[Interview] CEO Lee Seok-joong: “From Generative AI to VLM — Designing the Blueprint for Super-Intelligence”

Turning imagination into reality through next-level AI and platforms

By Eom Ho-sik, Security News

Founded in 2010, LaonPeople began as a machine-vision company built on computer-vision technology. At a time when most machine-vision systems depended heavily on foreign solutions, the company entered the market with the bold vision of supplying everything—from cameras to hardware (HW) and vision software (SW)—through purely domestic technology.

Just ten years later, LaonPeople went public on KOSDAQ in 2019, and today the company continues to expand its presence across diverse industries through its subsidiaries LaonRoad, LaonMedi, and TDG. In this interview, we take an in-depth look at LaonPeople’s competitiveness, technologies, and future direction.

Q. What kind of company is LaonPeople?

LaonPeople is a leading provider of smart factory and smart-life solutions that leverage vision AI and generative AI technologies to solve real-world challenges.

We developed and supplied Korea’s first deep-learning-based vision solution, NAVI AI, and expanded our proven machine-vision capabilities from the manufacturing floor into medical imaging, surveillance, and transportation. With the rise of generative AI, we have also developed workflow-enhancing AI Agent solutions and advanced monitoring systems powered by our optimized Vision-Language Model (VLM), extending beyond traditional intelligent surveillance.

 

Q. Among the technologies you’ve developed, which achievements are you most proud of?

1) Frame Grabber — Our long-time best-selling product

Our Frame Grabber technology—used for inspecting and assembling smartphone camera modules—played a crucial role before our IPO. It enables precise control of camera modules and transfers video data from the module to a PC.

Using expertise gained from system-semiconductor design, we implemented camera control and video processing on FPGA and became the first in the world to apply USB 3.0 as a high-speed PC interface, overcoming the limitations of Camera Link and early Ethernet. We later expanded this to 10G/40G Ethernet and higher resolutions, making it a stable cash-cow product for years.

2) Generative AI–powered solutions

Since around 2014, we had already been customizing deep-learning models, which made the transition to generative AI in the 2020s very natural for us. The ability of generative AI to understand natural language opens the door to entirely new applications and more human-friendly interfaces.

As a vision-specialized company, we have demonstrated strong performance in context-aware video understanding through the fusion of vision and large language models (LLM) into our VLM architecture. VLM enables superior contextual interpretation—reducing false detections—and supports voice- or text-based control. Commands such as “Detect anyone behaving abnormally” are now possible, and we foresee the surveillance industry rapidly shifting to generative-AI-based systems. Combined with AI Agent capabilities, the potential expands even further.

Q. LaonPeople listed on KOSDAQ in 2019. What made that possible?

While many tech startups pursue technology-special listing pathways, LaonPeople qualified through performance. From 2010 to 2019, revenue grew steadily with consistent profitability—except for the first year. With operating margins in the high 20% range, we secured strong evaluation results and listed relatively smoothly.

 

Q. Your subsidiaries appear to generate strong synergy with the main company.

Yes. We currently operate three subsidiaries:

LaonRoad

LaonRoad leverages our vision technologies to deliver smart-city and smart-traffic solutions and collaborates with us closely in VLM-based traffic-context understanding. The company has built more than 25% of Korea’s Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) nationwide. Through digital-twin simulations and domestic NPU-based edge solutions, LaonRoad is preparing next-generation traffic-communication and autonomous-driving infrastructures.

LaonMedi

LaonMedi extends our vision-AI expertise into healthcare. The company received regulatory approval for a solution that diagnoses sleep apnea from CT scans—offering a fast, low-cost alternative to PSG tests. It has also gained KFDA and FDA approvals for AI-powered orthodontic software capable of generating setups with a single click.

TDG

Acquired in late 2023, TDG provides MSP services for Microsoft Azure and AWS. It creates synergy with us in AI Ops, ML Ops platforms, and generative-AI–based agents. With over 25 years of operational experience, TDG is rapidly expanding through cloud-native transitions.

Q. What are LaonPeople’s core strengths?

Our greatest strength is the combination of 15+ years of video-technology expertise and next-generation generative AI. With over a decade of experience customizing AI models, we deliver solutions tailored precisely to customer needs.

While interest in AI has skyrocketed only recently, LaonPeople has long anticipated its importance and pursued AI integration across diverse industries. Internally, we actively encourage innovation through our Tech Evangelist Day, where new technologies are shared, recognized, and rewarded.

Q. What are your best-selling and flagship products in 2025?

Our best-selling products remain our industrial vision-inspection solutions for batteries, surface inspection, steel manufacturing, semiconductors, and more.

Our flagship solutions this year are:

• Odin — Generative AI Surveillance Platform

A next-generation monitoring system powered by LLM+VLM, already adopted in major government and enterprise environments.

• EzPlanet — AI Lifecycle MLOps Platform

A full-cycle AI development platform that supports data collection, management, auto-labeling, model optimization, and deployment.

 

Q. Which next-generation technologies is LaonPeople focusing on?

We are closely monitoring emerging fields related to super-intelligence, which is expected to become a global inflection point. We also believe that the “AI Agent era” is accelerating, enabling tasks once thought impossible.

 

Q. What is LaonPeople’s ultimate goal?

Our Massive Transformative Purpose (MTP) is: “Turning anything anyone imagines into reality through next-level AI and platforms.” This vision guides everything we pursue.

 

Q. Any message for the Korean security industry?

The Korean security industry has grown rapidly in recent years, despite global competition intensifying. As AI and generative AI reshape global markets, we hope the government continues expanding national-level programs to ensure Korean companies can compete on the world stage.