Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)

IGSA is an AI company born out of the Matsuo-Iwasawa Lab at the University of Tokyo. Like tatami woven from igusa rushes, we pursue sustainable happiness through AI systems that support society warmly, softly, and from beneath.

This position joins IGSA X, our business that rebuilds both business operations and core systems with AI as the premise, working alongside clients end to end from design through operation. We are neither a business-transformation consultancy nor a system development vendor: we design and implement operations and systems together in the same project. Our main arena is industries where on-the-ground operations are at the heart of the business. Our track record includes bringing core business systems to production in a fraction of the timeline expected of conventional system integrators, and extends from private companies to university research institutions and government.

IGSA itself runs its own management and development AI-natively, practicing daily the same methods and verification design we deliver to clients. Learn more on the IGSA X website.

This is a position in IGSA X, our business that builds AI-native core systems and organizations in the shortest possible time. Aiming to quadruple revenue in FY2027, we are growing the team that implements AI at client sites. A Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) joins the client's team and handles everything from aligning on requirements to implementing AI.

Rather than simply delivering individual projects, we expect you to build reusable, high-quality delivery harnesses that raise the productivity of the whole team and the value of each project.

At IGSA, we call it AI-native when the situation on the ground is captured as data and shared, AI executes the work, results flow back to the field, and improvements accumulate in work harnesses and data. We run our own management and development this way. As an FDE, you bring this way of working to client sites and build the same improvement cycle inside their organizations.

We expect the engagement to start as a contract. Depending on results, there is the possibility of conversion to full-time, or appointment at the executive or division-head level.

• Leading and delivering client projects, from AI adoption to embedding it in operations and organizations
• Designing and implementing standardized assets such as templates, harnesses, and automated verification
• Pre-sales (requirements definition, proposals, estimates)
• Raising team productivity by rolling out the harnesses you build

• Upstream experience (requirements definition, proposals) in client services or consulting
• Hands-on development experience with LLMs and AI agents
• Experience improving development standardization or developer experience (DevEx)

• Someone we can trust with client relationships, from drawing out requirements to making proposals and estimates
• Someone who can design how AI fits into a client's operations
• Someone who standardizes what they build and takes responsibility for its quality

• Interview with the business lead
• Interview with the CEO
• Practical exercise (a small task close to real work)
• Alignment on terms and contract

If you are interested, please apply via the application form.