Kei Utsumi, Recipient of the 'Excellence Award' at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Association for Natural Language Processing (NLP2025), Joins MNTSQ
MNTSQ Inc., a provider of the contract platform 'MNTSQ CLM,' announced that Kei Utsumi, who received the 'Excellence Award' at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Association for Natural Language Processing (NLP2025), joined the company as an Algorithm Engineer in May 2026. His participation is expected to accelerate the development of AI agents for complex corporate contract operations.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 12, 2026 at 22:00
- 🔍 Collected: May 12, 2026 at 13:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 12, 2026 at 14:02 (30 min after Collected)
MNTSQ Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Ryuhei Itaya; hereinafter 'the Company'), which provides the contract platform 'MNTSQ CLM,' is pleased to announce that Kei Utsumi, who received the 'Excellence Award' at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Association for Natural Language Processing (NLP2025), joined the company as an Algorithm Engineer in May 2026.
Since beginning his research in natural language processing at the University of Tsukuba Graduate School, Mr. Utsumi has been involved in implementing language processing foundational technologies based on machine learning and Bayesian statistics, and solving societal issues at Yahoo Japan Corporation, DENSO IT Laboratory, and SB Intuitions Corporation. Most recently, he received the 'Excellence Award,' one of only 14 selected from 765 presentations at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Association for Natural Language Processing (NLP2025), one of Japan's largest academic conferences, earning high acclaim at the forefront of NLP research in Japan.
Our 'MNTSQ CLM' platform, which combines the expertise of major law firms with AI, is transforming the way contract operations are conducted. It is currently utilized by 41 of the top 100 revenue-generating companies in Japan. Furthermore, since last year, we have been progressively enhancing its functionality by incorporating 'MNTSQ AI Agent,' an AI agent equipped with prompts supervised by experts such as lawyers, and deeply familiar with corporate contract practical processes. For large corporations, contract operations involve many people, and internal rules and checking points vary significantly from company to company. To truly make AI useful in such complex operations, simply using a general-purpose LLM (Large Language Model) is insufficient; a dedicated natural language processing foundation that can deeply understand the unique language and document structure of the contract field is essential.
Mr. Utsumi's participation is a significant step towards strengthening this foundation even further. By directly applying the knowledge cultivated at the forefront of research to our products, we will accelerate the development and implementation of AI agents that are truly useful for large corporations' contract operations, at an even greater speed than before.
■ Kei Utsumi Profile
Graduated from the Graduate School of Library, Information and Media Studies, University of Tsukuba. After engaging in research on search engine ranking evaluation algorithms at Yahoo Japan Corporation, he served as a researcher at DENSO IT Laboratory. His specialties are natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning. In particular, he possesses high expertise in foundational language processing technologies, such as 'unsupervised learning-based morphological analysis' through joint research with the Institute of Statistical Mathematics.
Recipient of the 'Excellence Award' at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Association for Natural Language Processing.
■ Kei Utsumi's Comment
Through my research, I have learned the importance of the question, 'Why and for what purpose do we need to solve this problem?' Even in recent LLM applications, I prioritize 'for whom, why, and what kind of problem are we solving' over the method itself. I strongly resonated with MNTSQ's clear vision of 'making all agreements fair' and its stance of squarely facing the contract domain, which has significant social meaning, and decided to join.
Contract documents have complex logical structures, making it a field where the true value of natural language processing is tested. I will dedicate myself to the challenge of evolving contract operations by sharing the knowledge I have cultivated with the team and company members.
■ About MNTSQ CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management)
It provides comprehensive AI support for the entire contract lifecycle, from creation, review, execution, and management to knowledge (expertise) accumulation. Through company-wide use, from legal departments to business divisions, it aims to improve business speed and establish a robust governance system.
*9 out of the top 10 companies in Nikkei's 'Companies with High Legal Capabilities in 2025' ranking have adopted MNTSQ.
■ About MNTSQ Inc.
MNTSQ is a startup founded in 2018 with the vision of 'making all agreements fair.' Currently, we have business alliances with Japan's top three law firms and develop and provide corporate services, 'MNTSQ CLM' and 'MNTSQ AI Contract Assistant,' which combine their specialized knowledge and expertise with cutting-edge AI technology.
