Samsung Electronics has recruited two artificial intelligence and data specialists as it steps up efforts to deploy AI across its semiconductor operations, from chip design and process development to manufacturing.
The company said Friday it had hired Han Bo-hyung, a leading researcher in deep learning and vision AI, as a fellow, and Hahn Tai-rin, a data engineering specialist formerly with Meta, as an executive vice president.
Han will lead the development of AI models tailored to semiconductor research and development, while Hahn will oversee the creation of “AI-ready data” — data structured and refined so it can be readily used for AI training and analysis.
Samsung is expanding the use of AI across its chip business to shorten development cycles, improve manufacturing efficiency and boost productivity amid intensifying competition in advanced semiconductors.
Han earned bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science and engineering from Seoul National University and a doctorate in computer science from the University of Maryland. He joined Pohang University of Science and Technology as an assistant professor in 2010 and has taught at SNU's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering since 2018.
His expertise includes vision AI, which enables computers to recognize and analyze objects and patterns from large volumes of image and video data. In semiconductor manufacturing, such technology can be used for tasks including wafer image analysis and defect detection.
Hahn earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from SNU and a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She worked at Meta as a senior data engineering manager from 2016 and most recently served as a senior developer at US identity verification startup Persona.
Samsung said Hahn would focus on organizing the vast amounts of data generated throughout semiconductor development and production into formats that can be directly used by AI systems — an increasingly important foundation as chipmakers seek to automate complex engineering work.
Samsung has been broadening its AI strategy across the entire semiconductor value chain.
At Nvidia's GTC 2026 conference in March, Samsung's Device Solutions division outlined an “agentic AI”-based semiconductor engineering strategy designed to connect chip design, engineering and manufacturing through AI. The company has also been pushing the use of digital twins and autonomous AI systems to improve process optimization and quality control.
Samsung said it plans to continue recruiting specialists in AI and data while spreading their expertise across the organization to strengthen its company-wide AI capabilities.
herim@heraldcorp.com