Arise Innovation Co., Ltd. is a technology company that combines AI and low-code development to support enterprise business transformation. When developing an AI-powered financial statement digitization and analysis system, the company faced the challenge of securing development resources and releasing within a short timeframe, while simultaneously meeting the high-quality standards required for financial industry systems.

By utilizing SHIFT ASIA’s software development solutions, they established a development framework that balanced speed and quality even under tight deadlines. Through repeated analysis of root causes and improvements when issues arose, they completed development on schedule. We spoke with Mr. Shin Shimizu, President and CEO of Arise Innovation Co., Ltd., about the background of these challenges, SHIFT ASIA’s contributions, and the results achieved.

Services and Development Philosophy

ー What kind of services does your company provide?

We primarily focus on DX support for enterprises using our proprietary AI systems. One of our flagship solutions is a financial statement digitization and analysis service for financial institutions. Financial statements have complex formats and structures that are difficult for general-purpose OCR to read accurately, but our OCR is highly precise on such documents. Additionally, we emphasize UI/UX design and consider it a strength that customers find our products “easy to use.”

ー What do you prioritize in software and solution development?

What we value most is absorbing customer needs and challenges as much as possible and incorporating them into standardized features. Rather than responding with individual customizations, we aim to standardize and package solutions to deliver value to more customers.

Another important aspect is speed. We focus on quickly organizing customer requirements and shortening the cycle from response to resolution. To achieve this, we have a company-wide system for understanding, documenting, and accurately communicating customer requirements to engineers. We also emphasize education so members can develop strong business comprehension and documentation skills, and we consider it a company strength to systematize and accumulate the knowledge gained.

The Challenge: Finding a Partner Who Could Balance Speed and Quality

ー Please tell us about the background of requesting software development support from SHIFT ASIA and the challenges you faced at that time.

We were developing an AI-powered financial analysis system, but needed to complete and release it quickly to meet a major trade show scheduled about two months after the project start. Speed was essential. At the same time, since it was a system involved in the financial sector, there was also a premise that excellent quality was required.

Originally, we were developing internally using our company’s low-code tools, but as development progressed, customer requests emerged that simply couldn’t be handled with low-code. Also, for detailed UI adjustments aimed at creating a more user-friendly system, situations arose in which low-code couldn’t meet the requirements.

Therefore, we determined we needed an external development partner who could deliver speed while suppressing rework and defects to achieve excellent quality, and we consulted with SHIFT ASIA.

ー When you’ve outsourced software development to external partners in the past, did you experience any challenges or concerns?

We’ve been using Vietnamese offshore development companies since around 2019, but communication in Japanese is one challenge that often arises with offshore development. There are situations where sharing intentions takes time, or subtle nuances aren’t conveyed properly. However, at the time, given the cost-effectiveness, it was acceptable to some degree. On the other hand, as we sought to demand higher speed and quality going forward, we recognized the need for a partner who could balance communication skills with cost-effectiveness.

SHIFT ASIA had a reputation for strength in Japanese communication, which became an important factor in our comparative evaluation.

ー Among many development companies, what were the reasons and deciding factors for selecting SHIFT ASIA as a partner?

The “SHIFT” brand was one key point. In Japan, the image “software testing means SHIFT” is well established, and it conveys a sense of security. SHIFT seemed to have solid systems for quality assurance and employee education, so we expected that, even offshore, they would deliver quality equivalent to that in Japan.

Also, communication and technical aspects were among the deciding factors. We communicated smoothly with the Vietnamese PM, who served as our point of contact, and judged that they had deep technical expertise and could advance the project effectively, which was a key factor in the selection.

Results: Speedy Development Completed Within 2 Months

ー In the actual project, how was it compared to your expectations? Please share your impressions and evaluation.

As expected, we felt we achieved a balance of speed and quality. For us, meeting the trade show deadline was a top priority. Even with a tight two-month window, they accelerated development, and we completed it on schedule.

Also, regarding the communication aspect we emphasized beforehand, the Vietnamese PM, who served as the point of contact, had Japanese-language skills that exceeded expectations, accurately understanding our requirements and proceeding accordingly, which I believe contributed to the overall project momentum.

Additionally, while projects inevitably have issues, when miscommunication between sites or implementation problems occurred, it was impressive how they investigated the root causes and responded with improvements. We also pointed out what needed to be addressed, and they accepted it and made improvements. I think we were able to operate in a healthy manner.

ー If there are any particularly memorable episodes or points you evaluated highly, please share them.

What was impressive was how they properly handled ambiguous requirements. Rather than accepting what was communicated verbally as is, they thoroughly digested and understood it before incorporating it into product specifications and requirements.

For example, when we requested development of a certain mock-up, they created something close to a finished level from the beginning. We had only conveyed rough content and a relatively short timeframe, but I was amazed they could create something at this level so quickly.

The Future: Increasing Importance of Generative AI and Offshore Utilization

ー Please share your outlook for your company’s overall business and software/solution development going forward.

In the future, we want to achieve things that couldn’t be done with deep learning-based AI-OCR by incorporating generative AI. Many business areas in Japan still rely on paper, and by combining generative AI with data digitization, we believe there’s great potential to be even more useful to society. Customer requests are actually increasing, so we want to respond quickly to such needs.

Like the financial statement digitization and analysis solution that SHIFT ASIA helped us develop this time, we want to continue advancing the use of AI in ways that are user-friendly and exceed expectations.

ー What kind of companies and in what aspects would you recommend our software development solution?

It’s often said that Japan lacks engineers, and I think this trend is getting stronger year by year as DX progresses. Many companies can’t find engineers with the necessary experience and skills, even when trying to develop, and the current situation is that many companies are losing opportunities due to engineer shortages.

To resolve such problems, I believe using young IT talent from overseas is effective. Vietnam, in particular, has a young average age and a diligent workforce, with strong Japanese-language proficiency and IT skills, so Vietnamese offshore development is highly effective. In fact, SHIFT ASIA seems to have a strong pool of young, talented IT personnel. Companies that need experienced, skilled engineers might want to consult SHIFT ASIA first.

ー Finally, please share a message or advice for companies considering offshore development.

With increasing demand for IT talent in Japan and continued rising labor costs, offshore development continues to have cost advantages. Going forward, I think how well companies use offshore development will become increasingly important to their competitiveness.

However, there are also points to be careful about; if you completely delegate development to the offshore partner, company know-how won’t remain internal, and deliverables may not turn out as expected. While the same applies to domestic development, especially with offshore, I think it’s important for the ordering party to participate deeply.

Also, communication issues can arise with offshore development. However, Vietnam is a pro-Japan country with a deep relationship with Japan, and I feel it prioritizes Japan. Many people actively learn Japanese, and my impression is that among foreigners, Vietnamese people have a high level of proficiency in Japanese.

Over the past five years or so, Vietnamese offshore development has grown rapidly, and the scale of development companies has expanded. As it has become established as an offshore development destination for Japan, know-how has accumulated, and I feel engineering capabilities have improved. With a relatively young average age, they’re also quick to adopt the latest technologies, including AI, so Vietnam may become a strong option for cutting-edge development going forward.