Mico Inc.

Leadership

Board
Member

Leadership Profile

Osamu Yamada

CEO

Osamu Yamada started his own business at the age of 20, and has developed several offline service businesses in store management and wholesale within Japan and overseas. In 2017, he established Micoworks, Inc. as his third start-up company, and sold his two other businesses in the HR Tech domain. He then consolidated his remaining businesses to "MicoCloud" in 2021, aiming to expand the business globally starting with expansion into Taiwan.

Leadership Profile

Ken Yaegashi

COO

Ken Yaegashi is a former Accenture Japan executive with experience in management strategy planning, M&A, new business development, and company-wide digitalization support. In 2022, he joined Mico Inc.

Leadership Profile

Shunsuke Uchikawa

Outside Director

Shunsuke Uchikawa joined Citigroup Inc. in April 1998 as General Manager of the M&A Division, overseeing Citigroup's M&A activities in Japan. He has worked overseas in locations such as New York and London. In 2018, he was appointed as CFO of Money Forward, Inc. He currently serves on the board of directors of several companies.

Leadership Profile

Junichi Murata

Outside Director

Junichi Murata joined Eight Roads Ventures (formerly Fidelity Growth Partners) in 2013. As a member of the VC arm of one of the world's leading institutional investors, he has been responsible for 17 investments as a lead investor, focusing on large rounds from Series B and C. He has served as an outside director and board observer for several companies, mainly in the SaaS and media sectors.

Leadership Profile

Hock Chuan TAM

Outside Director

Hock Chuan TAM joined Vertex in August 2018 and currently serves on the boards of more than 10 portfolio companies. He has spent his investment career in Singapore and Silicon Valley, formerly leading IT and cleantech investments at TRIREC Capital and EDBI. At IFC, he led TMT investments and leveraged his technology experience at the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research of Singapore (A*STAR) to support startups. He has held a variety of roles at Temasek Group, including strategic investments and business development at two subsidiaries outside of Vertex.

Management
Team

Leadership Profile

Sho Hasatani

VP & General Manager / Sales

After joining Hakuhodo, Inc. as the class representative of his new hire class, Sho Hasatani served in various roles handling national clients. Engaged in all aspects of the advertising business, he led account teams as a manager. Subsequently, he joined Salesforce Japan, consistently achieving the top sales position (No.1 in revenue). After leading the sales team as an enterprise sales representative for Marketing Cloud, he joined Mico Inc. in 2022.

Leadership Profile

Takeo Shimizu

VP & General Manager / Brand & Experience

Starting his career as a designer at a comprehensive advertising agency, Takeo Shimizu then ventured into entrepreneurship by founding and managing a creative boutique. He gained extensive experience in brand strategy at a global creative agency. In 2016, he joined Accenture Song (formerly Accenture Interactive) to realize the integration of business and creativity. He has been involved in creative corporate transformations, new business development, and brand strategy planning and execution. He led the establishment of an in-house design organization and the launch of the Tokyo office of the world's leading creative agency, Droga5, where he was responsible for business development and growth. He served as an inaugural jury member in the Creative Strategy category at the 2019 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. He joined Mico Inc. in April 2024, assuming his current position.

Leadership Profile

Hatami Baba

Director & Manager / Customer Executive

After serving as Creative Director and General Manager of the Creative Department at OPT Co., Ltd., she became General Manager of the department overseeing LINE-related business, leading initiatives in consulting for strategies utilizing LINE and managing the planning, development, and sales of the business connection tool "TSUNAGARU.” She then joined Salesforce Japan Inc. where she was in charge of enterprise implementation consulting and sales of Marketing Cloud, and joined Mico Inc. in 2023.

Leadership Profile

Yuko Miyamoto

Senior Manager / Customer Executive

After working in marketing at a manufacturing company, she joined DA Search & Link Inc. of the Dentsu Group (now Dentsu Direct) in 2013. She was involved in consulting for national clients and operational advertising for e-commerce sites. Subsequently, as a manager in the digital division, she built operational improvement and in-house support programs and experienced the launch of the Customer Success Department. In 2023, she joined Mico Inc.

Leadership Profile

Takahiro Ogoshi

VP of Product / Product

Takahiro Ogoshi joined CyberAgent, Inc. in 2005 and has served as a director of two subsidiaries and headed the ad distribution system for their media business. From 2019, he led the growth of advertising products in both Japan and the US as the Head of Advertising Products at SmartNews, Inc. In November 2023, he joined Mico Inc. as VP of Product.

Leadership Profile

James Mesbur

VP & General Manager / Conversational AI

From 2006, James Mesbur served as the Head of Conversational Design and Products at SpeechCycle, a New York-based startup, where he developed IVR systems utilizing speech recognition and natural language understanding. After its acquisition by Synchronoss in 2012, he worked on design and business intelligence, promoting product sales. From 2017 to 2020, he was the Director of AI Products at Verint, supporting problem-solving in contact centers through AI technology and data analysis. From 2020, he was the General Manager of Conversational AI Products at Rakuten Group, leading a team of 100 in Japan, Singapore, and India, advancing the mission and vision of Conversational AI. He joined Mico Inc. in April 2024, assuming his current position.

Leadership Profile

Sumit Agrawal

VP & General Manager / Innovation & Engineering

After serving as a tech lead at Cisco Systems and Novell for five years, Sumit Agrawal joined Findability Sciences India Pvt LTD in 2009. Following his role as Director, he became the VP of Technology & Business Development. In 2018, he moved to Findability Sciences Japan, where he served as CTO and Global Head of the Patent Review Committee. He joined Mico Inc. in March 2024, assuming his current position.

Leadership Profile

Jerimy Abner

Engineering Division Director / Conversational AI

After working at Accenture (formerly Genex, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing) for nine years starting in 1999, he joined Electronic Arts as a Technical Director in February 2008. In March 2018, he joined Rakuten-AdRoll as a Senior Director of Engineering. Following this, he served as VP of Engineering at Lionbridge (formerly Gengo) from 2019 to 2021, and at TaskUs from June 2021. He joined Mico Inc. in April 2024, assuming his current position.

Advisory

Leadership Profile

Hiroaki Sugita

former BCG Japan Managing Director

After working for the Japan Transportation Bureau (JTB), Mr. Sugita joined Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 1994. He has 27 years of experience in solving business challenges in various industries including consumer goods, distribution, transportation, industrial materials, automotive, high-tech, media, and telecommunications, etc. He served as their Japan Representative from 2016 to 2020. He is currently the Managing Director and Senior Partner of the company. Other positions include Professor at Waseda University Graduate School of Business Administration, Executive Partner of STRIVE, Outside Director of Unicharm, and Outside Director of Kaizen Platform.