The cycle of "enthusiasm, obsession, and emotion"
Leading a company to a new stage of growth

FRONTEO Co., Ltd. President Masahiro Morimoto



Aiming to become an astronaut, but not fulfilled

Morimoto was born in 1966 in Osaka, four years before the first World Expo to be held in Asia.When he was a boy, he trained his mind and body rigorously by playing baseball and basketball.He also worked hard on his studies and entered Toyonaka High School, a prestigious local high school.As a boy, Morimoto had a secret dream.to become an astronaut.Morimoto learned that the shortest way to do that was to become an Air Force pilot, so he enrolled in the National Defense Academy.However, his eyesight deteriorated while he was in school, and he was forced to give up his career as a pilot.Morimoto changed his mind and chose the path of the Maritime Self-Defense Force.He served on a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer, but retired in 4.After that, Morimoto, who was researching semiconductors at the National Defense Academy, changed jobs to Applied Materials Japan Co., Ltd. because of his experience in semiconductors for his graduation research.Morimoto lived a fulfilling life, but in 1994, the IT bubble burst and many of his IT companies were forced to undergo structural reforms to survive, leaving the entire industry uncertain. rice field.Taking this opportunity, Morimoto's desire to "do what he wanted to do" became stronger day by day, and he retired from Applied Materials in 2000.Morimoto, who was searching for his own way forward, at his university alumni meeting, discussed the field of discovery (a process in which specialized contractors support evidence extraction and analysis work) necessary for the unique US litigation system. heard that there isIn carrying out this discovery, high-tech technology such as forensics, which uses IT to identify evidence of information leaks and corporate fraud, is used. of Asian companies are struggling.Morimoto wanted to do something about this situation.He initially recommended several people he knew to start a business, but none of them responded positively.So he decided to start his own business.But at this point he has no product, no connections, no money.It was just nothing. UBIC (currently FRONTEO Co., Ltd.) was the spirit that supported the entrepreneurship that there was no such company in Asia.Morimoto was burning with a sense of mission that "I have to do it."In 2003, UBIC was born in a small office in Akasaka, Tokyo.We started importing and selling US-made forensic tools, but those tools were not compatible with Japanese and other Asian languages.Seeing a business opportunity there, Morimoto decided to develop an Asian language analysis technology in-house ahead of the rest of the world, and to develop it for discovery support as well.Several people who sympathized with Morimoto's enthusiasm joined his recently founded UBIC, and in-house development began.After a lot of hard work, we released a Japanese-language version, and law enforcement agencies and major corporations bought it.Morimoto entered the world of discovery while building his footing in this way.


The motto is "Enthusiasm, obsession, impression"

 Morimoto's motto as a manager is "enthusiasm, obsession, and excitement."Without enthusiasm, nothing starts in the first place.However, it is not possible to continue the business with transient enthusiasm.Whenever you start a new business, you need to take on the challenge.To overcome this, hard working is required both mentally and physically.What makes it possible is obsession, and what is realized and achieved with enthusiasm and tenacity impresses the surroundings.The idea is that the emotions of the surroundings will become a new heat source and the next cycle will begin.With this enthusiasm and dedication, Morimoto has independently completed the world's first and only Asian language-enabled eDiscovery support tool, "Lit i View®." “It gave UBIC great confidence and wealth to be able to proceed with this development on its own,” Morimoto recalls.And the hardships at this time will have great significance later.


Listed on NASDAQ in the United States from listing on TSE Mothers

 After that, as the number of Japanese companies expanding overseas increased, orders came in from well-known companies.Four years after its establishment, his business as a discovery vendor got on track, and in June 4, UBIC was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers (currently Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth).Morimoto had hoped that the listing would increase name recognition and credibility and accelerate growth, but sales to Japanese companies did not go so far.Listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers certainly improved name recognition among Japanese companies, but recognition among most customers and related parties, including Asian and American companies, did not rise as much as expected, and UBIC's presence in the United States also increased. I was unable toSo Morimoto's next move was to establish a subsidiary in the United States.He established UBIC North America, Inc. in December 2007, just six months after listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers.Taking this opportunity, he began to win large-scale contracts from Japanese companies, but Morimoto was still not satisfied with the current situation.He then decided to list on the NASDAQ in the United States.In the midst of recovery from the financial crisis caused by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, this reckless challenge was opposed by many concerned parties. UBIC's mission is to create a world in which we can fight."In this way, a Japanese venture company that was founded less than 6 years ago was listed on the NASDAQ in the United States.Morimoto's insistence on listing on the Nasdaq was also to overcome the obstacles to growth in the US litigation support business.The selection of a discovery vendor that provides litigation support in the United States depends not only on the will of the client company, but also on the will of the attorney in charge of the litigation.Therefore, he strongly felt that it was necessary to win their trust by becoming a NASDAQ-listed company in the United States. (Note: delisted from NASDAQ in February 2007) Morimoto did not loosen the reins to further accelerate growth. In August 12, it acquired TechLaw Solutions, Inc. and made it a subsidiary. TechLaw Solutions is a US discovery vendor with over 10 years of history and a proud employee.Although he is a mid-tier company, his project management know-how and high-quality services that he has acquired through many events have been highly evaluated in the United States, and he has a strong connection with the U.S. Department of Justice. "If it hadn't been listed in the US, he wouldn't have been able to acquire TechLaw Solutions," says Morimoto.Furthermore, the fact that none of the company's employees quit and remained as a team.That in itself shows his UBIC's improved credit standing in the US.And that will be a major driving force for UBIC aiming for dramatic business expansion in the United States.
At the NASDAQ Closing Bell Ceremony held in New York, USA in August 2013 (delisted from NASDAQ in February 8)


Possibilities of AI engine “KIBIT”

UBIC has succeeded in developing the "Lit iView" series, which dramatically improves the efficiency of evidence disclosure work, and has expanded its business performance.Furthermore, we have succeeded in developing "KIBIT", an original artificial intelligence that utilizes the tacit knowledge of experts.Conventional artificial intelligence is based on statistical processing, but UBIC's "behavioral information science" combines behavioral science that analyzes human behavior and thinking patterns with information science that makes full use of statistics and data mining. It was developed based on the original concept of ". The completely original idea of ​​utilizing "tacit knowledge", which is said to be "non-verbalized knowledge based on human senses and experience", is carried through, and artificial intelligence learns even the expert's "intuition". It can be incorporated into various problem solving.In other words, UBIC's artificial intelligence is different from conventional artificial intelligence, and the Institute for Behavioral Information Science has been established in-house for its research and development.The technology for extracting necessary data with high accuracy from the huge amount of data cultivated through litigation support is expanding the possibility of being used as the most important data analysis technology in big data analysis.In the future, "KIBIT", which utilizes the tacit knowledge of experts in each field, will be able to utilize the speedy and highly accurate analysis results for the progress of society by performing big data analysis on behalf of people.The technology that UBIC has nurtured so far has jumped out of the legal and legal affairs and is beginning to show great potential.