Carrot Insurance hires ex-Apple AI specialist as CTO

Carrot General Insurance, the nation’s largest digital insurer, said Monday it has hired Lee Jin-ho, a former Apple specialist in artificial intelligence and machine learning, as its new chief technology officer.

"Incorporating my expertise and experience gained in Silicon Valley, I am committed to supporting Carrot General Insurance in its transformation into a data-driven platform business," Lee said in a statement.

Carrot General Insurance is a joint venture set up by Hanwha General Insurance, SK Telecom and Hyundai Motor in 2019 as the nation’s first and only digital insurer. Hanwha is the largest shareholder with a 50.6 percent stake.

With the new appointment, the company said it aims to enhance its prowess in developing data-driven products beyond its strength in automobile insurance.

Lee, the new chief technology officer, boasts around 17 years of experience in Silicon Valley, specializing in data processing and artificial intelligence.

During his tenure as a specialist at Apple — from October 2020 to August 2022 – Lee worked to upgrade Apple’s virtual assistant as well as the search system Spotlight.

Before joining Apple, he co-founded an educational technology startup called Intellus Learning in Silicon Valley. He also previously served as an engineer and development leader at US-based e-commerce company Become.com.

Starting in 2022, Lee relocated to Korea and served as the chief technology officer at e-commerce company WeMakePrice until recently.

Additionally, he holds both master's and doctoral degrees in computer science from the Illinois Institute of Technology.