Among job-hunting students and those who are thinking about changing jobs, there must be many people who want to know about AI-related companies that are growing.
Now that lifetime employment is collapsing, we often hear that individual strength is important for career advancement and stability. Nonetheless, it is extremely difficult to find an AI company that grows out of the number of companies out there.
Therefore, in this article, we will introduce the characteristics of growing AI companies and 6 growing AI companies .
Also, in the second half of the article, we will explain “qualifications and skills useful for working at a growing AI company”, so please refer to it.
Table of contents
- The characteristics of growing AI companies are [AI x growth fields]
- 6 Growing AI (Artificial Intelligence) Companies
- ①Preferred Networks (PFN)
- ②FRONTEO
- ③PKSHA Technology
- ④ ExaWizards
- ⑤ABEJA
- ⑥ Neural pocket
- Qualifications and skills useful for working at a growing AI company
- IT qualification
- Knowledge of Python
- Knowledge of data science
- summary
The characteristics of growing AI companies are [AI x growth fields]
In recent years, products and services that combine AI and growth fields have spread rapidly.
In 2020, “AI x speaker” spread mainly in the United States. An AI speaker is a device equipped with an interactive AI ( artificial intelligence ) that allows you to operate home appliances and obtain information by talking to them.
AI speakers are also called smart speakers because they have attracted attention as loT home controllers.
In addition, initiatives for smart agriculture using a combination of AI and drones are also gaining momentum. Especially in rural areas, where labor shortages are becoming more serious, the value of AI is expected to increase.
In this way, companies that provide innovative services by combining AI and growth fields will continue to grow.
In addition, demand for AI companies is expected to increase not only in growth fields, but also in the medical industry, where the problem of labor shortages is worsening.
6 Growing AI (Artificial Intelligence) Companies
The six growing AI ( artificial intelligence ) companies introduced this time are:
- Preferred Networks (PFNs)
- FRONTE
- PKSHA Technology
- ExaWizards
- ABEJA
- neural pocket
I will explain each.
①Preferred Networks (PFN)
Preferred Networks (PFN) is an AI venture company that is attracting the most attention among AI companies in Japan. The estimated market capitalization as of April 2021 is 356.4 billion yen.
company overview
| company name | Preferred Networks, Inc. |
| Established | March 26, 2014 |
| location | Otemachi Building, 1-6-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo |
| Director | Representative Director and Chief Executive Officer Toru NishikawaRepresentative Director and Chief Operating Officer Daisuke OkanoharaDirector and Chief Technology Officer Ryosuke Okuda |
| number of employees | About 300 (as of December 2020) |
vision
“Making the real world computable. We will develop innovative and essential technologies with our own hands and challenge unknown areas. 』
We combine software and hardware at a high level to make devices such as cars and robots smarter.
If we can develop smart devices that can flexibly cope with ever-changing environments and situations, we will be able to sense the physical world in real time and make the real world itself calculable.
Using technology, we want to know the world that we have never seen and do not know yet.
Rather than competing in areas we already know, we will challenge the world beyond imagination with the power of technology.
Looking at this vision, you can see that PFN has a high perspective and a corporate culture that challenges unknown areas.
PFN not only has a vision, but it is properly reflected in its business content and organizational theory. If you look at the business details and PFN characteristics introduced later, you will be able to know in detail how the vision is being embodied.
Business content
- Technology development related to autonomous driving and connected cars
In collaboration with Toyota Motor Corporation, PFN is developing systems such as object recognition technology and vehicle information analysis that are indispensable for autonomous driving and connected cars (vehicles equipped with ICT functions).
- Development of robots that work in human living spaces
PFN is conducting research and development of personal robots to realize a society where robots are active in familiar places. At one of Asia’s largest technology exhibitions, we exhibited a “fully automated tidying up robot system” that uses the life support robot “HSR” from Toyota Motor Corporation and applies state-of-the-art deep learning technology.
