Asilla is home to a staff of many different personalities with a wide variety of characteristics. Here we introduce Asilla's work and working styles through the "real voices" of our staff members who are active as professionals in their respective fields.
This time, we interviewed a young employee, Shun Inaoka, who joined Asilla's R&D base in Vietnam as a new graduate and is now working as a product manager (PM). In the latter half of the article, we will provide information about his current job, his overseas employment in Vietnam, and his future career.
PROFILE・Shun Inaoka
Born in Osaka, Japan, he graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at Nagoya University and the Graduate School of Environmental Studies at Nagoya University. Graduated from Nagoya University, Faculty of Engineering and Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University. joined Asilla in April 2021 as a new graduate and was assigned to the product development team in Vietnam, where he was in charge of AI algorithm development and R&D team management. Currently, he is engaged in the management of AI Security asilla, an AI security system, as a PM.
*Biographies, job titles, and interview content are current at the time of the interview.
For the first three months after joining the company, I worked as an assistant manager, mainly supporting the project manager, Ichijo, and doing whatever I could do at the time, from miscellaneous development tasks to back-office operations.
After the fourth month, when I started to get used to the job, I was gradually entrusted with managing a team as a project manager ("PM").
My first task as a PM was to organize the data team (4 members). This was a multinational team that included Vietnamese, Sri Lankan, Ghanaian, and myself, a Japanese. In addition to my first work as a PM, I experienced data collection, annotation (*), data cleaning, and the entire process of creating data to be trained by AI, while having a hard time managing multinational members.
Through this work, I gained a deeper understanding of AI as well as data, and gradually became able to manage a team (10 members) responsible for AI algorithms. Since I could not talk with engineers on an equal footing if I did not have a grasp of the technology, I made frantic efforts to catch up on the technology as well as on management.
And now, I am involved in product development as the PM of the entire product development team. In addition to developing algorithms, I also consider how to apply insights from the R&D team to the product, and work with planning and sales to promote product development.
Looking back, the scope of work that I am entrusted with is expanding at a very rapid pace, and although I feel pressure every day, I feel that I am in an environment where I can grow quickly.
※Annotation: Annotation refers to the process of attaching tags and metadata to data.
I have had a hard time...every day (laughs). To be honest, there have been times when I have felt so hard that I wanted to quit many times. I have overcome many challenges by believing that "today is the last day.
The most difficult time for me was about six months ago. At the time, we were working frantically under a lot of pressure to improve the quality to the level required by each client as the introduction of our products was proceeding at a rapid pace. I also worked remotely from Japan for personal reasons and was in a situation that I could easily take on alone, and I had reached the point where I thought to myself, "I'll tell them I'll quit when I get back to Vietnam.
However, when I returned to Vietnam and saw the team members working earnestly to solve problems, I realized once again that I had members I could trust here, and I reconsidered my decision to continue working with them.
Compared to Japanese people, Vietnamese people seem to take things easy in a good way and make decisions with grace. The existence of such members has really saved me in difficult times, and I have learned from them how to face my work without being overconcerned in a good way.
Looking back I think I have grown a lot not only as a PM but also as a person through this event. I now feel that my mentality has truly become stronger, and I can even think that adversity is what gives me strength! I can now even think that I can exert my strength in adversity.
It is when the front-line members, including clients and sales staff, find value in our products.
Because of the nature of my job, I do not have many opportunities to communicate with people outside the company, so when I hear good reports from front-line members, I feel that the products we have worked on are demonstrating value, and this motivates me to do my job. I try to share these reports with my team members, and it gives me a chance to increase the team's command of the product.
I think the work environment is very open and homey.
It doesn't matter how old you are or how long you have been with the company, if you are satisfied with your work, your opinions will be taken into consideration. On the other hand, I think it can be seen as a tough environment where even if you have a lot of experience, if you don't produce results, you will be shunned.
Another unique feature of our company in Vietnam is that we place great importance on internal events that emphasize communication among employees. Not only do we celebrate the company's anniversary and year-end party, but we also have monthly birthday month celebrations for all staff members. Through these events, I feel that a sense of unity is created among employees, which leads to increased motivation at work.
Asilla's strength lies in the "high level of our engineers.
Our engineers consist of elite engineers from FPT, which is known as the Google of Vietnam, and from top universities in Vietnam. Many of them have studied and worked in various countries such as the U.S., the U.K., Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, and Japan, so they are not only diverse in nationality but also in diversity. Perhaps because of this high level of technical skills, Asilla now has engineers from about 10 different countries, and they are working hard to improve their technical skills on a daily basis. This diversity leads to a wide range of ideas, and I feel that this wide range of ideas supports Asilla's technology.
We always try to make sure that definitions are well matched and to verbalize our thoughts.
It is natural that different countries and environments have different common sense that we perceive as "natural. I always try to convey to them the background of why I have to do this work, and to entrust them with the work after deepening their understanding and aligning their perceptions with mine as a Japanese person.
For example, there is often a big difference in the definition of "uncomfortable behavior*" detected by the AI security system "Azira" between Japanese and Vietnamese. Therefore, we always try to work together with the same understanding of "why this behavior is "uncomfortable" in the first place," and when we feel discrepancies in the course of a project, we discuss them and correct the course as appropriate. I am always conscious of this.
※Uncomfortable behavior: Behavior that deviates from normal behavior, such as fighting, staggering, falling, etc.
The point is that "decision-making ability (decisiveness)" has increased dramatically due to the high degree of difficulty in management. In a team with multinational members, there are a variety of opinions flying in from many different directions every day, and it is extremely important to summarize these opinions and decide on a direction. While respecting the opinions, we have limited resources, so we have come to be able to make speedy decisions that are based on the essence of the project and that are convincing to those around us, such as "Let's move forward in this direction for this reason.
I also think that the multinational team is unique in that we are able to broaden the range of ideas because each member has a diverse background that transcends nationality and offers a variety of viewpoints and values.
Since joining the company, I have really learned a lot as a PM here in Vietnam. One of the challenges I would like to take on in the future is to convey the appeal of the company that I have felt through my experience to people overseas and those who are interested in AI through speaking engagements. If I have a chance, I would like to work on data analysis all day long as a member of the R&D team, rather than in management.
I am currently gaining experience in Vietnam, but I would like to "continue working abroad" and would like to try my hand in another country. As for my career axis, I am now thinking that I would like to continue working in the AI industry as well, and in PM and data science related fields, making use of my experience so far. However, I would like to continue to challenge what I want to do at that time without putting too many labels on my job title or industry.
Asilla is a company that can make a big difference in the future of our society. It is also an environment where you can grow several times faster. There may be various reasons for your interest, such as "I want to be active globally," "I want to have discretionary power," "I want to experience an IPO," "I am interested in AI," or "I sympathize with my article," but we would like to hear from you first. Let's work together to achieve the IPO.
▼Click here for the first part
"AI × Overseas Employment × Growth Rate" There is no reason not to choose Asilla -Ask the product manager of a new graduate in his third year (Part 1)
