Company

I was feeling uninspired at my previous job, and I wanted to do something that wasn’t motivated by money. Something that would rekindle my passion, and have an impact on society. It was around this time that I met Toshi (Katsutoshi Yamada) at Cogent Labs.

Impressed by his ability to communicate with clients and bridge the gap between AI and business needs, we began discussing how we could work on projects that would have a positive impact on society. We decided that the best way forward was to create our own company specializing in such projects.

I thought we should create some kind of purposeful mission so that we didn’t end up working just for money. Toshi had previously been involved in the ethical fashion business, and I was also interested in things like carbon footprints. From there, we started talking about how sustainability could have a big impact on society, and that's how Recursive came to be.

At first, we were not sure how we could contribute to sustainability. As we talked with our clients, we realized that they knew their goals but did not know how to achieve them, and that there was room for us to help with our own innovation. After many discussions and refinements, we established a flow where we first help them identify what they need to do and what would have a positive impact, and then put it into action.

In order to stay true to our mission, we also chose to be a bootstrap company (i.e., run the company self-sufficiently, without outside intervention). We do not raise funds from investors. The idea is to build trust and grow by executing each project well.

There are many Japanese companies with great technical know-how in terms of manufacturing, construction, and engineering. However, these companies still operate mostly by hand and do not have much software expertise. We believe that by providing these companies with innovative software, we can help them develop more sustainable products and services that will have an impact not only in Japan, but throughout the world. For example, I think Japanese technology in robotics is excellent. There are excellent robotics companies in Europe and the United States, but Japanese quality is still the best. It is true that cheap and good products are being made in China and Taiwan, but from the perspective of sustainability, Japanese hardware has the highest quality products, with high potential to be used for a long time. That is why productivity could be greatly enhanced by updated software.

We want to play a leading role in the innovation thought process of Japanese companies, helping them improve productivity by streamlining processes using AI and machine learning, optimizing products with less energy consumption, and improving innovation outcomes. This will also reduce waste. We want to help companies streamline operations and thereby help their employees improve their skills, grow, and assign the right people to new projects. For Japanese companies that want to do business in the sustainability field, we can help come up with ideas to apply technology and help implement them.

When I was 16 years old, I happened to see the activities of the NPO “Free the Children” on TV. I felt struck that this is what I wanted to do in the world, and this sparked my passion to solve poverty. That is how it all began. Thinking that education could solve poverty, I once created a volunteer organization, held a fundraising event, and donated several million yen to charity. However, through that experience I realized that donating money was not a fundamental solution and was not sustainable. We cannot solve the problem unless we make it a business and create a cycle where members learn, become independent, and then teach others. At the age of 29, I left the IT industry to launch an ethical fashion business, and I learned to balance business and solving social issues. But at the time, there were still very few people with a business perspective regarding social issues. Many people would buy from a sympathetic point of view, just thinking “it's good for society,”-- and I realized that this was not going to change the world.

At that point, I decided to return to the world of technology, which had always been my strength, and studied cutting-edge technology and new business development through AI consulting at Cogent Labs. After that, I became independent and created a free engineering school to train tens of thousands of engineers, and have since been engaged in business development with a focus on solving social issues through business. I also believed that AI is a tool, not an objective.

I was feeling increasingly concerned about the global environment and Japan's lagging behind when I met Tiago, a top of the line AI engineer. Witnessing his skills and environmental awareness, I realized that we could have a global impact if we combined his technical skills with the business skills I had developed, leading me to start Recursive.

First, by 2025, Recursive will be a leading sustainable innovation company in Japan. Then, by 2027, we would like Recursive to be in the top three in Asia, and by 2032, we would like Recursive to be in the top three globally when people think of sustainability businesses and advanced technology companies. It may be challenging, but we must first dream big in order to meet our full potential. We want to change the situation where Japanese people are not proud of Japan. We want people to be proud that there are companies in Japan that are creating sustainable innovation with cutting-edge technology, and proud that Recursive is a Japanese company. To begin with, Japan has always historically been very sustainable. Unfortunately, Japan has fallen behind in the postwar era, but with Recursive's software support, we believe that Japan's true strengths can be leveraged. For example, Japan is experiencing an unprecedented increase in the elderly population, and there is no reason not to take advantage of cutting-edge technology to solve social issues such as the shrinking workforce.

On the other hand, we are not at all limited to Japan. Sustainability is borderless, and Recursive members come from all over the world, and many live abroad currently. We do not look at the world from Japan, but rather as if we were looking at the earth from outer space. Naturally, we are also looking at overseas clients, and will go to any country or region if there is an opportunity and if it fits with the company's mission. I believe that this will ultimately provide inspiration to Japan.