Forward deployed engineering, from Kumamoto
Not “what should we automate?”
What should stay with people?
The answer is on the ground. So we get on the ground before we build.
DX and AIX aren’t about automating tasks one by one. They’re about the shape of the business itself changing. Judgment, relationships with customers, the know-how of the floor — we work out on site what stays with people, and replace everything else, flow by flow, while connecting the tools you already use.
WHY
The answer is always on the ground.
People should do the work only people can do. That is what we believe. And what counts as “work only people can do” can’t be decided in a meeting room — only on the ground.
Kentaro Ichihara, CEO
Ten years on Japanese factory floors, then five at a cutting-edge plant in North America. In North America, the ability to turn work into systems was honestly stronger. But there was no shared sense of what the work was for, and decisions swung each time. Japanese floors were the opposite: purpose and an eye for the real thing, but not enough hands to turn them into systems.
Now I run a company myself. Deciding what stays with people is a call for the floor — and for management. The floor, the systems, and the management seat: having sat in all three is why I believe I can draw that line.
Just as bookstores gave way to online retail, digital and AI replace the shape of a business itself. Now that AI has erased the time lag in technology, that wave reaches small companies in Kumamoto on the same day. The only difference left is where you draw the line.
People, back to the work only people can do.
HOW
Rebuild the shop while it stays open.
Small companies can’t afford to stop the business and start over. So instead of proposing from outside, we come inside and rework things while they keep running.
The substance stays with your company
Tools, data and memory are yours
（Tools, data and memory are yours ⇔ Held by a vendor or a product）
Held by a vendor or a product
Right, but time doesn’t come back
- Management advisors (consultants)Up to the proposal. They don’t build
- Owner study groupsA place to learn
Time comes back, and the substance stays
- Nexa Genba AIXWe start by working half a day on your floor, decide what stays with people, and replace the rest with systems
We never make you throw away familiar tools. Tools and memory stay with your company.
Entry points
- Training, free consultationsTeaching from outside
It works, but you hand over the substance
- Off-the-shelf toolsThe floor adapts to the product
- Typical vendorsBuild to spec, deliver, leave
- Forward Deployed Engineer (AI company)On the floor, but within their own product
Advice, proposals, learning only
The owner gets time back
Repetitive work runs as a system
- Proposes or teaches from outside
- Ends at delivery or installation
- Works on the inside
The only way to stand in the top right is to work on the inside. That’s why we start with half a day on your floor.
“Forward Deployed Engineer” (FDE) is the name AI companies use for engineers who embed with customers and build on site. They connect their own product with your floor. We connect your management with your floor.
- Go on sitefind the problem
- Decide what stays with peopledesign
- Buildimplement
- Embedkeep it in use
- Leave the substancewith the company
Consultants
Problem → recommendations and slides (stops at advice)
Connects: problem ⇔ recommendation. Doesn’t build
System integrators / outsourced development
Fixed spec → a system to spec → delivery
Connects: spec ⇔ deliverable. The problem is decided for them
Forward Deployed Engineer (AI company)
Design around their product → implement → embed and expand the product
Connects: their product ⇔ your floor
Nexa Genba AIX
Half a day of real workDecide with the owner, on the spotAI builds itUntil it stays in useHand over the tools and the memory
Connects: your management ⇔ your floor. The one who comes in is an engineer who is also a business owner. Any tools — we connect what you already have
Bands = the range each one carries. Hatched = the stretch where no one writes code by hand; AI builds it.
The difference isn’t whether they can build. It’s whether the same person carries both ends — going on site to find the problem, and leaving the substance with the company.
Front — stays with people
- Judgment
- Customer relationships
- Know-how of the floor
- The tools you use today
← as is
Back — rebuilt
- Scattered information
- Connect
- Whole flows no one needs to touch, into systems
← into systems
On site first
Connect management and the floor; decide what stays with people
You’re told to “bring your requirements,” but you can’t put the problem into words.
In parallel
Connect what you already have
You paid a lot for a new system, and the team still says “Excel is faster.”
A first version within a week
Replace whole flows no one needs to touch
New tools only added data entry and copying. You can see the numbers, but the work didn’t shrink.
Always
Everything stays with your company
No one understands the system the last vendor built. What happens when the person you relied on is gone?
All four together — that’s Nexa Genba AIX.
WHAT
Choose how deep we go.
