Hello. This is Shiro Arai, CEO at Younode. As we usher in the beginning of 2025, I’d like to take a moment to look back on the recent business environment and introduce our fundamental perspective on the future that lies ahead.
Up to Now
Thanks to everyone’s support, our company is now in its seventh year since its founding, during which we’ve taken on various challenges. At the time of our establishment, we released a decentralized personal data store (now closed) with the aim of creating something akin to a general-purpose digital ID. In retrospect, it was quite an ambitious project. Looking at it now, Apple ID has a very similar concept, and you could say that was ultimately the reason we closed our service. Currently, we’re developing a music-themed social network service that connects people through the songs they’re listening to, working on NFT projects and products utilizing generative AI, and—thanks to numerous opportunities—supporting product development for a variety of client companies.
Recent Environmental Changes
It’s no exaggeration to say that the evolution of AI is nothing short of astounding. In April 2023, we developed our first LLM-based product, Retro Tracks, using GPT-3.5. Since then, through our development support for client companies, we’ve built products leveraging APIs from Claude and OpenAI. Especially last year, AI brought about a dramatic transformation in software development itself. This year, many new tools have been released, and the possibilities are advancing day by day. Not only in the realm of software, but at a pace far beyond any predictions so far, AI is evolving rapidly, and it’s becoming indisputable that AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) and ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence) will eventually be realized. Amid this environment, last year provided a key opportunity for me to reflect on my own way of life, and I spent considerable time thinking about the future of humanity as a whole.
The Future Ahead
Even in the software industry immediately around us, we will inevitably have to make major changes to our business models, whether we like it or not. Going forward, products we develop will naturally incorporate AI-ready implementations—often referred to as AI agents. Moreover, the development process itself will change significantly, and simple coding skills will become commoditized. In fact, many aspects will be replaced by AI. The role of developers will change drastically. We’ve already come to think there is no longer a need for the titles “frontend engineer” or “backend engineer” within our company, and we share that common understanding among our team. A broad and fundamental understanding of various business domains, along with greater emphasis on project management and communication with stakeholders, will become more important. Moreover, a wide range of specialized knowledge and the ability to design and integrate systems will also be crucial. The capability to define requirements for building functioning software will remain an important factor.
Traditionally, there has been a wide gap in software development between “the person who requests the development” and “the person who builds it.” The same was true even when development was done in-house. With the term “solopreneur” becoming more common, the trend toward people who “want to create” acquiring the skills to quickly develop things on their own will continue to accelerate. The ability for “someone with an idea” to determine their own system requirements and also carry out the development is the fastest way to deliver a product. Conversely, even in the AI era, if we cannot bridge this gap, the same challenges and problems as before will remain.
For entrepreneurs, there has never been a time when you could do so much. We’ve entered an era where you can develop more products with your own hands and try out all sorts of strategies. Many companies may even shift from SaaS back to full-scale custom development. Over roughly the last 20 years, the trend has shifted heavily toward SaaS, but SaaS generally requires you either to customize the system or adapt your workflow to a pre-made solution. Going forward, while SaaS might still be the most cost-effective approach for universal areas like attendance management and HR (which operate the same across many organizations), for areas like management accounting—where operations vary greatly from one company or organization to another—full-scale custom development might be more suitable. And it’s possible that we’ll see a world where there are as many SaaS products as there are companies.
Contributing to Humanity’s Future
We have yet to see a world where AI is seamlessly integrated everywhere, but it’s certainly on its way. It’s clear that much of the work done by today’s office workers will be affected, yet if we look back through history, jobs haven’t disappeared; instead, each individual’s responsibilities have often increased and become more specialized. When the internet first appeared, many people thought it would significantly reduce manual labor, but looking around now, it seems many people are busier than ever. When I started working, everyone already had their own PC, and internet access was the norm, but I’ve heard stories of a time when people would transcribe proposal ideas onto large sheets of paper. Nowadays, it’s commonplace for salespeople to create their own presentations in PowerPoint. In other words, one person is expected to handle more and more tasks, and we can anticipate that the expected quality of output will continue to rise dramatically.
As AI takes on more tasks, many people will struggle with questions about the meaning of human existence. I was one of those people. However, after reading various documents and actively using AI, I began to see a bit more clearly what humanity’s role might be:
- Humans have consciousness and direct their intentions.
- Humans can imagine and create what does not yet exist.
- The unique individual “who” cannot be replaced.
Coincidentally, our service PULP is a new social media platform for discovering music through tracks shared by unique individuals who like them. My colleagues at the company and I put out curated playlists every day. While AI recommendations are fantastic in their own right, we believe discovering music shared by “that person” offers a different kind of enjoyment.
In 2025, we will continue to fulfill our mission of “Create the Alternative” by generating new value. With the astonishing power of AI now in our hands, we’re more excited than ever about what’s possible. Even as a small team, we want to contribute to the future of humanity by creating services and products capable of making a global impact.
