Wadiz, 2025 was a year that can be summed up by the keyword “expansion.” Through the launch of our global service, we connected makers and supporters in over 200 countries, and with the introduction of our AI agent WAi, we began to transform the entire crowdfunding process.
Amid these changes, Wadizposed a question:“Is simply adopting AI enough?”
Rather than treating WAi as merely a work tool, we began exploring ways for the entire organization to use it together to establish standards and set a direction. As an extension of this effort, we organized the year-end event, the “WAi Championship.” This event served as an opportunity for us to collectively shape how Wadizwill work in the future while complementing AI. I’d like to share that story with you now.
Want to race with AI? We’re the “racers,” and WAi is the “F1 car.”
Race with WAi in Pangyo!
The concept for this year’s WAi Championship was clear: “F1.” F1 is the world’s premier motor racing series—a sport where success depends not merely on speed, but on the interplay of the driver’s judgment, the car’s performance, and the team’s strategy.
In this championship, our team members were the “racers” and WAi was the “machine.” As each of us raced along our respective career tracks,we turned our experiences with WAi over the past year—and our plans for its future development—into a single race.
The key to this competition wasn’t so much about who understood AI better, but rather about exploring how the experience we’ve gained through our work could synergize with AI’s responses, and identifying areas where we could improve WAi to take it in a better direction.
Preliminary Round START! – 9 Days of Daily Conversations with WAi
The WAi Championship qualifiers were held over a nine-day period from December 9 to 17. To participate in the qualifiers, all you had to do was log in to WAi, try it out, and share your thoughts!
If you find any errors or areas that need improvement, please submit them via “Leave Feedback.” You can also earn points by participating in quizzes and daily check-ins within the app.
The quizzes were created based on the ‘KMS’ (Knowledge Management System), a service policy guide that outlines Wadizpolicies and operational standards. What if you’re unsure of the answer? You could ask WAi and find the answer through conversation.
For this WAi Championship, our Technology Development Team developed a Flutter-based "WAi" app specifically for team members. We’ve captured a video showcasing the "WAi" app, which played a key role in the event.
* Flutter: An open-source UI framework developed by Google that allows you to build applications for various platforms (iOS, Android, web, desktop, etc.) using a single codebase
The "WAi" app developed by the Technology Development Team for the WAi Championship
We heard from participants that whenever they had a question while taking the quiz, they would ask WAi, and as a result, they ended up chatting with WAi almost every day during the preliminary round.
Since the real-time leaderboard let us check our scores and rankings, the top racers fiercely competed to defend their positions and climb even higher in the standings. With the real-time rankings displayed on the screen against the backdrop of an F1 track, it even felt like I was a real racer (?).
The WAi Championship leaderboard, where I could check my team's and my own rankings in real time
During the preliminary round, we could check the rankings on a real-time board in the company cafeteria. Since individual and team scores were updated instantly, I found myself naturally checking where I stood in the rankings every day.
During the preliminary round, we were able to check the live championship standings at the company cafeteria.
With the addition of a group photo challenge to the steamed bun giveaway event—designed to warm us up on our morning commute—competition between teams naturally heated up. Every member participated in the WAi Championship at their own pace.
A surprise event held during the preliminary round – Take a photo of our team and get a steamed bun!
A group photo of teams who are serious about steamed buns 📸
Just as important as the scores was the process itself. Some visited WAi once a day, while others stopped by whenever they thought of it to take quizzes and ask various questions about Wadizpolicies, then check their answers. The feedback gathered during this process served as the foundation for refining WAi in a better direction.
Crossing the WAi Championship Finish Line Together with the 2025 Year-End Party
A Christmas photo booth with WAi, and the stars of the best shots are Pro Shin Hye-seong (right) and Pro Kim Je-min (left) 📸
On December 19, the WAi Championship finals were held in conjunction with the 2025 Year-End Party. A variety of side events organized by the HR team took place before the finals, and the atmosphere on site was electric right from the start.
Jinguk's Photo Studio, where "WAi Championship: Four Snapshots of Life" and Christmas decorations were on display
In one corner of the venue, a photo booth was set up, where attendees could take commemorative photos at the photo zone and the “Life’s Four Shots” station. Thanks to the thoughtful decorations that added to the Christmas atmosphere, a steady stream of people came by to capture memories with their colleagues.
And now, the WAi Championship Finals are officially underway!
The members, who had been competing in their respective events, gathered in one place to compete in the final round. It was a particularly meaningful occasion, as it had been a long time since everyone had come together like this.
The WAi Championship Finals, held with everyone gathered together for the first time in a long while
Like the preliminary round, the final round was divided into individual and team competitions. The individual competition involved participants accessing the “Live Event”created within the WAi app and answering KMS (Knowledge Management System) quizzes in real time to earn points.
A solo exhibition held in real time on the WAi app
We used the ‘WAi’ app for the entire process—from solving the multiple-choice, open-ended, and true-or-false questions within the allotted time to checking the answers together. Whenever we had a question while solving the problems, we could quickly ask WAi and get hints about the correct answers!
Every time the correct answer was revealed in real time, the finals venue erupted with laughter and gasps of surprise.
In the team events, we put the WAi app aside for a moment and played a series of games that required teamwork and quick thinking.
From a personality quiz where participants had to guess who was in the photos based on childhood pictures of Wadiz, to a K-pop quiz where they had to identify song titles by listening to the tracks, the atmosphere on the floor grew even more lively as team members put their heads together to participate.
Which racer claimed the ultimate victory in the WAi Championship?
Before the announcement of the overall first-place winner, CEO Shin Hye-seong shared a few brief thoughts as she looked back on the WAi Championship
After all the intense races had concluded, and before the overall winner was announced, CEO Shin Hye-sung shared a brief reflection on the WAi Championship, saying, “This championship was an opportunity for all our members to participate directly and work together to shape the way we work with AI.”
A commemorative photo of Pro Kang Won-hye, who took first place overall, and the CEO, holding their round-trip air tickets to Tokyo 📸
And now, we’re announcing the long-awaited overall winner!
Throughout the preliminary and final rounds, the person who consistently and accurately worked alongside WAi was Kang Won-hye from the Service Design Team.
Pro Kang Won-hye, who took first place overall, received a round-trip ticket to Tokyo, Japan, courtesy of Korean Air, and was greeted with loud applause and cheers. 👏👏👏
Mr. Kwon Yong-hyuk of the Technology Development Team, who took first place overall in the preliminary round
In addition to the overall first-place award, there were various other awards presented. From the overall winner of the preliminary round, the perfect attendance award, and the top feedback recipient to the team that shone with outstanding teamwork, every participant who completed the race in their own way was a hero. The prizes were products that had been popular Wadizsupporters, making it a moment to once again celebrate Wadizachievements together.
How We Worked with AI Through the WAi Championship
The WAi Championship was notable for the high participation rate among Warrior members. A total of 192 members—representing 95% of the entire workforce—installed the WAi app, with 183 participating in the attendance check and 129 taking part in the quiz program during the preliminary round. Additionally , approximately 300 improvement suggestions were submittedthroughout the preliminary and final rounds, some of which led to actual service enhancements.
The WAi Championship provided an opportunity for participants to naturally incorporate AI into their daily work, rather than viewing it as something vague or difficult. Moving forward, Wadizplans to continue building aWadizAI organizational culture”by treating AI not as a technology that replaces people, but as a partner that enhances our judgment and experience.
