Jay Jo

About Me

Professional

I’m a third-year Computer Science undergraduate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, graduating in 2027. My work bridges AI application development, full-stack engineering, and systems-level problem-solving.

I took time off from school to receive treatment for a gastrointestinal health issue in Korea. Simultaneously, I used the time to develop a clearer sense of how my studies could translate into meaningful impact. I worked as an AI Application Development Intern at Kakao Entertainment, where I engineered pipelines that integrated communication and documentation data into production-ready knowledge graphs powering internal AI agents. Before that, I joined an early-stage generative AI startup, working directly with the CEO to help establish its U.S. parent company and gaining first-hand exposure to the intersection of engineering, operations, and venture building.

I’m deeply interested in research centered around AI and scalable system design during the rest of my time at UIUC, with the intent of pursuing a Master’s program afterward. I’m currently seeking opportunities to further strengthen my development expertise and contribute to production-grade systems!

Personal

Born in the U.S., raised in Singapore, but rooted in my Korean heritage (dual citizen of the U.S. and Korea).
Personal strengths of mine that I value:

Empathetic and people-centered problem solver 🕊️: able to understand and connect with others, listen deeply, and act with sensitivity at an exceptional level. In a work context this allows me to anticipate needs, resolve conflicts, and foster strong collaboration.
Driven and proactive in high-stakes environments 🚀: highly self-motivated and willing to put in long hours to see a project through to success.
Visual eye for detail and precision 🎨: strong ability to notice nuances others might overlook, whether that be in design aesthetics, or in project workflows.

Some of my interests:

love running in the scorching sun
visiting art museums in new cities
finding healthier ways to eat the foods I love

View my old art portfolio here!

Work Experience

AI Application Development Intern

Kakao Entertainment – Seoul, South Korea | Aug 2025 – Present (ending Jan 2026)

About: Innovative leader in digital music and entertainment services, powering platforms such as Melon with advanced AI-driven personalization.

Designed ingestion pipelines with both scheduled and event-driven mechanisms, consolidating internal communication and documentation data into a knowledge graph that was deployed to production within Kakao’s internal AI platform.
Implemented orchestration logic across MCP servers and retrieval pipelines, enabling the AI platform to deliver summaries, semantic discovery, and contextual insights for 1,000+ employees.

Chief of Staff Intern

NXN Labs – Seoul, South Korea | Oct 2024 – Feb 2025

About: Early-stage startup founded by Stanford engineers innovating in generative AI for on-model imagery and virtual try-on, expanding into U.S. retail and fashion-tech markets.

Partnered directly with the CEO in establishing NXN Labs’ U.S. parent company, managing Delaware flip restructuring (entity setup, cap table, stock options) and aligning complex legal, financial, and operational processes.
Conducted structured QA on thousands of AI-generated images, delivering actionable insights that engineers leveraged to increase model accuracy and visual fidelity, directly strengthening client campaign outcomes.
Launched the first internship program for U.S. students, shaping position definitions and supporting CEO-led recruitment efforts that resulted in 6 hires.

Projects

MindFlow

Live Demo GitHub

Productivity, Visualized. A graph-based task management app that brings clarity to your chaos.

The Vision

I built MindFlow out of frustration with traditional to-do apps that bury tasks in endless lists. MindFlow introduces a more intuitive and visual approach to task management that helps users see connections between tasks and bring structure to their daily workflow. I also just wanted to work on something meaningful while learning React for the first time. My ambitious goal is to scale this for real users, though I'm still early in that journey.

Key Features

Mind Map Visualization – Interactive D3.js graph for tasks and categories
Date-Based Navigation – View and plan tasks for past, present, or future days
Auto-Rollover Tasks – Unfinished tasks automatically move to today
Priority Tags – Visual priority indicators (low/medium/high)
Daily Stats – Track progress and completion rates in the sidebar

Tech Stack

React TypeScript Tailwind CSS D3.js Firebase Framer Motion Vite

Current Status & Roadmap

MindFlow is currently functional but I'm in the process of migrating from Firebase to a more scalable Node.js + MongoDB backend. I have an extensive feature roadmap including drag-and-drop node reordering, recurring tasks, calendar integration, and AI-powered natural language input. See the full roadmap on GitHub to get a sense of where this project is headed.

Illini BookBridge

GitHub Demo Video

A social platform for UIUC students to discover books and connect with fellow readers.

Overview

Illini BookBridge is a web application that allows UIUC students to discover books and connect with fellow readers. Unlike general platforms like Goodreads, it creates a secure community by requiring @illinois.edu email verification, enabling students to comfortably share their reading interests and build connections with peers who have similar tastes. The platform combines book discovery with social networking features specifically designed for the campus community.

Emphasis was not on frontend development, but on backend logic using MySQL: schema design, advanced queries, stored procedures, and triggers.

Tech Stack

MySQL Node.js Express JavaScript Bootstrap