Three Years Focused on Construction DX, One Technology Japan Enters Its 12th Year — Charging Ahead, and 'Grinding Through the Iron Inkstone'
Three Years Focused on Construction DX, One Technology Japan Enters Its 12th Year — Charging Ahead, and 'Grinding Through the Iron Inkstone'
I am writing this now while on the Narita Express. The scenery is flowing past the window. I am on my way to Vietnam.
And today is a slightly special day for us at One Technology Japan.Starting today, we enter our 12th year.
To be honest, I feel very clear-headed right now. I am not at the stage where I can say 'it went well' without reservation. Even so, the air this morning is not bad. Please let me write a little about the reason for that today.
For the past three years, we have focused everything on 'Construction DX'
We were a company that had done many things. But for these past three years, we have taken the plunge andfocused entirely on 'Construction DX'.
Turning construction sites into data using iPhones and scanners, and utilizing that for drawings, BIM, inspections, and records. We have concentrated the company's strength into that one thing. These were three years where we decided to let go of this and that, and compete here. This direction is proceeding as imagined. Our software engineers have also steadily accumulated operational knowledge of the construction industry while going through the process of trial and error to create several products.
However, to write this without sugarcoating it,we have not yet reached PMF (a state where we can definitively say the product has firmly penetrated the market). We are still in the middle of it.
In the past year, 'AI-driven' has become essential
There is one more thing that has clearly changed in the past year.Using AI to the fullest has become the norm.
I myself have been using AI extensively for three years. But honestly, one or two years ago, the employees were skeptical. 'Can it really be used for work?' Now, how is it? There is now a huge difference in productivity between those who use AI and those who do not. In one year, the atmosphere has completely changed. Even in the construction industry, we are hearing many voices saying, 'I was able to do this using ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.'
But there are still few examples of 'successfully incorporating AI into the pipeline'
However, I believe there is a 'margin' here that we are aiming for.
When I go to exhibitions, it is full of AI, to the point where I hardly see any companies that do not have 'AI' in their headlines. But I feel thatthere are still few examples where AI is properly incorporated into products as a pipeline.
Creating minutes, summarizing, preparing materials—this kind of 'partial utilization' can now be done as a matter of course with tools. It is amazing. But, for example, when it comes to combinations with AI vision (image recognition) or applications to 3D models, the story changes. It works in a prototype, butwithout a design to suppress plausible errors (hallucinations) and a mechanism to verify the output, it is still not enough for continuous use.
We are building that up as an AI pipeline and turning it into a grounded 'agent.' I see a positive response in demand here. In particular, processing point clouds and BIM requires advanced calculation and control. Therefore,we will pour time—that is, resources—into that field. That is the place we are aiming for.
The shape has certainly become visible
In these three years of narrowing down, the outline has become clearly visible.
We are currently developing three services (SaaS) in parallel. 'Smart Home Inspection,' which supports housing inspections—what the national system calls 'existing housing condition surveys'—with voice; 'insightScanX for Pipe,' which turns pipe point clouds into drawings and BIM; and 'HOUSECAN.' We are aiming to start providing them sequentially from this autumn to winter.
On the contract side, we have also started to see positive results. We received work from a major air conditioning company for a pipe acceptance inspection app. With one equipment company, concrete discussions are underway toward realizing an on-site survey app. And the technology we have been working on for a long time has reached the point offiling for a patent (whether it will be registered depends on the future examination, but it is a big step).
When I started this business, I envisioned three scenarios: best, middle, and worst. To be honest, where I stand now is between the middle and the worst. If I had to force it, closer to the middle. It is not the best-case scenario I had pictured. But it is not the worst, either. And above all, I finally have in my hands the "core" that we can grow from here. I believe that feeling is the true source of the brightness I feel today.
We are cultivating "hybrid engineers" within the company.
There is one more thing that has been happening quietly, but surely, over these past three years.
In the process of creating products, our software engineers have begun to absorb the "tacit knowledge" of construction. Talent that possesses both the power of software development and knowledge of construction sites—people we call "hybrid engineers"—are increasing within the company, one by one, two by two, three by three.
This is a path that leads directly to the way of working I have long considered important, called FDE. FDE stands for Forward Deployed Engineer, a term that originated in American software companies. I use this term to describe engineers who do not just write code in the office, but dive deep into the customer's site, grasp the issues on the spot, and deliver things that can actually be used.
Therefore, the goal is clear. Eventually, all engineers will be FDEs. And, regardless of their job title, we will become an organization where everyone can think from a "site-first" perspective. With that power, we will innovate in the field of Scan to BIM (from scanning the site to usable BIM). This is our banner.
I want to write honestly about these past three years.
It hasn't all been pretty.
Over these three years, I have tightened the reins on both myself and the company. I chose to bet on one point. Because of that, I may have put a considerable amount of stress on everyone in the company. As the representative, I want to acknowledge that.
Even so, everyone kept running. Each person, in their own position, kept their Curiosity and Challenge alive. Without me even needing to wave the flag, everyone embodied these two words that we have held dear. I could not have done a single thing alone. The fact that a shape is now emerging is undoubtedly thanks to everyone. I have more gratitude than words can express.
With that said, I will dare to write this: I have no intention of loosening the intensity. However, instead of just increasing volume using the same methods, we will refine the methods themselves to become a company that can run sustainably. This is the homework for the next year.
Recently, I learned a great phrase: "Massen Tekken." It refers to having a strong will, not changing one's ambition until it is achieved, and working tirelessly. It is said to originate from a story about Sang Weihan of the Five Dynasties period in China, who showed an iron inkstone to demonstrate his resolve for his studies and eventually passed the exam he had long desired.
To charge forward recklessly. But not just charging blindly. To keep polishing one point until a hole is worn through an iron inkstone. I thought there was no phrase that better fits our current feelings.
What I am thinking about on the Narita Express
The train will arrive at the airport soon. In Vietnam, where I am heading, our local colleagues are waiting. I am honestly very much looking forward to seeing them. I am boarding the plane with both a sense of excitement and a feeling of bracing myself, knowing that this is where it starts.
It is strange, but while I am traveling like this, what is spinning in my head is not management figures or plans for the next term, but—**"How can we realize that app?"**—just that. How can we make that troublesome task at the site easier? How can we make that inspection faster and more accurate?
Perhaps this is the very core of who I am as a person. I am a little happy that it hasn't changed on the morning of our 12th year.
We are still on the road, but beyond the focus, I can certainly see the light. With renewed gratitude to the colleagues who run with me and the customers who support us. In our 12th year, I will continue to move forward with the momentum of a reckless dash and the resolve of "Massen Tekken." Under the sky of Vietnam, I will find another way to move the site a little further ahead. The Narita Express is about to arrive at Narita.
WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY TODAY!
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