Web.Auto of TIER IV accelerates social acceptance of autonomous driving
Our series TIER IV PEOPLE shines a light on the people and teams whose unique experiences, backgrounds, and stories bring our mission to life.
TIER IV recently welcomed an engineer with previous experience working for Microsoft and Amazon as part of an effort to recruit software engineers to support its global expansion.
While automobiles provide private space, public transport allows us time to read, browse the internet and play mobile games. Autonomous vehicles are a solution to enjoy both at the same time.
Autonomous driving has the power to transform our emotions, life, and even culture. This technology creates new value, expands possibilities for people and society, and will become an essential infrastructure for a better quality of life.
As a part of TIER IV, which leads the development of “Autoware”: an open-source software for autonomous driving, Web.Auto comprehensively supports the use of this autonomous driving system from its introduction to operation, and also its development. Web.Auto accelerates the social implementation of autonomous driving by offering SaaS (Software as a Service). The service is intended to be widely used by automotive engineers, software developers, operation managers, and drivers of autonomous vehicles.
Web.Auto is starting to expand its business domestically and globally, and as part of this effort in May 2022 the company hired an experienced software engineer, Yoshihito TAKASHIMA, who has worked at Microsoft and Amazon.
We have interviewed Yoshihito and Eiji SEKIYA, who are core members of Web.Auto, to find out about their future plans, outlook, and their motivation to work at TIER IV.
Business inquiries and requests for demonstrations from all around the world are increasing
Eiji Sekiya | Architect
— Please tell us about the current situation and upcoming projects “Web.Auto.”
Eiji: Our operation management system for autonomous cars has been used constantly for our internal projects, and some of our customers have started utilizing the system, such as our joint venture with Yamaha Motor: “eve autonomy” which offers an autonomous transport service, and MaaS (Mobility as a Service) related companies.
We often receive inquiries from overseas, from places such as North America, Europe, and China. The frequency of meetings and demonstrations with foreign customers is increasing.
Since the basic functions are already in place, our next step is to enhance the existing functions and to refine services to increase the number of SaaS customers.
Our important mission is global expansion, and we welcomed Yoshihito to promote this mission.
— Yoshihito, please tell us about your background and what brought you to TIER IV.
Yoshihito: I went to university in the United States, majored in math as an undergraduate, and studied computer science in graduate school. I joined Microsoft as a software engineer, and worked in Seattle and Vancouver, Canada for 13 years. I moved to Amazon in Seattle as an engineer, then after 2 years, I came back to Japan as a manager in Amazon Japan.
I got acquainted with Shinpei KATO, the founder and CTO of TIER IV, when I was in university through a part-time job as a programmer. Even after I went to the US, we were still connected through SNS. So, I knew what he was doing via Facebook, and I thought, “He’s doing something interesting.”
When I returned to Japan, I heard about “Web.Auto” and Shinpei’s vision for global expansion.I decided to accept the invitation to join TIER IV, thinking that there might be something I could add.
Yoshihito Takashima | VP of Software
World-Class Cloud Service from Japan
— What was it about TIER IV that made you decide to join the company?
Yoshihito: In addition to my longstanding trust in Shinpei’s technical skills and intelligence, it was appealing that the company is a rare example of a Japanese startup. He established TIER IV in 2015 with a few people, and the company has already raised tens of billions of yen in funding and grown to have 300 employees. On the other hand, its business plan is not completely settled, and that means there is an opportunity for me to create a future path using existing resources.
Besides, Japan used to have a world-wide reputation for its home appliances and AV equipment, but now there are almost no world-wide Japanese software products, except for games. There is no match for GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple).
As a Japanese software engineer working overseas, that was frustrating.
However TIER IV has the possibility to change the situation. It can have a significant impact on the world with services made in Japan. It was a chance in a million for me.
I think many services developed in Japan are used only in Japan, and don’t really appeal to overseas consumers. My experience should be helpful to expand TIER IV globally.
— What is your impression about the culture and environment in TIER IV after joining the company?
