Japan leads the world in this one important branch of AI

Technology develops differently in Japan. While US tech giants have been grabbing artificial intelligence headlines, a business AI sector has been quietly maturing in Japan, and it is now making inroads into America. Today we sit down again with Miku Hirano, CEO of Cinnamon, and we talk about how exactly this happened. Interestingly, Cinnamon did not start out as an AI company. In fact, when Miku first came on the show, the company had just launched an innovative video-sharing service. Today, we talk about what lead to the pivot to AI and why even a great idea and a great team is no guarantee of success. We also talk about some of the changing attitudes towards startups and women in Japan, the kinds of business practices AI will never change, and Miku give some practical advice for startups going into foreign markets. It's a great discussion, and I think you will really enjoy it. Show Notes How Miku invented TikTok before TickTok and why it didn’t work How you know when  its time to pivot a startup Why companies will never go digital and will always use paper Who will benefit most from AI The four categories of AI How AI will change the legal profession How japan is actually ahead of US and China in some kinds of AI What's really driving business innovation in Japan Can AI actually reduce overtime? How enterprise clients treat women founders Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about Cinnamon Follow Miku on Twitter @mikuhirano Friend her on Facebook More about Cinnamon Miku's original Disrupting Japan interview Eliminating Repetitive Office Work through Disruptive AI Miku on the John Batchelor Show - Part I Miku on the John Batchelor Show - Part II Leave a comment Transcript  Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today, we're going to sit down and talk about artificial intelligence with Miku Hirano of Cinnamon. Now, Cinnamon is actually a great example of a successful Japanese startup pivot. When we first sat down with Miku four years ago, she had an innovative micro-video sharing company called Tuya and really, you should go back and listen to that episode. I've put a link on the show notes and it was really a good one. Anyway, Miku basically started TikTok a few years before TikTok and we talk about why things didn't work out, why even with the same idea, one startup will become a multi-billion dollar brand and the other will pivot. Of course, the pivot to AI and the rebranding to Cinnamon has led this to their current success in using AI to read and to understand common business forms. In fact, for reasons that Miku will explain during the interview, Japan is actually ahead of the US and China in the area of business AI. We'll also talk about how attitudes towards women are changing here and how Japanese men at traditional companies treat women founders, particularly women founders with children, and I think it might surprise you. I mean, it surprised me and it surprised Miku as well, But you know, Miku tells that story much better than I can, so let's get right to the interview. [pro_ad_display_adzone id="1411"  info_text="Sponsored by"  font_color="grey"  ] Interview Tim: So, I'm sitting here with Miku Hirano of Cinnamon and it's great to have you back on the show again. Miku: Yeah, thank you so much for having me here again. Tim: Well, so much has changed since -- it was three years ago, right? Miku: Yeah, yeah, and I had a totally different business at the time. Tim: Well, not only a totally different business but you've gotten married and you've had two kids. Miku: Yeah, yeah, and at the time, I think I was living in Taiwan and now, my business is in Tokyo, so everything has changed. Tim: And so, we're not even going to cove what we talked about last time even though in the in...