SambaNova Systems has taken a step further in its international expansion with the appointment of Toshinori Kujiraoka, who will lead the company's Japan-based operations as country sales director.
"AI (Artificial Intelligence) is ushering in a massive change,” said Rodrigo Liang, co-founder and CEO of SambaNova Systems, in a recent press release. “We're excited to grow our presence in Japan to contribute to the country’s mission to be at the forefront of AI. Toshinori Kujiraoka's vast experience and strong track record of delivering customer success in the Japanese market makes him the right leader to scale our operations to support Japan’s AI strategy."
Kujiraoka will be responsible for overseeing all business and sales development aspects in Japan and developing strategies to reach public and private investors across Asia, the release stated.
“The Japanese government set its AI strategy in 2019 and declared it would create the world's most advanced digital nation with an AI-ready infrastructure,” Kujiraoka said in the release. “The budget for 2022 includes a large investment in AI research and human resource development so the time is now for SambaNova to establish a presence in the region.”
With more than three decades of global sales experience, Kujiraoka has contributed to various national projects, including human genome analysis at the University of Tokyo and the Next Generation Data Center project, among others, the release stated. He has also overseen various market launches and sales exceeding several hundred billion yen.
“SambaNova is entering the Japanese market at the perfect time as our integrated AI software and hardware platform can directly support commercial enterprises and the Japanese government's AI strategy,” Kujiraoka said in the release.
The California-based company manages the only comprehensive software, hardware and solutions platform of its kind to run AI and deep learning applications, according to the release.