As the automotive industry rapidly transforms around EVs, autonomous driving, and AI technologies, Hyundai Motor Group is driving a company-wide digital transformation (DX) that goes beyond technology adoption to fundamentally reshape ways of working and organizational culture.
Together with the DX Working Group at Hyundai Motor Group’s Human Resources Development Center, Elice co-designed a DX talent development journey that connects leadership development with hands-on, field-driven training.
In this interview, we speak with Juwon Kim, Senior Manager and Head of the DX Working Group at the Capability Innovation Center, and Kwangho Jeong, Manager of the DX Working Group at the same center, to hear firsthand about the transformation journey and their collaboration with Elice.
▲ From right: Juwon Kim, Senior Manager, and Kwangho Jeong, Manager, Hyundai Motor Group
*You can also watch the story of Hyundai Motor Group’s DX talent development journey in video format. ▶ Watch the video
AX Transformation That Started with Leadership Change
In 2023, the DX Working Group at Hyundai Motor Group’s Capability Innovation Center within the Human Resources Development Institute launched a new DX program for leaders. When designing this course, Juwon Kim set “shifting leadership mindsets” as the very first priority.
“When we first kicked off the program, many leaders reacted with skepticism. The prevailing attitude was, ‘We’re already delivering results with our existing ways of working—why do we need to change?’ That’s when we realized that digital transformation is not really about technology; it’s about how we work and the culture we build.”
— Juwon Kim, Head of the DX Working Group, Capability Innovation Center, Hyundai Motor Group Human Resources Development Institute
The DX leadership program started right at that point. It was designed so that leaders would work directly with data and use digital tools to solve tasks in new ways. Rather than focusing on theory, the curriculum centered on hands-on, how-to learning, enabling leaders to personally experience what it means to be the “agents of change” and driving a fundamental shift in organizational culture.
“DX depends less on bottom‑up spontaneity and more on the direction set by leadership. When leaders change, the organization moves,” Kim emphasized.
Over the three years since the program began, the biggest change has been leaders’ attitudes. Leaders who once kept their distance from change now see DX initiatives as essential to the organization. Many have begun proactively proposing DX projects themselves and integrating them into their team goals.
Two key factors helped the program scale: first, the industry-wide shift triggered by the rise of generative AI; and second, the design of practice-based training that delivers changes leaders can tangibly feel in the field.
Elice rapidly updated the curriculum to reflect the latest technology trends and, based on Elice LXP, provided an integrated learning environment that brought together lectures, hands-on practice, and performance management. Through the LXP, leaders could see their learning progress at a glance and use AI Helpy, Elice’s enterprise generative AI, to get real-time answers to their questions, maintaining a high level of engagement throughout the program. This integrated platform experience helped leaders move beyond one-off training and actually feel changes in how they work day to day.
“Elice was a partner that moved as if it were part of our own team. They understood the speed of AI-driven change and quickly embedded the right technologies into our training programs.”
— Juwon Kim
Big Data Bootcamp Driving AX in Manufacturing Technology
▲ Presentation scene from the Big Data Bootcamp
The change that began with leadership training soon expanded into a field-driven Big Data Bootcamp. In this program, employees from each department identify their own AI use cases and build them to a level where they can be applied to real work scenarios.
Kwangho Jeong from the DX Working Group at Hyundai Motor Group’s Human Resources Development Institute explains:
“Digital transformation is an enormous challenge for the entire organization, but it’s the small wins on the front line that ultimately create big change. This program was about building those ‘small wins’ step by step.”
The bootcamp focused on two key pillars. First, leader engagement. Leaders were directly involved in the project execution process, setting direction and building organizational alignment around the initiatives. Second, business relevance. The program went beyond simple PoC-level exercises and aimed to generate tangible outcomes tied to the company’s strategic objectives.
Elice participated from the planning stage of the program. By providing GPU-based AI infrastructure through Elice Cloud, we enabled participants to move beyond the limitations of individual laptop environments and train and validate real models in a stable, production-like lab setting.
For projects that required advanced computation, such as deep learning training, Elice provided not only high‑performance GPUs but also technical support from AI experts. Since securing GPU resources internally at Hyundai Motor Group can be time‑consuming and procedurally complex, Elice’s own cloud infrastructure made it possible to run the program smoothly from end to end.
Elice’s AI expert group also offered coaching and real-time project monitoring to carefully manage the quality of each initiative. Rather than stopping at simple exercises, the team guided participants to enhance both feasibility and business relevance, helping the program establish itself as a field-driven DX initiative that practitioners can truly feel in their daily work.
One representative outcome was a project to “Improve Vision Specification Recognition Using Deep Learning–Based OCR.” This project was actually deployed in a pilot test at the plant during the course, achieving over 99% recognition accuracy. As a result, quality control efficiency improved significantly, and annual cost savings in the hundreds of millions of KRW are expected.
“Now, even after the training ends, participants continue to enhance and expand their projects on their own. To me, that’s the very essence of DX.”
— Kwangho Jeong, Manager, DX Working Group, Hyundai Motor Group Human Resources Development Institute
AX That Has Become Part of the Organizational Culture, Beyond Training
Hyundai Motor Group’s AI talent development has been realized through a two-track strategy that combines leadership transformation with frontline innovation. The leadership program reshaped the organizational backbone, while the bootcamp delivered tangible business results. Elice participated not as a simple training provider, but as a strategic partner co-designing everything from program planning and content development to infrastructure and performance management.
“The transformation that began with leaders has now led to real outcomes on the front line. DX is not a destination; it’s an ongoing journey—and having the right partner to walk that path with you is crucial. Elice has been a reliable companion throughout that journey.”
— Juwon Kim
The collaboration between Hyundai Motor Group and Elice goes beyond a single training case; it stands as a model for systematic transformation in which the organization creates change from within. As leadership shifts drive cultural transformation and small frontline wins scale into enterprise-wide innovation, Elice continues to serve as a partner for DX talent development.
Digital transformation is not fundamentally about technology; it begins with people changing. Elice provides tailored DX/AX learning solutions aligned with each company’s industry and organizational culture. From leadership development to field-driven, hands-on training, design your AI talent development journey together with Elice.