- Application of deep learning to illustrations, cartoons, and animations
PFN is developing the character generation platform “Crypko”. Crypko uses GAN (Generative Adversarial Network), which is a type of deep learning, and even amateurs can generate unlimited professional-level anime face images.
Future of Preferred Networks
It is expected that PFN will focus on the robot business in the future. In fact, PFN is putting a lot of effort into the robot business, and is developing a “fully automated tidying up robot system.” Someday it may become commonplace to own a robot developed by PFN.
②FRONTEO
FRONTEO is an AI development company founded in August 2003 under the philosophy of “Risks and Opportunities”.
The company is engaged in businesses such as life sciences, legal tech, and business intelligence using its own AI technology.
In addition, it is a company that is attracting particular attention among domestic AI development companies, such as being listed in Japan and the United States.
company overview
| company name | FRONTEO Co., Ltd. |
| Established | August 8, 2003 |
| location | Akesan Takahama Building, 2-12-23 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo |
| CEO | Masahiro Morimoto |
| board member | Executive Vice President Naritomo IkegamiHideki Takeda Chief Technology Officer/Director, Research Institute for Behavior InformaticsTomohiro Uesugi, Chief Financial Officer, Administration HeadquartersDirector Mari Yamamoto |
| number of employees | 181 (as of March 31, 2020) |
| amount of sales | 10,470,690,000 yen (as of March 31, 2020) |
| capital | 2,568.65 million yen (as of March 31, 2020) |
vision
“Identify Risks and Opportunities”
Utilizing the knowledge, experience and judgment of our experts, we utilize state-of-the-art technology to provide optimal solutions to prevent overlooked risks and opportunities in the legal, medical, financial, intellectual property, education, and human resources fields. It is the value brought about by the realization of a fair world where you can find necessary and appropriate information in such fields.
FRONTEO’s vision “Identify Risks and Opportunities” literally means “identify risks and opportunities”.
You can learn more about how this vision is being realized by looking at the company’s business and features, which will be introduced later.
Business content
- product
FRONTEO independently develops “KIBIT”, which helps people make decisions in all corporate situations and contributes to operational efficiency, and “ConceptEncoder”, which specializes in the healthcare field and contributes to the development of medical care and research.
- AI solution
FRONTEO is working on the development of AI solutions in the fields of “Legal Tech AI”, “Business Solutions”, “Life Science AI” and “OSINT”.
Future of FRONTEO
In the future, FRONTEO is expected to focus on the AI product “KIBIT” as before, while also focusing on the healthcare field.
Considering that people are becoming more health conscious in recent years due to the aging population and the spread of the new coronavirus, it can be said that the healthcare field is a field where demand is increasing.
If the public’s health consciousness continues to be high in the future, FRONTEO’s healthcare business may attract even more attention.
③PKSHA Technology
PKSHA Technology Co., Ltd. is an AI venture company that develops function-specific algorithms and packaged software for companies using deep learning.
In 2012, Mr. Katsuya Uenoyama and Mr. Naofumi Yamada from the University of Tokyo Matsuo Lab established AppReSearch Inc., the predecessor of PKSHA Technology. Listed on Tokoro Mothers.
company overview
| company name | PKSHA Technology Co., Ltd. |
| Established | October 16, 2012 |
| location | Hongo Segawa Building, 2-35-10 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo |
| CEO | Katsuya Uenoyama |
| Director | Naofumi Yamada, Mitsuya Nakata |
| number of employees | 64 (as of September 2020) |
| capital | 18,000,000 yen (as of September 2020) |
| average annual income | 7.14 million yen (as of September 2020) |
| URLs | https://pkshatech.com/en/ |
vision
“Give shape to the software of the future”
PKSHA Technology is a company that carries out research and development and social implementation of “technology to intelligentize various software and hardware” using machine learning and deep learning technology , with the vision of “shaping the software of the future”. , was founded in 2012 by engineers and researchers who conduct research on algorithms.
