{"id":18143,"date":"2021-03-09T15:08:54","date_gmt":"2021-03-09T06:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/oih2026\/?post_type=library&p=18143"},"modified":"2026-09-27T17:49:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T08:49:30","slug":"library-9101","status":"publish","type":"library","link":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/en\/library\/library-9101\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiroki Imabayashi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Providing technology that solves the \u201csecurity\u201d problem blocking the use of data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The term \u201cDX (digital transformation)\u201d is now heard in every industry, and many companies are trying to actively use data. Moves toward data sharing between companies are also emerging, to create new innovation and raise the business value and competitiveness of each company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, when companies try to use data, the wall of \u201csecurity\u201d has always stood in the way. With risks such as information leaks, it is natural for companies to be cautious, but if the use of data stalls because of security, \u201cDX\u201d will not be achieved. EAGLYS Inc. provides a solution that breaks through this stagnation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe support companies so they can use data to transform their operations and create new businesses. Our feature is that we offer not only consulting but technology for both \u2018shield and spear.\u2019 The shield is data security built on \u2018secure computation\u2019 technology, and the spear is AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By providing both, companies can move forward with using data with peace of mind while their data is protected,\u201d says CEO Imabayashi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the key terms, \u201csecure computation\u201d stands out. It is technology for calculating and processing data while keeping the data confidential. Because data is always protected in an encrypted capsule, the necessary confidential data can be brought together and safely calculated, analyzed, and processed with AI without exposing all the information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"eaglys\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"eaglys\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Of course, when sharing data between companies, any data can be shared while kept confidential in an encrypted capsule, so it is reassuring in terms of security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne effect of secure computation is this: until now, there were many cases where, because personal and confidential information could not be taken outside, only stripped-down data was allowed to be used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is very frustrating for data scientists, who believe that \u2018the value of using data comes precisely from handling important data.\u2019 Secure computation can break through this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Companies wanting to use secure computation are steadily increasing, and EAGLYS is currently working with the MaaS and Suica Promotion Headquarters of JR East (East Japan Railway Company) on creating new businesses by using personal data while ensuring security and privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In AI as well, having developed \u201cAI image recognition technology\u201d with some of the world\u2019s highest speed and accuracy, the company is collaborating with Tsubakimoto Chain Co., a long-established maker of chains and automotive parts, on making logistics centers unmanned.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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The frustration felt as a data scientist is the origin of the business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Accompanying a grandfather who ran a business, Imabayashi had the chance to meet all kinds of business owners from about the age of three. \u201cMaybe I naturally picked up the feel of relationships and how business owners talk with each other,\u201d Imabayashi recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested in brain science, Imabayashi entered the Department of Life Science and Medical Bioscience in the School of Advanced Science and Engineering at Waseda University. The turning point came at the end of the second year: meeting peers at a corporate internship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"eaglys\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone was my age and doing all kinds of things, like starting a company in Singapore. I wondered what I was doing. After that, a friend told me about machine learning. It interested me more than my university studies, so I decided to work hard in this field and started using a computer seriously for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, in the first year of graduate school, Imabayashi joined an entrepreneur development program, went to Silicon Valley through it, and worked at a company as a data scientist. There, Imabayashi had an experience that led to the current business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, learning of cases using AI to detect fraudulent transactions, Imabayashi proposed trying it within the company. But when Imabayashi asked internally for the data needed for the project, the answer was that getting the data would require an endless \u201cinternal stamp rally\u201d of approvals and take several months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, even though research and other preparations were already under way, the project fell apart because the data could not be analyzed and used right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was when I felt that even if you have the technology, if you cannot use data, the resource, quickly and freely, the age of AI will not begin and DX cannot be achieved. From that sense of crisis, I decided, \u2018I will make solving the security problem my life\u2019s theme, to promote the use of data.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incidentally, two shocks from the Silicon Valley days also connect to Imabayashi today. One was meeting inspiring people. Many colleagues had their own themes to pursue, and Imabayashi was impressed by their attitude of respecting others as professionals precisely because they had their own core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other was a sunset seen on the West Coast. Facing that grand, beautiful scene, Imabayashi wondered, \u201cWhat can I bring to this world?\u201d and resolved, \u201cSomeday I will create something that reaches the West Coast too.