October 29, 2025 | ARTICLE - NEXT People

Q. Welcome to Next Securities. Could you start by introducing yourself briefly?

Pleasure to meet you. This is Jeado Ko (you may also call me Jay), Head of the Tech Division at Next Securities. 

Previously, before joining Next Securities, I worked across KT, KakaoBank, Quotabook, MUSINSA, and Endowus in Singapore, leading the development and operation of large-scale services. Across commerce, finance, and telecommunications, I have focused on “expanding product impact through data and technology,” and at Next Securities, I am now taking on the challenge of redefining the retail investing.

Q. What were your initial areas of focus after joining the company?

Our mission is to build a technology organization capable of realizing an “AI-optimized, innovative financial platform.” We are not simply creating a new investment content platform, but we are designing a system where content, community, and trading work together seamlessly within one ecosystem.

To achieve this, our team is currently focusing on three core pillars:

1. Strengthening product engineering to enhance the stability and polish of the mobile platform.
2. Developing core components in-house, including Trading Platform, Data Intelligence platform, AI Agent Platform, and hyper-personalization engine.
3. Building a large-scale real-time infrastructure that remains stable even when trading activity and live feeds surge simultaneously.

Ultimately, our goal is to integrate AI, data, mobile, and infrastructure into one cohesive ecosystem and grow into the fastest and most reliable financial platform in the market.

Q. What are the unique strengths of the Tech Division at Next Securities?

In general, financial services are often expanded by building existing systems, whereas Next Securities is developing a platform engineered from the foundation with AI-optimized architecture, a forward-looking approach that is still emerging in Korea.

To support this vision, our team is actively adopting modern technologies and development practices. We use languages such as Java, Kotlin, Python, Rust, and C, and leverage microservices, event-driven architecture, and clean architecture. Tools like GitLab, ArgoCD, Terraform, and Databricks are part of our daily workflow, enabling high development velocity and collaboration. This environment allows our engineers to work with startup-level speed and experimentation within the financial sector, which remains a distinctive strength of our organization.

Q. How would you describe the way the Tech Division works?

Our philosophy is quite simple: “Move fast, Learn fast” Instead of perfect planning, we prioritize rapid experimentation, and we share failures transparently. We believe this openness turns individual experiences into organizational knowledge and enables the entire team to grow together.

All engineers write and review Tech Spec documents, which include problem definitions, goals and non-goals, assumptions, and both high-level and low-level architecture. The purpose is not to define the "right answer", but to clearly document "why" certain decisions were made. The focus is on building a culture that discovers answers together.

Our team also aim to work smarter with AI. AI is not viewed as a tool that simply generates code, but can be a partner that understands the context behind problem-solving and system design. When engineers draft specifications, they share business objectives, technical constraints, and operational risks with AI, enabling deeper reasoning and better decision-making. AI helps us compare design alternatives, create test scenarios, and even generate architectural diagrams, resulting in faster documentation and a more systematic way of thinking across the organization.

Finally, our team operates a hybrid structure that combines domain teams, such as the Trading Platform Team, Data Platform Team, AI Platform Team, and DevOps Team, with mission-driven squads. Domain teams uphold reliability and quality, while squads execute quickly with clear objectives. This structure keeps accountability clear while enabling flexible, cross-team collaboration.

Q. Are there opportunities for non-engineering roles to participate in AI-driven innovation?

Absolutely. Today, this is not optional, it’s essential. Whether in research, risk, compliance, CS, or operations, the ability to use data and AI tools directly is key to delivering real customer value.

To support this, Next Securities is building a company-wide data intelligence platform that integrates all corporate data and enables everyone to extract insights independently. This is more than a data repository. It is the foundation that allows the entire organization to naturally incorporate AI and data into daily work.

Built on a lakehouse architecture, our data intelligence platform provides consistent data access, and conversational interfaces allow employees to ask questions in text, which are instantly converted into SQL queries or reports. LLM-based search and self-service BI empower users to explore and visualize data on their own. Teams can even build custom chatbots, and repetitive workflows, such as approvals, settlement, onboarding, and reporting, will be automated using a no-code workflow builder. Our team aims to support each organization in leading its own AI-driven digital transformation.

Q. How does the company support engineers in strengthening their skills and advancing their careers?

We design an engineer's growth to be the integral process of delivering results. Clear role expectations and competency matrices covering product impact, collaboration, operations, and engineering are defined, and a yearly growth cycle is maintained that includes personal development plans along with regular 1:1 coaching and mentoring.

We strengthen practical capabilities by embedding architecture reviews, ADRs, on-call rotations, incident response, and post-mortems into daily routines. I believe these experiences are instrumental in fostering meaningful professional growth. Continuous learning is further supported through new technology training, conference participation, tech talks, and blog contributions. The overarching goal is to create an environment where engineers consistently expand their impact through sustained personal growth.

Q. What message would you like to share with those considering joining the Tech Division at Next Securities?

The Tech Division at Next Securities is turning an ambitious vision into reality. If you want to break free from traditional financial structures and build an entirely new, AI- and data-driven investment experience, we welcome you.

Here, you will grow not just as someone who writes code, but as an engineer who thinks, designs, and operates systems alongside AI. In a culture that encourages rapid experimentation and transparent sharing, you’ll have the opportunity to deliver meaningful value across both product and customer experience.

If you aspire to design not the finance of today but the finance of the future, I strongly recommend starting your career journey here at Next Securities.