Business content
- algorithm module
PKSHA Technology develops algorithmic modules related to AI technology and licenses them for profit. The eight representative algorithm modules are as follows.
| ・Text understanding module <Dialogue_1> ・Dialogue module <Dialogue_2> ・Image/video analysis module <Recognizer> ・Behavior understanding module <Logger> ・Recommendation module <Recommender> ・Prediction module <Predictor> ・Anomaly detection module <Detector> ・Enhancement Learning module <Reinforcer> |
- Package software
PKSHA Technology also sells packaged software based on these modules. The following four types of package software are typical.
| ・HRUS ・BEDORE ・CELLOR ・ PREDICO |
Future of PKSHA Technology
In the future, PKSHA Technology will not only enter the retail and call center markets, but also actively enter other industries and work on new businesses.
In addition, in the 2020 securities report, we announced that we will actively hire excellent algorithm engineers and software engineers for further business expansion of PKSHA Technology.
④ ExaWizards
The AI venture “ExaWizards” is one of the companies that aims to solve social issues by creating various innovations in the world.
Through the development of services that utilize AI, the company is engaged in various businesses such as nursing care, medical care, HR, finance, robots, and AI cameras, and is attracting a great deal of attention as a rapidly growing AI venture company.
company overview
| company name | ExaWizards Inc. |
| Established | February 2016 |
| location | 1-18-16 Hamamatsucho, Minato-ku, TokyoSumitomo Hamamatsucho Building 5F |
| Representative Director and President | Akira Ishiyama |
| Director | Makoto Haruta, Chairman of the BoardDirector Tauma OueDirector Yutaka Sakane |
| number of employees | 230 (as of December 2020) |
| capital | 100 million yen (as of December 2020) |
| Estimated market capitalization | 26.2 billion yen (as of December 2020) |
Mission
“Realize a happy society through solving social issues using AI”
ExaWizards is focused on developing and providing its own services to “solve social issues.”
In principle, the projects we work on also focus on those that can be sublimated into highly versatile services as products, and we focus on services that lead to the resolution of social issues by understanding client needs and market and social issues through the introduction of AI to individual companies. We develop and provide
Business content
ExaWizards is working on a wide variety of businesses, mainly using AI technology. Among them, the following five projects are attracting the most attention.
| ・Care Tech ・Med Tech ・Fin Tech ・HR Tech ・Innovation |
The Future of ExaWizards
It is expected that ExaWizards will continue to promote its business for the super-aging society as before. Japan became a super-aging society in 2007, and there is no doubt that the number of elderly people will continue to increase in the future.
Therefore, the demand for ExaWizards’ services will increase further in the future, and the company should grow further.
⑤ABEJA
ABEJA Co., Ltd. is a company that develops social implementation business in various industries and scenes by utilizing deep learning of AI ( artificial intelligence ) from accumulated big data .
We provide end-to-end support for the utilization of AI and the realization of DX in a wide range of industries, including retail distribution, manufacturing, logistics, and infrastructure.
The company received its first investment in Japan from Google in December 2018, and was selected as one of the “Technology Pioneers” by the World Economic Forum in June 2020. The business contents are evaluated from.
company overview
| company name | ABEJA Co., Ltd. |
| Head office location | The ARGYLE aoyama “WeWork” 6F, 2-14-4 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo |
| Established | September 10, 2012 |
| representative | Representative Director and CEO Yosuke Okada |
| Director | President and COO Motohiro Koma |
| Technical advisor | Hitoshi MatsubaraYutaka Matsuo |
| number of employees | 66 (as of the end of August 2020) |
vision
“Innovation to change the world”
ABEJA values the spirit of “Technopreneurship”.
Technopreneurship is a new type of entrepreneurship that uses technology to bring innovation to a business. In addition, this word also implies the meaning of “work with passion” and “not afraid of failure” that are necessary for aiming for innovation.
