Startup Interview

  • [Startup Interview] Joon-ho Lee, CEO of “J.AI Labs” a medical artificial intelligence (AI) data labeling company
  • 창업원
  • 2022-10-30 04:58:13
  • 397




<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="320" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jkmF0kUK0dA" width="426"></iframe>Today we will meet J.AI Labs, the 3rd prize of 2020 Spring E*5 KAIST!


J.AI Labs is a medical artificial intelligence (AI) data labeling company that specializes in processing data for doctors and researchers.


Can you briefly introduce J.AI Labs?

J.AI Labs is a medical artificial intelligence (AI) data labeling company that develops “MediLabel,” a software that specializes in processing data for doctors and researcher. MediLabel is designed to use deep learning technology to dramatically reduce research costs and time away from traditional image labeling tasks that have been difficult due to repetitive work.


So, the process of collecting data and processing is called Labeling. We expect that the medical staff will be able to do research more efficiently using deep learning technology.





How did you select this item as its product?

When I was working with hospitals as a freelancer, I found that doctors were facing difficulties of whole data processing work which need two steps for collecting data and its processing. I thought I wanted to help them. This is the story I started a business.


If doctors can save time processing data, they will be able to concentrate on their research and treat more people.




What is unique about J.AI Labs compared with other companies?

J.AI Labs has its own specialized medical imaging labeling technology such as deep learning algorithm which contains such as semi-automatic and few-shot learning. This can be reduced existing labeling time by one-tenth. It also has the versatility to be utilized regardless of specific lesions, organs or data types.


It seems that J.AI Labs’s specialized technology differs from other companies.




What business items are you planning next?

I started medical artificial intelligence (AI) research since I was always interested in telemedicine (Virtual medical treatment). I hope my business can be contributed to serve as the foundation for medical AI development and help to move forward to telemedicine. I expect that the telemedicine business will contribute to creating a society where anyone can get high-quality medical benefits regardless of the region and their economic level.


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In the Post-Corona World, telemedicine becomes important and it seems like expanding your business to telemedicine is a good idea. In telemedicine, the medical data between doctors and patients will be crucial, and using AI to label these data will come in handy.




What were some difficulties you faced while preparing the startup?

There were many immature parts even if I studied and researched how to run a business before starting. However, I believe I learned more than I was thought after running a business.


It’s important to build experience while working in the field, but it’s also important to just go for it. The experience of trying out different things will become an asset when challenging new things.




What is special about E*5 KAIST compared to other startup support programs?

I think E*5 KAIST coaching program is well organized which is consist of mentoring-presentation-investor feedback steps unlike other start-up supporting programs do. After pitching, it was a beneficial that the pitching deck could be refined in a short amount of time through the honest feedback from investors. There were many painful advices as this is the feedback from the actual venture investors, but I think that it helped a lot to early startups which investment rounds is in progress.


You caught the characteristics of E*5 KAIST very well! Unlike other programs, E*5 provides not only startup experts, professors, but also investment experts as mentors. These mentors coach problems that arise when starting a business, and help reduce mistakes that early startups can make.





What is J.AI Labs’s short-term goal?

For now, my goal is to ensure that most of the doctors and researchers in south Korea do not waste too much time processing data. Jailabs want to become a company that has the largest number of medical images throughout focusing on medical data labeling. This will serve as the foundation to create a domestic medical data platform.


It won’t be long before medical data becomes labeled through the J.AI Labs’s platform. We hope that many hospitals in Korea will use your labeling technology soon.




One word to KAIST students?

KAIST is a place where students with the best engineering skills in South Korea and produce the most entrepreneurs after graduation. I think there will be many students who have great ideas and passion at this moment. Not only college but also the government have a various program which helps next-generation technology start-ups, so I believe these various supporting programs can be reduced big burden from starting a business. There is no perfect business item. I would encourage starting a business supporting by either government or college as step-by-step. I believe this is a better choice than preparing a long period of time.




What is J.AI Labs’s ultimate goal?

South Korea has a great medical and insurance system that enable them to visit the hospital easily when people are sick. On the other hand, most countries don’t. The world we hope for is to create where anyone can enjoy good health care regardless of where they live and their economic level. In order for such a world to come, I think the medical artificial intelligence technology development should be processed. I believe that Jailabs’ semi-automated medical image labeling software will reduce the cost and time of medical artificial intelligence research and advance the industry to the next level.


We hope that J.AI Labs goes beyond medical data labeling and becomes a company that helps the medical industry. It’s not easy to change the world with one technology, but a medical system combined with AI technology seems inevitable in this era. We hope J.AI Labs brings about these changes and makes a world where anyone can enjoy medical care using your technology!


We have met with CEO Junho Lee of J.AI Labs today.