Caster Rebrands Online Assistant to AI Assistant

Caster Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Shota Nakagawa; hereinafter referred to as "Caster") will sequentially transition its online assistant "CASTER BIZ" series to the AI assistant "CASTER NEO" series. As part of this initiative, "CASTER NEO Assistant" will be launched on July 1, 2026.

"CASTER NEO Assistant" is an AI assistant service where an AI front end handles incoming work requests via Slack 24/7, and human AI coordinators manage task instructions, progress, and pre-delivery checks. This service enables companies without dedicated AI personnel to improve the efficiency and response speed of their back-office operations through daily work requests.

Service site here https://cast-er.com/neo-assistant/

Background for Transitioning to an AI Assistant

Amidst a declining labor population and ongoing hiring difficulties, it is becoming challenging to maintain back-office operations solely with "human time and labor." While interest in generative AI and AI agents is growing, simply introducing AI tools does not easily lead to practical application. Developing specialized knowledge and systems for operational design, management, and quality assurance requires significant in-house effort.

In response to these challenges, Caster is transitioning its online assistant to an AI assistant by combining the workflow data and operational expertise accumulated from supporting over 6,300 accounts (Note 1) across diverse industries with the latest AI technologies such as Claude.

The "CASTER NEO Assistant," to be launched this time, is an evolution of the service into an "AI-Synergistic BPaaS" where a proprietary AI agent handles the initial contact with clients, such as receiving requests and confirming work procedures, aiming for further convenience and quality improvement.

Differences Between AI Assistant and Existing Services

Traditional BPO and online assistants have primarily offered task delegation and support by humans. On the other hand, LLMs and AI tools require users to operate the AI themselves and master its use according to their tasks.

The AI assistant "CASTER NEO Assistant" offers a new option for work support, combining the ease of requesting tasks like BPO or online assistants with the speed of reception and confirmation by an AI front end. It is not merely a general-purpose AI tool; its distinguishing feature is its ability to provide support tailored to the context of back-office operations, leveraging the workflow data and best practices accumulated by Caster.

<Mechanism of "CASTER NEO Assistant"> "CASTER NEO Assistant" deploys a proprietary AI agent utilizing the latest AI on Slack, consolidating client touchpoints with an AI front end. The AI front end handles request reception, confirmation of missing information, procedure organization, and progress sharing.

Then, human AI coordinators manage task instructions, progress, and pre-delivery checks to ensure quality. By having humans perform the final judgment, adjustments, and quality assurance rather than relying solely on AI, it provides a system where tasks can be requested with speed and confidence.

Features of "CASTER NEO Assistant"

1. Simply request via Slack. AI front end accepts requests 24/7

Clients can make requests anytime, including nights and holidays, through the chat tool "Slack." The AI front end handles everything from request reception to confirmation and organization of necessary details 24/7, allowing communication to proceed without waiting for human response times and increasing the speed of task commencement.

*Deliveries are made on Caster business days.

2. Human AI coordinators ensure quality and safety

Based on the request details organized by the AI front end, human AI coordinators manage task instructions, progress, and pre-delivery checks. For requests that AI cannot fully handle or complex tasks, humans will confirm and adjust, providing a reliable operational system that does not lean towards excessive automation.

3. Caster supports proposal and operation of AI-applicable tasks

For tasks that can be handled by AI, AI coordinators will propose them after reviewing the work content. For tasks utilizing AI agents, Caster will support the necessary AI utilization tasks, such as management, maintenance, and operational improvements of AI agents. Clients can achieve improved operational efficiency and response speed through daily work requests without directly selecting and operating AI tools themselves.

Supported Tasks

With "CASTER NEO Assistant," you can outsource a wide range of back-office tasks.

The main supported tasks are as follows:

Secretarial and administrative tasks

Accounting

Recruitment

Human Resources and Labor Affairs

Marketing

Creative

Foreign language support

Offline tasks

Telephone support

And more

For areas requiring specialized knowledge, Caster will also collaborate with its specialized services such as accounting, labor affairs, recruitment, EC consulting, and customer support.

Pricing Plans

"CASTER NEO Assistant" is offered on a monthly plan basis, available from 30 hours/month.

Basic Plan

6-month contract: 30 hours/month, ¥145,200/month (tax included) Annual contract: 30 hours/month, ¥132,000/month (tax included)

Trial Plan

1-month contract: 30 hours/month, ¥145,200/month (tax included)

Initial cost: None

From the contracted hours, LLM token usage, AI agent tool usage fees, task instruction time by AI coordinators, and pre-delivery check time will be deducted on an hourly basis.

Inquiries for implementation here https://cast-er.com/neo-assistant/

Future Developments

Following the already launched "CASTER NEO Accounting" and "CASTER NEO EC support," Caster will further expand its AI assistant service "CASTER NEO" series by offering "CASTER NEO Assistant."

Building on the operational support know-how cultivated with the current "CASTER BIZ" series, Caster will advance the functional expansion of the "CASTER NEO" series and transition the online assistant domain to AI assistants.

In the future, by having the AI front end handle initial responses and collaborating with in-house AI agents and human expert teams, Caster will accumulate and circulate data on requests, instructions, execution, and results, thereby smoothly updating the client's request experience. Concurrently, by improving the accuracy of matching worker skills with available working hours, Caster aims to enhance the overall quality and reliability of back-office operations.

Caster will establish an AI front end that functions as a "professional assistant," not just a general-purpose AI, made possible by its vast accumulated data, and will pioneer a new BPaaS standard where AI and humans coexist.

Currently Expanding NEO Series

CASTER NEO Accounting A specialized accounting service where AI automatically executes accounting processes based on instructions via Slack https://cast-er.com/neo-accounting/

CASTER NEO EC support EC operation support service by AI and humans https://cast-er.com/neo-ec-support/

About Caster

Caster Inc., with its mission "Recreate. Everything about work.," supports companies in improving productivity and achieving sustainable growth through AI x BPaaS. Since its founding in 2014, the company has operated entirely remotely and has supported over 6,300 accounts cumulatively through services such as the online assistant "CASTER BIZ" series (No. 1 in adoption by companies (Note 2)). In the age of AI, we are leading new ways of working and reshaping the "world of work" through the collaboration of AI and humans.

<Company Overview>

Company Name: Caster Inc.

Listed Market: Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market, Securities Code 9331

Representative: Representative Director Shota Nakagawa Head Office Location: Otemachi First Square West Tower 1-2F, LIFORK Otemachi R06, 1-5-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Established: September 2014 Business Activities: Operation of human resource services, including AI assistants URL: https://caster.co.jp

Note 1: Cumulative number of accounts with contract実績 for services continuously provided by our company.

Note 2: Self-researched comparison of adoption numbers for major domestic remote assistant and online assistant services (April 2026).