MNTSQ aims for a world where, through AI, all agreements can be concluded fairly by anyone, instantly, transforming the traditional way of contracts.
Company Name: MNTSQ Inc.
Established: November 14, 2018
Location: 4F, Harumi Island Triton Square Office Tower X, 1-8-10 Harumi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Ryuhei Itaya
URL: https://mntsq.co.jp
Since beginning his research in natural language processing at the University of Tsukuba Graduate School, Mr. Utsumi has been involved in implementing language processing foundational technologies based on machine learning and Bayesian statistics, and solving societal issues at Yahoo Japan Corporation, DENSO IT Laboratory, and SB Intuitions Corporation. Most recently, he received the 'Excellence Award,' one of only 14 selected from 765 presentations at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Association for Natural Language Processing (NLP2025), one of Japan's largest academic conferences, earning high acclaim at the forefront of NLP research in Japan.
Our 'MNTSQ CLM' platform, which combines the expertise of major law firms with AI, is transforming the way contract operations are conducted. It is currently utilized by 41 of the top 100 revenue-generating companies in Japan. Furthermore, since last year, we have been progressively enhancing its functionality by incorporating 'MNTSQ AI Agent,' an AI agent equipped with prompts supervised by experts such as lawyers, and deeply familiar with corporate contract practical processes. For large corporations, contract operations involve many people, and internal rules and checking points vary significantly from company to company. To truly make AI useful in such complex operations, simply using a general-purpose LLM (Large Language Model) is insufficient; a dedicated natural language processing foundation that can deeply understand the unique language and document structure of the contract field is essential.
Mr. Utsumi's participation is a significant step towards strengthening this foundation even further. By directly applying the knowledge cultivated at the forefront of research to our products, we will accelerate the development and implementation of AI agents that are truly useful for large corporations' contract operations, at an even greater speed than before.
■ Kei Utsumi Profile
Graduated from the Graduate School of Library, Information and Media Studies, University of Tsukuba. After engaging in research on search engine ranking evaluation algorithms at Yahoo Japan Corporation, he served as a researcher at DENSO IT Laboratory. His specialties are natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning. In particular, he possesses high expertise in foundational language processing technologies, such as 'unsupervised learning-based morphological analysis' through joint research with the Institute of Statistical Mathematics.
Recipient of the 'Excellence Award' at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Association for Natural Language Processing.
■ Kei Utsumi's Comment
Through my research, I have learned the importance of the question, 'Why and for what purpose do we need to solve this problem?' Even in recent LLM applications, I prioritize 'for whom, why, and what kind of problem are we solving' over the method itself. I strongly resonated with MNTSQ's clear vision of 'making all agreements fair' and its stance of squarely facing the contract domain, which has significant social meaning, and decided to join.
Contract documents have complex logical structures, making it a field where the true value of natural language processing is tested. I will dedicate myself to the challenge of evolving contract operations by sharing the knowledge I have cultivated with the team and company members.
■ About MNTSQ CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management)
It provides comprehensive AI support for the entire contract lifecycle, from creation, review, execution, and management to knowledge (expertise) accumulation. Through company-wide use, from legal departments to business divisions, it aims to improve business speed and establish a robust governance system.
*9 out of the top 10 companies in Nikkei's 'Companies with High Legal Capabilities in 2025' ranking have adopted MNTSQ.
■ About MNTSQ Inc.
MNTSQ is a startup founded in 2018 with the vision of 'making all agreements fair.' Currently, we have business alliances with Japan's top three law firms and develop and provide corporate services, 'MNTSQ CLM' and 'MNTSQ AI Contract Assistant,' which combine their specialized knowledge and expertise with cutting-edge AI technology.
MNTSQ aims for a world where, through AI, all agreements can be concluded fairly by anyone, instantly, transforming the traditional way of contracts.
Company Name: MNTSQ Inc.
Established: November 14, 2018
Location: 4F, Harumi Island Triton Square Office Tower X, 1-8-10 Harumi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Ryuhei Itaya
URL: https://mntsq.co.jp