Business content
ABEJA’s business is centered on providing solutions using IoT, big data , and artificial intelligence technology. Among them, the following three projects are attracting the most attention.
- AI solution
We provide over 250 companies, including major companies such as CyberAgent, Mercari, Denso, and Topcon.
- ABEJA Platforma
ABEJA Platform is an AI platform that automates business. No programming required, you can easily create and operate AI models that suit your business on your browser.
- ABEJA Insight for Retail
ABEJA Insight for Retail is a store analysis service specialized for the retail distribution industry. Analyze the data acquired from IoT devices and visualize customer behavior from visiting the store to making a purchase, such as the number of people visiting the store, the number of people passing by in front of the store, age/gender estimation, repeat estimation, and flow line analysis.
Future of A BEJA
In the future, ABEJA is expected to develop projects that support the promotion of digital transformation (hereinafter referred to as DX) at companies. In recent years, in light of the spread of the new coronavirus, we have been communicating the importance of promoting DX using the “ABEJA Platform”.
Also, in an interview with AVILEN AI Trend, he said, “We would like to accelerate DX in Japan by accumulating use cases.”
⑥ Neural pocket
Neutral Pocket is a company that supports businesses in areas such as smart cities, digital signage (advertising), and fashion using its own AI technology that analyzes images and videos.
In addition, in smart city-related services, we provide AI solutions to various companies and organizations such as real estate developers, government agencies, and retailers.
company overview
| company name | Neural Pocket Co., Ltd. |
| location | Tokyo Midtown Hibiya Hibiya Mitsui Tower 32F, 1-1-2 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo |
| representative | Rui Shigematsu |
| Established | January 22, 2018 |
| number of employees | 38 (as of August 1, 2019) |
Click here for Neural Pocket’s official website
vision
Business content
Neural Pocket develops five key business areas.
- Digiflow
We provide a service that contributes to solving various social problems faced by cities and industries by combining our own AI library and converting the dynamics of people and vehicles in real space into data.
- Digipark
We provide safety monitoring and guidance services that utilize parking lots, multi-story parking lots and truck berths in logistics facilities to determine the fullness of the parking lot, license plate analysis of running vehicles, and signage.
- SIGN DIGI
We provide AI signage services to commercial facilities, office buildings, and smart cities. By fusing AI analysis and signage advertising, we will realize the visualization of people flow/viewing information and advertising effectiveness in real space.
- remote desk
As a remote work security solution, Remote Desk is a service that protects employee privacy while ensuring security when working outside the office.
- A.I.M.D.
Using 26 million image data, we provide the world’s first fashion trend database “AI MD”. We support the introduction of products and inventory/disposal reduction at over 3,000 stores nationwide for customer brands.
Future of Neural Pocket
In the future, Neural Pocket is expected to promote three businesses: fashion business, smart city business, and AI digital signage business. At first glance, these three businesses may appear to be different in nature, but these three businesses are consistent in their insight into humans based on visual information.
Through these businesses, we will aim to realize a completely new town and society.
In addition, we are also devoted to developing and providing new products and services, such as installing AI cameras around the station in September 2021.
Qualifications and skills useful for working at a growing AI company
IT qualification
If you want to work at a growing AI company, getting an IT qualification will be advantageous because it will prove your skills.
Qualifications such as “IT Passport”, “Fundamental Information Engineer”, and “Applied Information Engineer Examination” are representative of the qualifications that even beginners can easily acquire.
Acquiring these three certifications will prove your skills related to IT in general.
Knowledge of Python
In order to work at an AI company, knowledge of programming is required. If you have experience as an IT engineer, I don’t think programming will be a problem.
If you want to become an engineer from inexperienced, the programming language ” Python ” used for AI such as machine learning is important. Python is used in many deep learning libraries and is a programming language that is well suited for AI technology.
Programming can be learned by self-study, but if you are looking for a skill that is directly linked to employment efficiently, it is recommended to attend a programming school.