Where to start reworking is something we decide together after seeing the floor. Ongoing involvement runs as monthly Genba AIX; larger builds run on time-and-materials.
Today
- Judgment, customers, floor know-how
- Copying and tallying
- Scheduling and checking
- First response to inquiries
After Genba AIX
- Judgment, customers, floor know-how (stays with people)
- Handled by systems
- Remaining checks
- Work that stays with people
- Handled by systems and AI
- Repetitive work the owner does today
Shares are illustrative. In the first half day on your floor (Assessment) we measure them against your actual flows. The length of the bar — the owner’s time — doesn’t change; what fills it does.
MAIN — monthly engagement
Nexa Genba AIX
Nexa Genba AIX (“genba” means the place where the work happens) is a monthly engagement in which we get onto your floor, decide what stays with people, and replace the rest with systems. The tiers differ in how many flows we replace.
Assessment
¥50,000/ mo
Half a day on site to start + monthly session
We start with half a day on your floor, decide what stays with people and which flow to replace first, then support you with a monthly session and chat.
At once Up to 5
Rework
¥150,000/ mo
Biweekly–weekly sessions + build slot
Biweekly–weekly sessions with a build slot. We replace whole flows one at a time and stay with you until they stick.
At once Up to 3
Rebuild
from ¥300,000/ mo
Weekly sessions + priority build slot
Weekly sessions, a priority build slot, and priority response when urgent. We replace several flows in parallel and reshape how the business runs.
At once Up to 2
No minimum term. If you cancel, we hand over everything we built and all the data. Larger development runs under time-and-materials. When a tier is full, you can start with Assessment and move up when a slot opens.
If you already know where, start from a ready-made pattern.
Sales & customers
Sales systemization (with Hashira Consulting)
Free diagnosis
Sales & customers
AI Sales Desk
Live demo (free, 3 a month)
Members & events
The Okage-juku model (in production)
Free consultation
Getting found
Suiteki-Sekisen (LP & websites)
Zero upfront, fully monthly
The sales pattern is a collaboration with Hashira Consulting, designers of systems that sell. Technology alone can’t set direction, and direction alone doesn’t move. We hold both.
PROOF
Instead of a proposal deck, things we’ve built.
Nexa Engineering itself
Planning, development and sales flows are run by AI; what remains for the CEO is judgment and customers. We do it ourselves first.
Parts we use every day
Starting with Hashira SFA, a sales system that AI operates, we build and use our own parts daily. That’s why we can build fast and affordably.
100 apps challenge
We’re building and publishing small apps for our own use, aiming for 100 — a public record of how fast we build.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is Nexa Genba AIX?
A monthly engagement in which we get onto your floor, decide with you what stays with people, and replace flows no one needs to touch with AI and software. Three tiers: Assessment (¥50,000/mo), Rework (¥150,000/mo) and Rebuild (from ¥300,000/mo), excl. tax, mainly for small companies in Kumamoto.
What is a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)?
A role spreading through AI companies: an engineer who embeds with the customer and builds on site, from finding the problem to a working system in daily use. Most are sent by product companies to embed their product; what we connect is not a product but your management and your floor.
Is DX or AIX about automating part of the work?
No. Just as bookstores gave way to online retail, we see it as the shape of the business itself changing. Instead of automating tasks one by one, we first decide what stays with people, and replace everything else flow by flow.
Do we need to throw away our Excel sheets or LINE?
No. Familiar tools stay; we connect them behind the scenes into one flow. We keep the front that people touch, and rebuild the back that no one needs to.
How many clients do you take at once?
Because one engineer comes in directly, we cap each tier: Assessment 5, Rework 3, Rebuild 2. When a tier is full, you can start with Assessment and move up when a slot opens.
What happens to what you built if we cancel?
There’s no minimum term. If you cancel, we hand over everything we built and all the data. The data and the systems are yours.
Can you work with companies outside Kumamoto?
We’re based in Kumamoto and our approach involves being on site, so we mainly serve Kumamoto and Kyushu. Companies elsewhere are welcome to ask.
First, let us see where the work happens.
We won’t bring a proposal deck. It’s fine to come saying “we don’t know what to change first” or “we failed once.” Based in Kumamoto, we work with you from sorting out the problems on the floor to systems that stick.
Because one engineer comes in directly, we cap the number of clients per tier (Assessment 5, Rework 3, Rebuild 2).