Kudan is a rare deep-tech company, both in Japan and globally. We develop and deploy advanced “Spatial Perception” technologies that act as the eyes of machines. By giving robots, vehicles, drones, and other machines the ability to perceive their surroundings, we enable them to move and operate in ways that were previously impossible - at or even beyond human capability.
Project Managers play a key role in bringing Kudan’s cutting-edge technologies into the real world and shaping the future. We spoke with Mr. H.H and Mr. Y.T, two of Kudan’s PMs, about their work and experiences.
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Could you tell us about your backgrounds?
Mr. H.H
I spent nearly 16 years at a major research and consulting firm. I started my career as an engineer and later became a Project Manager, leading a wide range of system development projects, primarily for financial institutions.
Some were very large projects involving more than 100 people and budgets of several hundred million yen, supporting services closely connected to social infrastructure. Others were smaller projects run by compact teams, such as initiatives to launch new overseas businesses.
After working there for many years, I was not actively looking for a new job, but I received a message from Kudan and became interested.
I originally studied mechanical engineering and have always enjoyed building things. What attracted me to Kudan was the opportunity to work with emerging technologies rather than mature ones, as well as the potential to contribute to solving social challenges in Japan.
Leaving a company where I had worked for 16 years definitely required courage. But I eventually decided to take the leap, thinking that somehow things would work out.
It has now been almost two years since I joined Kudan.
Kudan Inc. PM Mr. H.H
Mr. Y.T
Two years already? It feels like we have been working together for five!
My background is quite different from Horii’s. Kudan is actually my fifth company.
After university, I wanted to work in the semiconductor industry, so I joined a foreign semiconductor manufacturer as a sensor application engineer.
At my second company, a global computer manufacturer, I worked as an R&D engineer and gained experience leading development projects. After that, I moved to another semiconductor company, and then joined a French-headquartered automotive parts manufacturer as my fourth company.
There, I first gained management experience as an advanced development leader. I later worked in project management and hardware management, and eventually became an R&D Operations Manager responsible for a product division with several dozen members.
As more and more of my work became focused on management, I started to feel that simply continuing along the same path would not be particularly exciting. That was when I began looking for a new opportunity and discovered Kudan.
Interestingly, I first applied for a Business Development role at Kudan and was not selected. But afterward, Kudan created a Project Manager position specifically for me, which eventually led to my joining the company.
Kudan Inc. PM Mr. Y.T
ーーDid anything feel different from what you expected after joining Kudan?
Mr. H.H
There was a positive surprise.
Kudan was even more global and much flatter than I had expected.
I already knew before joining that the company was international, but communication is much more open than I had imagined. There are many opportunities to communicate and work together across borders.
For example, we regularly share trends from Japan and customer requirements with our development team in the UK so that they can incorporate them into product development.
Mr. Y.T
Communication is very open across the whole global organization.
There is a culture of discussing technology on equal terms, regardless of position.
Sometimes the CEO will casually come into the office and say, “Do you have 20 minutes to talk?” We might discuss something informally, and that conversation can eventually influence the direction of the company.
Mr. H.H
Another thing that surprised me was how often we need to go to customer sites.
To implement our technology, we sometimes need to visit construction sites or factories.
Being able to see the actual environment, understand the real problems that need to be solved, and observe firsthand where the technology will be applied is extremely rewarding.
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ーーWhat does a Project Manager at Kudan actually do?
Mr. Y.T
The work can broadly be divided into two phases: the proposal phase and the execution phase.
During the proposal phase, the PM becomes involved when we are developing a concrete proposal for a customer.
We estimate how much work will be required, identify potential technical risks, align the internal team, prepare the proposal, explain it to the customer, and ultimately help win the project.
That is the first half of the job.
The second half is project execution.
We make sure the necessary resources are moving as planned, coordinate with external partners, track internal development where necessary, and take responsibility through to the final delivery to the customer.
Mr. H.H
One characteristic of project management at Kudan is the wide variety of project sizes.
When I first joined, we had many smaller PoC projects. These usually lasted from around three to six months and were handled by relatively small internal teams.
More recently, however, we have been seeing more large-scale, multi-year projects aimed at commercialization and productization.
Mr. Y.T
Spatial Perception starts with understanding the surrounding environment.
That means our technology is inherently dependent on the environment in which it operates.
Environmental dependency is something we simply cannot separate from our work.
There are many things you cannot fully understand until you actually visit the site, and that makes the PM role challenging.
At the same time, that is also what makes it interesting.
You need to determine how to respond to unexpected conditions, how to recover when something does not work as planned, and how to find a way forward.
That ability to break through difficult situations is constantly tested.
A Kudan PM is not simply someone who manages schedules and tasks. You need to dive deeply into the technical side of the project and help drive it from the center. That is one of the things that makes project management at Kudan unique.
Mr. H.H
Autonomous driving and autonomous robotics are still relatively immature technologies.
We are heading toward a future where autonomous machines will become much more common in everyday environments, but we are not there yet.
When you try to bring technology that is not yet fully established into real-world use, you inevitably encounter many technical barriers.
For people who enjoy facing those challenges and finding ways to solve them, this work is incredibly exciting.
ーーAre there any responsibilities that are particularly unique to Kudan?
Mr. Y.T
I think this is fairly typical of startups, but because not every possible role exists as a dedicated position, you sometimes take on responsibilities outside the role you originally joined for.
That is actually one of the things I enjoy.
In addition to being a PM, I also work on HR-related activities. I jokingly call myself the “Head of Recruitment.”
Mr. H.H
In my case, in addition to my Project Manager responsibilities, I have also been given the opportunity to help shape product direction across the global organization.
It comes with more responsibility, but it is also very rewarding and something I genuinely enjoy.
Mr. Y.T
At our current size, if someone sees something and thinks, “That looks interesting, I would like to try it,” and they have the right skills and can deliver results, there is a good chance they will be given the opportunity to take on that role.
That flexibility is one of the advantages of Kudan at its current stage.
Bringing the Future into the Real World Through Larger, Longer-Term Projects
ーーHow do you see the role of Kudan’s Project Managers evolving in the future?
Mr. Y.T
I think projects will become both larger and longer-term.
Until now, many projects have involved collaboration with one or two partner companies.
Going forward, I expect we will increasingly work together with robotics companies, management platform providers, and other partners.
To turn Kudan’s SLAM technology into scalable services, we will need to work with more companies and manage larger teams and more complex projects.
Mr. H.H
As Kudan’s technology moves into the real-world deployment phase, Project Managers in Japan have an especially important role to play.
Japan is one of the countries where the need for autonomous driving and automation is particularly strong because of the social challenges it faces.
At the same time, I see that situation as an opportunity.
Being able to address those challenges directly is something that makes the role of a PM in Japan particularly meaningful.
Mr. Y.T
Many of the people working at Kudan are parents.
There is a strong feeling among us that, by working on autonomous technologies, we can help create something that will benefit our children’s generation.
There are not many companies where you can work across the entire journey of bringing autonomous technology into real-world use, from one end to the other. Kudan is one of them. We are looking forward to meeting people who want to take on that challenge with us.
