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Envisioning the AI Age: Interview with Yasuko Kosaihira, CEO of Findability Sciences’ Joint Venture with SoftBank Corp.
Findability Sciences Inc., a US-headquartered global provider of AI and big data solutions, established a Japan-based joint venture called Findability Sciences K.K. with SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) in 2017. On April 1, 2023, Yasuko Kosaihira took the helm of Findability Sciences K.K. as its new CEO.
Why did she take this challenging new role and what are her thoughts on how AI could transform society? Kosaihira spoke about these topics in this interview.
From back office administration to leading a team of passionate AI engineers
-Tell us about your career so far.
I started off at a domestic consulting firm right out of university, and after about three years, I took a job at the former Tohmatsu Consulting, where I worked on M&A and corporate restructuring projects. Gradually, I developed an interest in working for an operating company, which led me to join Fast Retailing. There, I was involved in IT audits and operational audits of its overseas subsidiaries. Later, I joined SoftBank Corp., which was starting to focus on Robotic Process Automation (RPA) at the time, and I was assigned to the Enterprise Business Unit. As I worked on various tasks, I transitioned to a department that oversees investments and alliances, and most recently, I was involved in managing WeWork Japan.
–From RPA to AI, your career has evolved quite a bit.
Although I didn’t have a background in RPA or AI, I always had an interest in these areas since my auditing days. I heard about technologies that could simplify complex tasks. In auditing, we handled a lot of data, and a lot of the work involved manual checks and cross-referencing. However, there are limitations to the routine checking methods used in audits. I’ve always thought that AI might be the best way to take advantage of accumulated data to gain new business insights.