DENSO MaaS
DENSO is a developer’s dream environment.
MaaS R&D Div. Director
Takeshi Narisako
Q1. Career history
I joined DENSO in August 2016 to lead IoT promotion and, less than a year later, was appointed General Manager of the newly established Digital Innovation Department. It is an interesting time to be in development. The automotive industry is undergoing a once-in-a-century revolutionary change. With the progress of information communications technology (ICT) such as IoT, Cloud, AI and big data, the era of connected vehicles is upon us. DENSO is developing the next-generation of services and business models to support the mobility of people and things, making full use of ICT. Rather than merely providing information communication services, we are transforming mobility using our own technologies.
Q2. Current activities
I am strongly committed to projects with social significance. To that end, I have launched “aggressive IT squads” to address digital transformation. To succeed in launching next-generation services and business models, DENSO is adopting new ways of researching, thinking, processing and developing. The rapidly expanding Digital Innovation Department plays a central role in all of this. We currently have four development teams with about 30 members and we expect the numbers to increase in 2018.
Q3. What I place importance on
Speed also is critical. Our department practices an agile development methodology in which small teams, consisting of less than 10 members, develop functions or services in short cycles called “sprints.” Each team has one decision-maker and several developers who write program codes. All are equal, regardless of their role, and all opinions and ideas are encouraged through an informal and open discussion process called waigaya. I strive to create a positive team environment where everyone can express their opinions and make recommendations without hesitation. Each team operates on a continual cycle of development, delivery and improvement at high speed, working together to develop and deliver new features based on what consumers want.