Yoshihito: This is my first time working for a Japanese company and I had the image that Japanese people hesitate to speak out, but it’s not the case here. My colleagues give me their opinions, and working here is easier than I expected.
Eiji: It’s our company-wide culture to have an active exchange of opinions.
Yoshihito: And I think that our CTO is close to the engineering staff. The flat organization could cause difficulties in management, but it’s one of our strengths.
I have worked for two companies in three countries and experienced many ways of working. I would like to improve the structure and operations of TIER IV by comparing it to previous organizations and taking the best of each. It should help us to accelerate the business while it’s expanding.
Eiji: Whether it’s a meeting or a chat, you are always very fast to make decisions, and it’s one thing we should learn from you.
— You mentioned that immediate tasks for Web.Auto are improving quality of service, acquiring customers, and expanding overseas. What kind of vision do you have for the mid to long-term?
Eiji: Autonomous driving technology is becoming software-driven, and its commodification will be accelerated. In such a time of change, we would like to be a leading company and a leading project that builds autonomous driving systems and services by expanding our services globally. I would like to build a world where people in the automobile industry use “Web.Auto” as a matter of course.
Yoshihito: We are going to promote co-creation with various companies, and in 10 or 20 years, we hope that the name “TIER IV” will be widely known. I would like to reach a point where people see cars with no driver on the street, and they think: “that’s TIER IV.”
I enjoy the cutting-edge tech, the process of launching a new product, and the grand vision.
— It sounds like those future visions are the reason to push to recruit software engineers. What do you think is the attraction to working for TIER IV as a software engineer?
Eiji: We have a lot of challenges in terms of technical difficulties.
It should be fulfilling work for people who have experience in computer science and a passion for dealing with the most advanced technologies, also for people who want to proactively make suggestions instead of following instructions, and for those who are interested in the process of “launching.”
Yoshihito: Some of our colleagues came from web-based mega-ventures to experience the start-up phase.
Eiji: Many companies are engaged in research and development of PoC for IoT, but only a few companies are working on creating new products. One of our colleagues joined us to develop products with cloud technology.
Yoshihito: As we are expanding abroad, the scale of our business will be something unprecedented. Developing and adapting services for North America, Europe, or China tends to be a fairly large project.
Eiji: There are several communities abroad for TIER IV open source autonomous driving. It is possible for us to link our “Web.Auto” with the community and to make products utilizing the connection. This is a rare case in Japan.
By the way, one of the reasons why I joined TIER IV four years ago was that I could have opportunities to deal with various technologies such as embedded systems and the cloud. I think that being close to hardware products makes things interesting for a startup company.
— Please tell us what makes working at TIER IV rewarding for you.
Eiji: The main thing is that we can contribute to society by making autonomous driving a reality. It will give people more free time, increase productivity, and it also could be a help for people living in remote areas without decent transportation systems. So being an engineer means that I am the one to create the valuable product and service which spreads all over the world. We are in that very exciting and enjoyable phase.
Yoshihito: Exactly the same for me. Autonomous driving has no definite winner yet. It’s interesting and exciting to break new ground and create new concepts in the midst of a paradigm shift.
Our CTO, Shinpei gave a keynote speech at the AWS Japan Summit. I heard that startups rarely give the keynote speech, so it seems our business is attracting attention and strengthening its presence.
As reported in the July 2022 press release, TIER IV has been selected to join a research and development project on autonomous driving software for the Green Innovation Fund Project (GI Fund) by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The scale of business of the GI Fund is planned to be 25.4 billion yen over the nine years until 2030.
In addition, in the series B round with existing shareholders Sompo Holdings, Yamaha Motor, and Bridgestone as new underwriters, we raised 12.1 billion yen through a third-party allocation. As a result, the cumulative amount raised since the establishment of TIER IV reached 29.6 billion yen.
We would like to make the most of these opportunities and take on new challenges with new colleagues. TIER IV is looking for people who share our vision, “The Art of Open Source, Reimagine Intelligent Vehicles” and who are motivated to make it happen.
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