Immediately after joining Ricoh as a new graduate in 2002, I was in charge of research and development of image processing technology aimed at improving the image quality of copied images. Shortly after I joined the company, I became interested in CV (computer vision), a type of AI that is now called, and started self-studying. I was happy that I was able to formally work with the support of the managers. While conducting research, I repeatedly proposed solutions to other departments so that they could use CVs, which are difficult to use. In 2014, he was transferred to the new business planning department through an internal recruitment. As a product manager of the real estate VR service "theta360.biz", I did everything from sales to development direction.

He joined GA technologies in 2017. It all started when a career change agent told me that a real estate venture was looking for an image processing engineer. It was a time when I was frustrated with the slow decision-making process that is common in large companies, so I was first attracted to the fact that it was a venture. Also, I had visited many real estate companies in sales activities for the services I was working on at the time, so I admired the industry's peculiar liveliness. In addition, I knew how technologically the real estate industry was behind, so I was strongly attracted by the fact that "there are many problems that can be solved as an engineer." While I thought it was a rare opportunity to fulfill my desires, I was at a loss because I didn't have the confidence that I could do it as a venture. In the end, I decided to change jobs, supported by my wife's words, "Even if you fail to change jobs and your annual income drops, you can still live if you work together."

As head of the Advanced Innovation Strategy Center (AISC), our research and development department, I am promoting digital transformation within the company.

I am currently in charge of the direction of the research and development organization. We aim to create a world where everyone in the company can reduce mechanical work to the utmost and focus on high value-added things that only humans can do. Technology that is frequently used within the company should also be used by other companies in the same industry. We believe that we can change the industry by providing our technology, and some of the technology we have actually developed is provided to other companies for a fee.

While the job is rewarding, it can also be difficult. For example, what I thought was useful as a researcher may not be accepted in the field. Also, the requests raised from the site are not necessarily the best for the site. In general, it is said that it is difficult to make use of research results in business, but at GA, researchers are as close to the site as possible to help solve problems. development. We are implementing a strategy of brushing up with the site.

In general, it is true that many researchers do not want to communicate with people in the field in order to concentrate on their research. Therefore, I focus on recruiting members who can tolerate the conflicting attributes of research and the field, and discussing with members on a daily basis. It's a lot of hard work, but being able to directly see how the members are improving their work and making people happy in the field makes me supremely happy.

Technology sometimes suddenly becomes obsolete, so I believe that it is the destiny of an engineer to keep studying. Around the time I entered the workforce, my seniors at the research institute were creating an image processing library for in-house work, saying that their scope of work was narrow, but their expertise was extremely high. However, after a while, open source emerged. The technical field has become a commodity, and seniors have to learn things in different fields in a hurry. I always think that what I said will happen to me, so I try not to miss continuous input.

It is also important to follow the trends of AI technology, but the AISC to which we belong includes the word “Strategy”. Therefore, I think it is very important to learn not only what AI technology can do, but also what other means can do. I'm always keeping my antennae up to see if it's possible to make things that weren't possible before possible, or if they could be made easier, by using various algorithms other than AI and web services from other companies.

What I find frustrating is that GA technologies is not widely recognized as a company that utilizes technology. I don't think there is another real estate company that has so many engineers and develops products for internal and external use. Also, I am proud that there is no company that has so many researchers and is earnestly striving to acquire technology and data in the real estate field. In fact, when we introduce our technology and products to other companies, they are surprised at the high level of technology, and there are many opportunities for them to say, "We want you to use our products." In addition, when we introduce AISC's technology at events for owners that we regularly hold, many of the owners are impressed by the technology.

In order to change this situation, we will strive to acquire technologies that are even more useful in the field. At the same time, I hope that GA technologies and the real estate industry will be recognized as a new field for researchers by increasing their outreach.