Expert Co., Ltd. Representative Director Shinichi Shichiri

Acting faster than anyone else is what wins the game

Representative Director of Expert Co., Ltd.　Shinichi Shichiri(Shichiri Shinichi)

■ Profile
Representative Director and President of Expert Co., Ltd. Born in Tokyo.
After graduating from high school, he joined the Self-Defense Forces and worked as a carpenter at a signboard company.
He then went independent and ran an interior design business, but after creating a company website, he shifted his focus to becoming an internet consultant.
He currently serves as the president of Hishou, a generative AI school with over 6500 students.

Shinichi Shichiri has a diverse background, including working in the Self-Defense Forces, as a carpenter, and as an interior decorator. He currently serves as president of the generative AI engineer training school "Hishou" and runs the Generative AI Prompt Research Institute, making him a leader in Japan's generative AI industry. We spoke to him about how he came to start his generative AI business, what is needed in the future, and his message to university students.

When I was little, my parents ran restaurants, craft shops, fabric stores, and other businesses, so I often helped out at the stores. When I was in junior high school, I was even put in charge of the restaurant. I think it was great that I was able to experience the basics of business at that age - selling something, receiving gratitude, and receiving money in return. It's thanks to this experience that I'm now independent.
I've also been quite knowledgeable about computers since I was in elementary school. My father gave me the latest computer when I was in the third grade, which sparked my interest. Soon after, I went to a bookstore and bought an introductory book on programming, and started studying. Before I knew it, I was teaching teachers how to use computers at school.
Having had such a childhood, after graduating from high school he joined the Self-Defense Forces, worked for a sign company and gained experience as a carpenter, before going independent and running an interior design business.
The reason I decided to shift from interior design to the internet field was because I created a website for my company.
Although I started my own interior design business, I didn't have a client list and no work at first. So, since I already had some computer knowledge, I decided to create a company website. Back in 2003, only the wealthy could use the internet, so I got a lot of requests from company executives and presidents. At times, I got as many as five bookings a day. I was able to successfully secure work as an interior designer, but the executives weren't very knowledgeable about the internet, so I decided to provide internet consulting to them at the same time. Then, I realized how much money I could make, so around 2005, I quit my job as an interior designer and focused solely on internet consulting. I'm currently the CEO of a company that handles generative AI-related services.

■Act faster than anyone else and get results

We deal with generative AI because it's the hottest selling product right now.
When generative AI first came out, it was truly shocking. I still vividly remember the first time I used ChatGPT. When I typed in the prompt "Write an email newsletter" and saw the first 20 characters that were output, I knew I was born to master this. That very day, I canceled all my plans for the next few months and spent all my time outside of sleep and work playing with AI (laughs).
I actually have many titles, such as "the first person in Japan to do this or that." I was the first person in Japan to include attachments in email newsletters, something that is now commonplace, I was the first person in Japan to act as a COVID-1 loan consultant, and I was pretty much the first person to implement SEO when it first came out. I think I was about the 10th person in Japan to create a website for the interior design firm I mentioned earlier.
As you can see, I place great importance on pioneering new fields before anyone else, and I believe there are two major benefits to doing so.
The first is the lack of knowledge around you. In a new field, even if you don't have advanced expertise, it's relatively easy to provide consulting because the people around you have even less knowledge. For example, when LINE first became popular, I bought 20 books on LINE, compiled them into slides, and gave a consultation. Even though I only summarized the contents of the books, they were very pleased.
The second reason is that there is a tailwind. Markets in new fields are still immature and will continue to expand. For example, Japan's generative AI market is currently worth roughly 100 billion yen, but it is said to grow to 1 trillion yen in the next 10 years. If you can gain market share early on, your size and sales will automatically grow in line with market growth.
That's why, when I find something good, I make it a priority to learn about it faster than anyone else and then become a teacher.

■To survive in the future, try your hand at multiple things

I believe that generative AI will narrow the gap in skill levels between people in the future. For example, in the past, it was commonplace to train for 10 to 20 years before one could build a house. However, with the rapid development of tools, it has become possible to easily build a house with just three years of training. The same thing will happen with generative AI. With the development of no-code and image generation AI, the skill levels of people with over 10 years of experience will become the same as those of people with only two or three years of experience. As a result, we will likely see a sharp decline in white-collar jobs and a collapse in prices.
That's why I want all my readers to try their hand at a variety of things. Now is not the time to specialize in one thing. Even if you spend time mastering one tool or skill, there is a high chance that it will be replaced by technological innovation. So I would like you to have the ability to seriously tackle around three things at once.

■Message to university students

There are two things I would like to tell university students.
The first is to act before anyone else. I hope this article has conveyed that message. The second is to be liked by older people. I hate to say it myself, but I'm the type of person who is quite popular with older people. So, I think there are four key points to being liked by them. The first is to be polite as a matter of course. The second is to show gratitude properly. When I meet people, I make it a point to always express my gratitude, no matter how long ago it was. The third is to show exaggerated joy. The fourth is to praise them for things that make them happy. It's especially good to ask killer questions that draw out the things they want to brag about or be praised for. Since you're young, try various things with the help of older people.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on June 22, 2024 by Yusuke Suzuki, a fourth-year student at Hosei University

Musashino University, 4th year Nishiyama Ryusei / Showa Women's University, 3rd year Tatsuzawa Ai / International Christian University, 3rd year Nakamura Yurin / International Christian University, 2nd year Maruyama Mitomo / Kyoto University of the Arts, 1st year Inomoto Reina / Senshu University, 3rd year Masuda Otoo / N High School, 2nd year Ishikawa Akira / Sophia University, 3rd year Amie Hinata / Kokugakuin University, 2nd year Teranishi Shion / Waseda University, 3rd year Yuasa Katsumi / Hosei University, 4th year Suzuki Yusuke / Toyo Gakuen University, 4th year Ishihara Hidema