Hashed CEO Kim Seo-jun: “AI is removing barriers to execution… VCs must become ‘trust architects’”

Kim Seo-jun, CEO of Hashed, said that as generative artificial intelligence (AI) spreads and rapidly reshapes the startup environment, the role of venture capital (VC) is also at a fundamental inflection point. As product development and execution costs fall sharply and capital-centric investment models reveal their limits, he argues that a VC’s core edge is shifting to “connections built on trust.”

In a recent op-ed, Kim wrote, “In the AI era, the ability to design and execute trust-based connections—more than the size of one’s capital—becomes the core competitiveness of a VC.” He defined this as “hyper-connection,” explaining that in an environment where AI has democratized execution, what you build, and who you connect with and how, determine success or failure.

“AI has opened an environment where anyone can build products quickly, but responsibility for direction and quality has become even more important,” Kim emphasized. Rather than implementation itself, the ability to define meaningful problems in the market and to validate those choices through to the end has emerged as a core element of entrepreneurship, he said.

These shifts are directly affecting the VC role as well. In the past, the value of VCs lay in providing capital and supporting growth. But with the spread of generative AI, the key role is increasingly to help founding teams connect—based on trust—with markets, customers, partners, and talent. “In an era where anyone can build, what you connect to whom creates the decisive difference,” Kim said.

In particular, Kim noted that the importance of “verified trust” is growing beyond simple information sharing or network introductions. A VC’s competitive advantage, he said, will lie in the execution capability to design connections suited to a startup’s stage and situation, and to translate them into real product launches, customer acquisition, hiring, and partnerships.

The spread of generative AI is also bringing structural changes across the broader economy, the analysis said. Automation and AI adoption have made production and supply easier, but the question of who will actually buy a product has become even more important. The wider the gap grows between what is technically possible and what is sustainable in the market, the greater the role played by early-stage judgment, references, and trust-based connections.

Hashed is applying this thesis experimentally through “Vibe Labs,” an ultra-early-stage program for AI-native founders. Vibe Labs is designed to validate teams with a focus on real deployment and operations rather than technical explanations.

Hashed will hold a Vibe Labs open-entry session in Seoul on the 30th to share the program’s direction and philosophy, and to discuss the startup and investment environment in the AI era.

“Vibe Labs is less a single program than an experiment in how VCs connect with founding teams and share responsibility,” Kim said. “AI has lowered the threshold for execution, but getting the direction right and building trust is still difficult,” he added. “VCs, too, must evolve beyond the role of capital—into a presence that helps founding teams get validated in the market through decisive connections.”