To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Sungkyunkwan University SKK GSB organized a series of "Where are you now?" interviews with alumni to find out how they are doing in their careers and what life has been like since graduation.

SKK GSB AI MBA Class 2th Graduate: Mihyang Kim

Mihyang Kim, who has worked at KB Kookmin Bank for over 15 years, decided to venture into the field of AI after turning 40.

She, who has been responsible for general banking tasks such as private banking (PB) services for high-net-worth individuals, has joined KB Kookmin Bank's Financial AI Center.

She said, "The Financial AI Center needed someone who understands the bank's processes well, so I applied through an internal recruitment. I was confident in general banking tasks, and I think my curiosity about how AI could be used in banking led me to this point."

Mihyang, who boldly took on the challenge but often felt overwhelmed in her work due to a lack of knowledge in AI, saw that the company was selecting employees for the AI MBA program at Sungkyunkwan University' SKK GSB, and immediately applied.

When she didn't know much about AI at the start of the program and worked tirelessly to master the AI MBA curriculum, she graduated as one of the top five students with excellent grades.

She said, "I was older than most of my peers and lacked background knowledge in AI, but as I worked hard to study, my peers told me, 'As I see you studying without giving up, it makes me think that I should not give up either and should keep studying.' By supporting each other while studying, one of the greatest assets I gained from the MBA was meeting peers who are always there to help me."

She stated, "I studied at SKK GSB every Saturday for two years, which means I devoted a total of 104 Saturdays to studying AI. The changes that 104 Saturdays brought to me were truly significant. That's why 'career transition to the Financial AI Center' and 'completion of the AI MBA' are included as two of the five turning points in my life."

Studying in the AI MBA program became a source of growth for her, and as she entered her third year at the Financial AI Center, she was promoted to Planning Team Head.

She stated, "In the MBA program, there was a leadership class that utilized case studies from Harvard Business School. One of the questions posed was, 'Can you be the leader who brings all your team members safely down from Mount Everest?' Reflecting on that question, I often ask myself, 'Am I truly the leader who can bring all team members down safely?' Ultimately, my goal is to be a leader whose team members can say they learned something from me and grew through working with me."

Mihyang said, "Currently, we are using AI to minimize the time required for tasks that employees have to do repeatedly. When one department requests AI-based service development and then makes additional requests later, it seems that the satisfaction with our center's AI services is high."

She added, "I don't think the wave of AI will end anytime soon. In the past, people who could type on a typewriter were considered 'specialists.' Even when Microsoft Word was introduced, knowing how to use it was a remarkable skill. However, now everyone uses Word and Excel. I believe that soon, AI will be something everyone uses in their daily lives."