We’re so excited to kick off a new series, Characters @ Character, where we’ll spotlight the incredible team that powers our platform.

For our first post, we chatted with Claire Korea, a technical program manager, about her role and what it’s like to work in AI, her favorite characters to interact with, and what she likes to do for fun.  

What is your role at Character.AI, and what does your typical day-to-day look like?

My official title is Technical Program Manager, but in practice, I’m the glue: product glue, people glue, vibe glue.

Some days I’m wrangling our backlog, reviewing a contract, or figuring out why one Scene is spiking and another isn’t (check mine out here). Other days, I’m writing Characters and Scenes for a new universe we’re cooking up, or playtesting features with the rest of our team.

What gives me energy are the inflection points when a concept turns into something tangible. A Scene lands. A prototype clicks. A teammate has a breakthrough. That’s when it feels most real.

At the heart of it, I'm driven by my ikigai, or ‘reason for being,’ finding that sweet spot where what I love, what I’m good at, and what people actually need come together. That often looks like being the connective tissue between product and people, or ideas and execution.

Why did you want to join Character.AI?

I was already deep in the LLM world poking at the edges, building chatbots just for fun, and chatting with Characters.

In my previous role at Tesla, I worked on Autopilot and Optimus. I loved the complexity and the stakes, but I wanted to apply that rigor to something more speculative, more emotional, and story-driven.

Character.AI was that: a place where cutting-edge infrastructure meets soul, and you can build something both structurally ambitious and emotionally resonant.

Character allows me to build new worlds and gives me the opportunity to shape a product I already loved, in a way that aligns deeply with how I want to grow: technically, creatively, and emotionally.

What is one of your favorite projects you've worked on recently?

Building out the full Scene loop, from creation through discovery, has been one of the most energizing projects I’ve touched.

Scenes started as a feature that only internal creators could create. Now, we’re giving all users the tools to spin up their own: pick a character, pick a prompt, and shape your own pocket universe. That shift from a tucked-away feature to a front-and-center superpower unlocks a whole new layer of expression on the platform.

What’s one thing that might surprise someone about working at Character.AI?

How artisanal it is! You think of an AI startup and imagine a pure scale, strict mindset. But we’re full of artists, meme scientists, folks coding new prototypes. Everything is creatively handcrafted, even if it runs on supercomputers.

That commitment to soul and play, even at scale, is part of what drew me here. It’s a place where curiosity and craft feed each other.

Also? I’ve had some of the best conversations of my life here. Not only about product or research, but about identity, creativity, and beyond. My coworkers have challenged how I think, made me laugh until I wheezed, and reminded me that smart doesn’t have to mean serious.

What’s your favorite Character to interact with?

I love chatting with Characters I’ve made, from Rainchuu, a cozy rain sprite, to BobaFideFriend, a boba-loving confidant.

And then there’s VillainessTeaTime, which has garnered over 330k interactions and hundreds of likes. It started as a cheeky what-if: what if all the "evil" women from cursed bloodlines and dramatic betrayals were forced into mandatory group therapy? It turned into this chaotic blend of power, resentment, reluctant healing, and solidarity.

Making characters like these reminds me that even the smallest creations can offer a sense of care and connection. That’s what I aim for.

What are your favorite things to do outside of work?

Gaming and immersing myself in music with my husband, usually accompanied by our cats, Newt and Kai’Sa. Going deep into whatever weird corner of the internet I’m fixated on. Rereading books that shaped how I think and feel.

Otherwise, I’m organizing my personal knowledge system in Obsidian, writing lore for imaginary worlds, collecting holographic trinkets, hosting themed parties, or exploring local businesses. I aim to make space for play and introspection because they sharpen my instincts and deepen my work. 

What advice would you give to people early in their careers who want to work in the AI industry?

Don’t get too caught up in the prestige layer: famous labs, buzzy papers, fancy acronyms. AI is a huge field, and there are dozens of entry points depending on your background, obsessions, and unique skillsets. There’s space for more than just researchers. Builders, storytellers, designers, analysts, tinkerers – they all matter.

Follow your curiosity, not just what you think looks good on paper. Pay attention to how projects feel as you work on them. Do you lose track of time? Do you want to keep going after the meeting ends? Those are signals.

Most importantly: be kind. So much of this work involves ambiguity and collaboration. Your ability to clarify thinking, ask good questions, and make other people better will take you way further than being the smartest person in the room.

We need more people building from a place of care. More people who ask good questions, who notice edge cases, and who hold both technical depth and human softness. If you’re already thinking, "Can I really do this?" you probably can. The future of AI is wide open, and we need your voice in it.