Business Transformation AI Platform 'SmartOps': Launches Free Access to Four Core Operational Infrastructure Functions

Defide Inc. (2-4-6 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo; Tetsuya Yamamoto, CEO), a company specializing in strategic AI consulting and AX/DX development, has announced the launch of free access to four core operational infrastructure functions within its business transformation AI platform, 'SmartOps': employee information management, organization management, To-Do/task management, and schedule management.

SmartOps is a business transformation AI platform that manages employee, organization, and business information as a common foundation, allowing functionality to be expanded incrementally across labor, human resources, and business management. Its design is tailored to Japanese corporate business practices and legal environments to support digital transformation.

■ Background: Three Barriers to Digital Transformation in Japanese Companies

While the need for labor efficiency increases due to an aging society and shrinking workforce, many Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises (10 to 3,000 employees) face significant hurdles in digitalizing their operational foundations:

[The Cost Barrier]
Enterprise-grade business platforms often come with high implementation and operational costs, imposing a heavy burden on SMBs.

[The Business Practice Barrier]
Adapting to specific Japanese corporate processes, such as approval workflows, personnel evaluations, and labor management, requires additional development and increases operational load.

[The Operational Barrier]
Implementation and adoption take time, making it difficult for companies without dedicated IT personnel to successfully integrate these systems.

SmartOps was developed to solve these issues. By first establishing a common operational infrastructure and providing a mechanism to add necessary functions incrementally, it supports the digitalization and business reform of Japanese companies.

■ SmartOps Core Infrastructure Functions: Centralized Management of Employees, Organization, Tasks, and Schedules

SmartOps provides four core functions that support corporate operations. Designed as a common foundation, these are accessible to companies regardless of size or industry.

SmartOps adopts a 'Base Function + Add-on' service structure, allowing companies to add necessary functions gradually based on their business challenges or growth phase.

Employee Management
Centralized management of names, affiliations, titles, employment status, hire/leave dates, contact info, and certifications. HR changes are shared across the organization. Add-on functions utilize this employee data as a foundation.

Organization Management
Supports organization chart visualization and department hierarchy settings, including cross-departmental and project-based structures, enabling efficient management of organizational changes.

To-Do/Task Management
Centralized management of personal, team, and company-wide tasks. Visualizes deadlines, priorities, owners, and status to prevent oversights and boost productivity. Tasks generated from add-ons are automatically aggregated.

Schedule Management
Integrated management of personal schedules, meeting room bookings, and internal calendars. Syncs with Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook for centralized management of all schedules.

■ Business Model: Adding Necessary Functions

SmartOps utilizes a model that combines a common infrastructure with various add-ons, allowing companies to advance digitalization and AI adoption step-by-step.

[Phases]
- STEP 1: Core Infrastructure (Employee/Organization/ToDo/Schedule) | Target: All firms | Free
- STEP 2: Labor Add-on (Payroll/Attendance/Social Insurance/etc.) | Target: HR/Labor | Subscription
- STEP 3: Talent Add-on (Recruitment/Evaluation/Skill/Engagement) | Target: HR/Talent Dev | Subscription
- STEP 4: Business Add-on (AI OCR/Demand Forecasting/BPR/Expenses) | Target: All Depts | Subscription
- STEP 5: AI Agent (Process Automation via Natural Language) | Target: Management | Subscription (Premium)

*SmartOps AI Agent add-on is planned to utilize NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails and Claude API.

■ Key Features

- Common Foundation: Provides four basic functions that serve as a foundation for all add-ons.
- Legal Compliance: Designed to meet Japanese legal requirements, including labor laws and the Electronic Book Preservation Act, with updates provided as laws change.
- Japanese Business Practices: Supports unique Japanese processes like 'Ringi' (approval) workflows and multi-stage approvals natively, reducing the need for custom development.
- Fast Implementation: Core functions can be used from the day of registration; add-ons can be operational within three days due to its no-code design.
- Gradual Expansion: Start with the base and add features as the company grows.
- Safe AI Usage: The AI Agent add-on ensures safe usage of enterprise data through NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails and Anthropic's Claude API.

■ CEO Comment: Tetsuya Yamamoto

'Many Japanese SMBs have been blocked by the 'Three Barriers' of cost, customs, and operational load in digitalizing their operations. While many high-function cloud services exist, few are ready to use 'as-is' in Japanese corporate environments.

SmartOps was born from the new concept of 'starting from a common operational foundation and adding necessary functions when needed.' By providing the foundations of all business—employee, organizational, task, and schedule data—in an easy-to-use form, we want to help Japanese companies take their first step toward digitalization.'