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Choosing entrepreneurship over research to solve today\u2019s pain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After returning to Japan, Imabayashi got serious about researching \u201csecure computation.\u201d What remained as future options were two: \u201cresearcher or entrepreneur.\u201d That led to founding EAGLYS, but why choose the path of the entrepreneur?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause I noticed the fundamental difference between research and business. Research is a world where you are allowed to predict future trends and set research themes to solve problems that might arise 10 years from now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business, on the other hand, is rooted in financial thinking, such as \u201chow to raise funds, how to increase sales, and by when to recover the investment,\u201d so the stance is to solve problems that exist now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given that difference, I wanted to solve today\u2019s pain and tackle real problems, so I chose to start a business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After founding the company, things did not always go smoothly. For the first year, Imabayashi ran alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imabayashi handled both sales and PM (project management) alone, moving forward by clearing the problems at hand without really knowing how to exchange contracts or settle intellectual property. But it was impossible to do everything alone, and Imabayashi experienced setbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven when we won orders, it was hard for me, with no PM experience or aptitude, to run things well. In the first place, with not only AI implementation but also system implementation, there was no way to do it alone. I could not balance sales and PM work, implementation fell behind, and customers even got angry with me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What changed the tough situation was the arrival of peers, led by co-founder Maruyama and AI consultant and PM Asano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maruyama is an excellent data scientist, and Asano has experience as PM and PMO on large projects, from the very upstream phases, at NEC. With these specialists on board, Imabayashi could focus on sales, a strength, and the business accelerated greatly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"eaglys\"\/
With Maruyama, co-founder and Chief Science Officer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
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Building a \u201cGoogle for private data\u201d to support the use of data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly some companies actively pursuing DX need our technology, so the number is still small, and the business is just getting started. But compared with seven years ago, when I started the research, and five years ago, when I founded the company, I feel awareness of secure computation and of our company has risen,\u201d says Imabayashi. To get people to know the company\u2019s technology, Imabayashi has taken part in many events since the founding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company also competed two years in a row in \u201cGET IN THE RING OSAKA<\/a>,\u201d organized by Osaka Innovation Hub. In 2020 it reached the finals, and at \u201cGET IN THE RING OSAKA 2020-AI edition-<\/a>,\u201d held that winter, its second try, it won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"eaglys\"\/
The Middleweight final of GET IN THE RING OSAKA 2020 -AI edition- (online), held on December 3, 2020.
The pitch was given by Michal Kiezik, Director of Global Business Development.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWinning a well-known competition makes you feel recognized, as if people are saying \u2018this service is needed now,\u2019 and a track record raises trust in the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, many people in the audience at pitch events like these are there looking for new and interesting things. By taking part and getting your company known, I think encounters happen and business accelerates,\u201d Imabayashi says, explaining why startups should actively take part in events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is clear that EAGLYS\u2019s technology, which lubricates data sharing between companies, is needed in the coming era, and it will surely spread through society more and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imabayashi\u2019s dream is to build a \u201cGoogle for private data\u201d: a world where companies can reach and use all kinds of data, just as Google built a foundation where anyone can access information by gathering open data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, we asked Imabayashi, who has pursued a single theme in a straight line since the early twenties, for a message to younger people aiming to start businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope more deep-tech startups appear. They may tend to be avoided because they are not businesses that generate sales right away, but as long as you can gather people who share your vision, such as university professors and investors, you can grow the business over time, and I think it is a field where you can have a big impact on society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this applies to everyone: I don\u2019t think you need to pivot just because your idea was rejected once. There are things you can take on precisely because you are a startup, so be confident and keep pursuing ideas others don\u2019t think of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When advanced technologies and services that society has never had are born, they are never 100% accepted from the start. But if you believe in the future you envision and push forward, society will surely need you. It was an encouraging message that only Imabayashi, who has experienced exactly that, could give.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interview date: February 5, 2021
(Interview and text: Yumika Kuramoto)<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9104,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/oih2026\/?post_type=library&p=9101","catch_copy":"Enabling companies to use data safely with AI analysis and secure computation","company":"EAGLYS Inc.","sub_catch":""},"library-category":[136,98],"class_list":["post-18143","library","type-library","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","library-category-ai","library-category-pitch","en-US"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library\/18143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/library"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"library-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library-category?post=18143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}