Engaged in Development Since
the Dawn of AI,
From Management Back to
the Path of an Engineer
Research and Development Department Engineer
Shigeki Nagaya
Returned to AI development in 2016 and joined Neural Group. He is enhancing the perfection of products as an engineer.
Sasaki: What circumstances led you to
join Neural Group, Mr. Nagaya?
Nagaya: Speaking from my background, I worked as a research manager at Hitachi, Ltd.,
handling budget management, development, executing PoCs, and so on.
I was developing facial recognition AI for surveillance cameras,
but the era around 2000 was a time when image recognition with digital cameras had just begun,
and the data gathered was very small. Public awareness was also low,
and I was an engineer in a lonely era where people would ask, "What is AI?"
I walked the path of development for a long time, but I gradually felt the urge to do actual business,
so I quit Hitachi and took over the family nursing care facility.
The nursing care business was rewarding, and there was the interesting aspect of doing actual business,
however, my enthusiasm for development had probably not yet extinguished.
In 2016, I saw a former colleague developing AI and producing results on Facebook,
and I thought, "That looks fun."
At that time, I thought that if I was going to be happy for my former colleague's success, I should go to the development side.
Given my age, there were risks in changing jobs,
but I still wanted to be involved in development, so I decided to change jobs.
Sasaki: I imagine there were many candidates. Why did you choose Neural Group?
Nagaya: An acquaintance introduced me to several AI-related companies, but there was an unexpectedness to Neural Group's business.
Since fashion is set as a main product, I thought, "What is this!? It's interesting." After joining, the change in environment was refreshing.
In the past, almost everyone in AI development was math-based, but today there are many people, like CTO Sasaki, who majored in physics and enter development.
When the backbone changes, different interpretations arise even when looking at the same phenomenon. I think AI is a field that has developed
significantly with the introduction of data science.
Sasaki: What was your impression after joining?
Nagaya: I felt it was a company with fast decision-making and movement. Should I say they are "good at pruning"?
They prioritize the required functions, omit what is unnecessary, and provide what the user really wants.
In large companies, extra functions are sometimes added due to internal politics and other reasons, but there is nothing like that here.
It's an environment where developers can also work comfortably.
Sasaki: Finally, what kind of person do you think can flourish at Neural Group?
Nagaya: I think it's suited for people who want to release products with a sense of speed.
In large companies, the sense of speed varies depending on the business office.
Neural Group has short product development periods,
and scenarios directly linked to business are guaranteed.
Therefore, what we develop can be widely and quickly released to the world.
I think many developers can empathize with the joy of seeing what they made being used in the world.
This is a side note, but Neural Group is a company with diversity.
Members of various nationalities work here, and the ages are also diverse.
I think this kind of diversity is rare for a company of this small scale.
I am sometimes older than the fathers of young members, and that serves as a stimulus.
I think that aspect also makes it an interesting environment for an engineer.
