supports the management and redeployment of existing employees, a task made possible by its talent matching expertise accumulated through its recruitment platform.
Wantedlab's human-centered AX comprehensively supports a company's entire AI transformation journey. From initial adoption to operational implementation, it's crucial to support the entire process, encompassing training, practical application, infrastructure development, and talent management.
Training for Internalizing AI Capabilities
This training program serves as a starting point for the AI transition, helping corporate members understand and utilize AI. The key is for companies to achieve a successful AI transition and fully internalize AI capabilities.
The AI Literacy Track is designed to help all members of the organization internalize the concepts and applications of generative AI. From prompt engineering to experiencing advanced technologies like Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and even developing actual services, the entire process is hands-on. Key to this is the direct training provided through the "LaaS (LLM as a Service)" platform developed by Wantedlab. Because the learning process is hands-on, there's no gap between learning and practice. Consequently, employees can immediately apply what they've learned to their work.
Prompton for AI Experiences
Training alone can be difficult to implement in practice. To address this, Wantedlab created "Prompton." Prompton, a portmanteau of "prompt" and "hackathon," is a hands-on program where all employees, after training, use AI to develop their own work ideas in the field.
Prompton's process is simple. First, they identify areas of everyday work, such as customer service, report writing, and data analysis, that could be improved with AI. Next, they use the Watned LaaS platform to develop their own solutions, each team refining the AI they need through trial and error. Importantly, Prompton isn't a one-time event. Typically, it's repeated monthly or quarterly. This allows the organization to become accustomed to a culture of proposing ideas and to better identify areas where AI can be used to solve problems.
Anyone can easily develop … Watned LaaS
It's also important to establish an AI technology environment within your company to ensure AI adoption isn't a one-time event. Watned LaaS is a solution for this.
Watned LaaS goes beyond a simple development environment. It adopts a no-code/low-code approach, enabling even non-developers to create AI, and it supports the entire organization through training and prompts. Employees describe their tasks in natural language, and the platform translates these into a working AI agent. Companies can deploy this platform on-premises or as a SaaS solution, depending on their needs.
The differences from other generative AI tools are clear: Watned LaaS integrates with internal business systems (ERP, CRM, etc.), meets security standards, and can be customized to fit a company's unique data and processes.
The Korea Tourism Organization has implemented restaurant recommendations and tourism service development, and Kyung Hee University's School of Business Administration has decided to launch a regular AI-based course starting in the first half of 2025. Among private companies, People has leveraged Watned LaaS to deploy an AI chatbot to handle customer inquiries 24/7, dramatically improving work efficiency.
"It's important to note that these individuals aren't simply 'Watned customers,' but rather 'pioneers' driving the AI transformation in their respective industries. Watned LaaS is creating real value across diverse sectors, including public institutions, academia, and private companies."
Skill Cluster-Based Talent Management
The most critical challenge after the AI transition is the need to reallocate employees in relevant departments as AI-driven automation of tasks progresses.
We have employees with skills like friendliness, problem-solving skills, and technical understanding. Now, customer service tasks have been automated with AI chatbots. So where should we place these employees?
Watned's recruitment data, accumulated since 2015, contains a vast amount of information, including "skill requirements by job," "mobility between jobs," and "career paths." Skill Cluster provides data-driven answers. It suggests, "Considering this employee's sociability and problem-solving skills, a transfer to the customer service or training team would be a good fit."
"It's not just about 'somewhere else,' it's about data-driven suggestions for the most suitable job, considering the employee's capabilities and experience. By ensuring that AI adoption goes beyond simple automation and is aligned with the organization's talent strategy, it enables more systematic management of AI-driven organizational change."
What's notable is that Watned directly addresses concerns that AI is taking jobs. The CEO emphasized, "We focused on how to reassess and reallocate employees' skills in a work environment transformed by the introduction of AI."
Wantedlab's strength lies in its commitment to AI adoption, which goes beyond simple "automation." It's designed to be integrated with an organization's "talent strategy," enabling systematic management of AI-driven organizational change.
Wantedlab plans to expand its proven AX services and technology into the Asian market. Simultaneously, it has launched the "Enterprise AX Alliance" and is strengthening collaboration with various stakeholders, including educational institutions, technology partners, and consulting firms.
Presenting a collaborative model for AI transformation
The CEO defines the AX method pursued by Wantedlab as the 5th generation of collaboration.
"At first, we relied on specialists called SI companies, and they held the upper hand. After ChatGP, easy-to-use AI tools emerged, allowing individual users to create AI. This was a time when individual users held the reins. Then, we reverted back to relying on experts. Agencies that built AI agents tailored to the needs of companies took the lead. With the advent of no-code platforms, field workers are now empowered to create enterprise-level AI."
After explaining the 1st and 4th generations, the head of the company explained the 5th generation cooperative construction method.
"The fifth generation is collaborative. It's a business-led approach, with collaboration with experts when necessary. Business-level employees understand their work logic, while experts handle complex system integration and organizational change."
Support for strengthening the AX capabilities of Wantedlab members
Wantedlab is running a program to turn all members of Wantedlab into AI experts, declaring 2026 as the 'Year AX'.
“If every single member of your organization isn't an AI expert, it's impossible to help your customers.”
From September to December 2025, Wantedlab provided training for four months, focusing on developers using cutting-edge frameworks like LangGraph and LangChain to identify internal problems and solve them with AI. Training is also available for general employees, including the "AX Champion" program, where employees transform their work with AI over an eight-week period. The financial support is also exceptional, with up to 100,000 won per month for AI tool use, 1 million won per year for general employees, and 2 million won per year for AI-related employees. The training course is reflected in performance evaluations.
Wantedlab is fostering a culture of collaborative learning across the organization. Through a Slack channel called "[ai-jupjup]," effective prompts, useful AI tools, and interesting industry news are shared in real time. Through the "Monthly AI Awards," outstanding case studies are awarded a team dinner allowance of 100,000 won and special merchandise. All accumulated information and learnings are capitalized on platforms like Confluence and a technical blog, systematically managing them as organizational knowledge.
AX culture created by Wantedlab
Wantedlab's ultimate goal is clear: to become an "HR partner in the AI era."
"We're creating positions that support the entire talent lifecycle, from talent recruitment to responding to organizational changes driven by AI. We're integrating a variety of services, including HR data-based skill analysis, customized training, and employee reassignment. A company's AI transformation cannot be achieved by Watned alone. It requires collaboration with various stakeholders, including educational institutions, technology partners, and consulting firms. In the AI era, a company's true competitiveness lies in its talent management capabilities. Ultimately, what's needed is not AI technology itself, but learning and preparing for how to work with AI."
Wantedlab leverages HR data and technology to help employees create AI agents, experience new work methods, and develop AI collaboration capabilities. This isn't simply about disseminating technology; it's about building a new work culture for the AI era.
Here's why you should pay attention to AX, which is being developed by Wantedlab.
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