Interview: Dtonic CEO Yong-Joo Jun: "We Aim to Be the 'Jeans Company' of the AI Gold Rush"
"The AI era is often compared to the Gold Rush. But do you know who made the most money back then? It wasn’t the gold miners—it was the companies selling essential goods, like jeans. At Dtonic, we provide a platform that makes data as essential as air or water in the AI era. Our goal is to become the 'jeans company' of AI, helping businesses operate with ease."
That’s how Yong-Joo Jun, CEO of Dtonic, describes his company’s mission. Interestingly, his business card doesn’t say "CEO"—instead, it reads "Lead Employee." This reflects his leadership philosophy, where every team member is equally committed to advancing Dtonic as a data and AI platform company.
A Journey from Startup to AI-Driven Innovation
Jun’s entrepreneurial journey began early—he launched his first business as a freshman in college. After gaining experience at Toshiba and Hitachi in Japan, he returned to Korea, where he worked at Hyundai Motor’s venture business team from 2011 to 2014. It was there that he and his colleagues spun off a startup called Ilmile, which later became Dtonic in 2018.
The company name, Dtonic, reflects its digital transformation (DX) vision. "Just like gin and tonic combine to create a more valuable cocktail, we merge spatial-temporal data to provide valuable insights, content, and services," Jun explains.
The Power of Spatial-Temporal Data
Data is often called "the new oil" of the digital age, and 80% of it includes spatial-temporal information—the kind of data that records both where and when something happens. From GPS-tagged smartphone photos to industrial applications and even space exploration, spatial-temporal big data is everywhere.
Dtonic’s Geo-Hiker technology acts like a defragmentation tool for spatial-temporal data, making it easy for businesses to collect, optimize, and analyze large-scale data. The company’s core platforms include:
D.Hub: A spatial-temporal data platform used in industries like healthcare and smart cities.
D.View: A smart retail solution integrating ESL (electronic shelf labels) and big data to optimize inventory and pricing.
D.Edge: An AI-powered edge computing platform for industrial applications.
Real-World Impact: From Pandemic Response to Smart Retail
Dtonic’s D.Hub played a crucial role in Korea’s COVID-19 response by reducing epidemiological investigation times from 48 hours to just 5 minutes for the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
Meanwhile, D.View is being used by major retailers like LG Best Shop and Olive Young to provide real-time pricing, inventory tracking, and customer behavior analysis.
The Future: Scaling AI and Data-Driven Business
Since its founding, Dtonic has achieved 100% annual growth, and Jun is now focused on making Geo-Hiker an open platform, similar to an app store, to encourage broader adoption across industries.
"Dtonic isn’t just about AI data in a single industry—we’re building a company that drives AI transformation (AX) and DX across all sectors," he says.
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Find the original article in Korean here: [link]