"Wow~ we did it!"
On the morning of the 11th at 8:30 a.m., inside the auditorium on the basement level 1 of LG Science Park in Magok-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul. As soon as one entered the venue for the hackathon event for LG U+ employees and staff (a competition where developers, designers, and opportunity seekers form teams to create programs within a limited time), applause was heard. Participants who had stayed up all night since the previous day were wearing matching group T-shirts with "One Experience" written on them. They rubbed their sleepy eyes dozens of times; dark circles were clearly visible on their faces, showing obvious signs of exhaustion, yet they could not hide the sense of accomplishment from submitting their tasks.
Han Geon-hee, a team leader of the Hexagon team who created a 'Safety Agent' for on-site safety management, said, "The site involves high risks such as climbing 15-meter-tall Jeonju (utility poles), and it is difficult to remember every checklist item, so we developed a safety AI agent that runs on mobile phones." He added, "We feel a great sense of reward simply for non-developers coming together and achieving sufficient results." Despite yawning repeatedly due to the aftereffects of staying up all night, his expression remained bright. He was selected as the MVP by both internal and external judges simultaneously that day.
The 'Jadori' team, composed of members from the Daegu and Gyeongbuk sales teams, presented an agent that automates KPI (Key Performance Indicator) evaluations sent out periodically. The team's motto is "We do it too, Just do it," meaning "Even those who are not developers can do it." Kim Man-ho, head of the Gyeongbuk Sales Support Team, laughed and said, "As non-developers, we encountered unexpected difficulties. When we asked the AI to rank individual evaluations and analyze weaknesses, it failed to operate due to ethical concerns with AI. We persuaded them that it was for advisory purposes only."
The hackathon held over two days on the 10th and 11th is the highlight of the 'AXtival' event, which LG U+ organized to strengthen the AX (AI transformation) capabilities of all employees and spread a culture of AI utilization. Employees who gained confidence by participating in company-wide AX education and those motivated to reduce work bottlenecks with AI participated not only from Pangyo, Yongsan, and Bundang but also from Daegu. This year's hackathon was so popular that 63 teams applied, and only 12 teams selected for their novelty of ideas advanced to the finals.
The event was divided into two categories: the 'Copilot Category,' where agents usable immediately in internal work environments were developed, and the 'Free Category,' where creative ideas were implemented without restrictions on usage tools. During a total development time of 23 hours, the 12th teams that stayed up all night to develop their agents each presented for 10 minutes before undergoing fair and strict reviews by internal and external experts including OpenAI, Google, AWS, and LG U+ CTOs (Chief Technology Officers).
Choi U (수상) went to the 4CAI team, which created a 'Brand Memory-type AI Creative Studio.' This team developed an agent that automatically generates internal announcements or marketing copy based on LG U+'s "Simplify Governance Guide." Lee Sung-taek, head of the Digital Integrated CX Team and a member of the 4CAI team, explained, "Due to security policies prohibiting the use of external AI, we can easily create content suitable for LG U+ culture using our own AI."
The QQQ group, which created an 'AI Customer Advisory Board' by assigning personas to AI based on existing customer data, received the Excellence Award in the 'Copilot Category.' The Walkie-Talkie Group, which developed a 'Safety Voice Agent' that allows field engineers to complete dispatch reports using only voice, thereby reducing safety accident risks, received the Excellence Award in the 'Free Category.'
Jeon Byeong-gi, Executive Vice President and Head of LG U+ AI R&D Center, said, "Although AI technology is advancing rapidly, the expertise and know-how of members who identify and solve on-the-ground problems remain a crucial competitive advantage." He added, "We hope that the experiences and insights gained from this hackathon will be applied to work, creating many innovative cases."
in TECH
