Jongdae Lim has joined OpenAI as Head of Applied AI Engineering, Korea, taking on a role focused on helping businesses translate advanced AI capabilities into practical products, workflows and business applications.
Lim announced the move on LinkedIn, expressing appreciation for his colleagues at Databricks, where he spent the previous nine months on the Enterprise Core team. He said he is now looking forward to leading OpenAI’s Applied AI Engineering team in Korea.
The appointment comes after a broader career spanning cloud, software engineering, data and artificial intelligence. Before Databricks, Lim spent more than four years at Microsoft, working with its Industry Solutions Engineering organisation. His work there involved data and AI initiatives across markets, including Seoul and Tokyo.
Lim’s public profile also reflects a long-standing technical background. He describes himself as a Java-focused technologist and holds professional certifications in Google Cloud development and cloud architecture, along with an Oracle database certification. He studied at Korea University.
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His move to OpenAI comes as businesses increasingly shift their attention from experimenting with generative AI to integrating AI into operational processes and customer-facing applications. This transition has created growing demand for technical teams that can connect AI models with existing enterprise systems and turn technology capabilities into usable business workflows.
For Lim, the new position combines his experience in enterprise technology, data and AI with a regional leadership role in Korea. In his announcement, he said his focus at OpenAI will include helping customers turn frontier AI capabilities into products, workflows and measurable business impact.
The appointment also highlights the expanding role of applied AI engineering as organisations look beyond model development toward implementation, integration and real-world adoption.
