Background of "In-house DX Human Resources Development University" where Daikin produces results--Idemi Ishikawa's "DX Tips" [Part 2]

Background of "In-house DX Human Resources Development University" where Daikin produces results--Image of "DX's point of view" [Part 2] by Aidemy Ishikawa

Mr. Akihiko Ishikawa, President and CEO of Aidemy, which provides e-learning platform "Aidemy Business" for DX human resource development centered on AI and "Aidemy Premium", an online programming school specializing in Python, said "DX In order to clarify "the key points", we will introduce DX practice examples from various industries in a serial format. Continuing from the last time, we will deliver the second part of the dialogue between Mr. Hiroaki Ueda, an executive officer of Daikin Industries, which is known for air conditioners, and Mr. Masahiro Kobayashi, a full-time officer. Issues that cannot be hired by information students Mr. Ishikawa: DX human resources are indispensable for promoting DX. Mr. Daikin is focusing on employee education by "Daikin University of Information Technology (DICT)". Could you tell us the background and background of the establishment? Mr. Kobayashi: On the premise of commoditization of air conditioning equipment, we must create an environment where software can be added to the conventional hardware business and provide technology for end users in order to customize it according to customers in the future. There was an idea. However, looking at the rivalry of "manufacturing," not only the entry of Chinese manufacturers, but also different industries such as GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple) and BAT (Baidu: Baidu, Alibaba: Alibaba, Tencent). There are also concerns about entry from. I just want to get rid of the situation where I'm in a pinch shot. On the other hand, many information-related engineers have been in the fields of machinery, chemistry, and electricity, and only 1% of all information-related engineers, who were indispensable in the DX era, were enrolled in Japan. .. However, information-related students are in conflict with each other, and it is unlikely that they will be hired as new students. In that case, we started up with the only way to develop in-house human resources who can take charge of AI utilization, technology development, system development, and so on. Mr. Ishikawa: I feel that education is more important because we will need engineers to analyze the data obtained from air conditioners, and we will also need human resources who can design the business processes. Mr. Kobayashi: That's right. Education is gradual, and we started AI-related education four years ago, but we are also advancing data scientist education. While applying the definition of a data scientist of the Information-technology Promotion Agency, we started with a plan to develop 1000 people who have "business ability", "data analysis ability" and "data engineering ability" by the end of 2021. .. Currently, we are in the stage of increasing the number of people first and then improving the quality, including raising the number of 1,500 people from level 4 to level 5 by the end of 2023. At present, about 950 people have been trained, and 1050 people are expected by the end of 2022, so it can be said that it is as planned. When it comes to the image of AI human resources that Daikin is aiming for, it is premised that it can handle both its own specialized area and AI as a so-called "π (pie) type human resources". This initiative is popularly known as education for new employees, but it is divided into executives, executives, "managers" who are generally managers, existing employees, and new employees. It is intended for employees. However, information-related ready-to-work personnel are invited to join the practical technical group. For new employees, we aim to reach the master's degree level in information systems by studying for two years. Mr. Ishikawa: How do you check your proficiency level? Mr. Kobayashi: Basic information processing engineer, statistical test level 2, data analysis and acquisition of qualifications related to AWS. You have achieved excellent results in each year, exceeding the national average. In addition, Daikin has participated in the AI ​​engineer contest held inside NEC together with Shiga University since 2021, but in the first year Daikin took first place in two fields. is. Management has evaluated this as a program that has been extremely successful internally. Mr. Ishikawa: Human resources who can come up with plans are important. While Idemie is helping the DX human resources development of more than 200 corporations with e-learning, "If you develop human resources, you may quit after that." You may hear the concern. In fact, what about Daikin-san? Mr. Kobayashi: I can't say specifically, but I think it can be said that the retention rate is very high, with only a few people in the first and second semesters combined. The secretariat and the first-year students were groping and crazy about themselves, and since there was no precedent, they probably had a very strong horizontal connection. After all, I think that "there are 100 friends who ate the same pot of rice" for two years worked a lot. However, since the 3rd gen member has suffered from Korona-ka, the number of remote lessons has increased, so I personally think that care for that area is necessary. Mr. Ishikawa: It is often said that as an anti-pattern for DX, "you should avoid throwing a ball at someone outside the company", but in the case of Mr. Daikin, we have been working with him for about four years. The place that I can't see at all is really wonderful. As a premise, it is effective that Daikin has a solid growth of digital human resources. What are the discussions about the priorities and priorities of human resource development in the future? Mr. Ueda: We still need a data scientist, but it is also an issue to grow into a business innovator. When it comes to providing content with solutions such as apps, it is necessary to have human resources who can develop apps and manage them. Mr. Ishikawa: So-called planning personnel are also indispensable. Mr. Ueda: That's right. Now that we are raising 1,500 people, we recognize that we are in the phase of identifying the characteristics of each individual together with our work. There are people who like planning, people who want to specialize in technology, and people who are good and bad. However, there is a possibility that data analysis can be automated in the future, so from the perspective of what to focus on and how to create new things, in the end, human resources who can plan while being a technical worker are the most important. Will be. Is it possible to grow the human resources large and fast, create innovation, and implement it? However, once you have planned it, you can request it from outside for implementation. Human resources who can come up with plans are still important above all. Mr. Ishikawa: I have no choice but to expect in-house human resources for such a part. I felt the strong will of top management in advancing this initiative, but is it because of the experience of having succeeded in human resource development in the past? Mr. Ueda: Probably, while the business has grown so much globally, I think that the placement of the right person in the right place is a successful example. At first, Japanese people will cultivate, and after that, nearly half will collaborate with local companies. We have succeeded in identifying and training human resources there. This is probably because they recognize the need for business expansion and human resources. Mr. Ishikawa: Business growth and human resource development and selection are two sides of the same coin. Mr. Ueda: The top management is always aware that the growth of each individual is the sum of the growth of the company. Furthermore, I feel that each individual recognizes the differences and grows up, and continues to say and practice. What do successful PBLs have in common? Mr. Ishikawa: It's a little concrete, but I think the second year of DICT is very unique. We are doing business through PBL (Project Based Learning). I think it's an OJT-like training, but is the product or product that was actually born used in practice, or is it divided into training? Mr. Kobayashi: 2022 is the fourth year of our efforts, but we have finally come up with something that can be put to practical use. Actually, I am also a member of the Early Medal for Patents, but I received three awards for the theme from DICT for the Early Medal for Patents. I was very happy. For example, there is a system that can distinguish 6 types of mold by smartphone image recognition and detect the progress of the mold. In the past, it was possible to send it to an inspection institution and propose to the customer on the spot that the analysis result would be available one week later, "Because the mold is so advanced, let's replace the filter." In the case where the students took over every six months and brought it to practical use, I think this is a wonderful power. I would like to encourage you to achieve more results in the future. Mr. Ishikawa: I think it's a sense of challenge that can only be seen by π-type human resources. What do you find good about a successful PBL? Is it a project, an assigned technical ability, or an enthusiasm? What do successful projects have in common? Mr. Kobayashi: The PBL presentation is a plan announcement, an interim announcement, and a final announcement, but the managers who are mentors for each department, the young employees who actually take care of them, and the students can collaborate well. Then there is a synergistic effect. After all, students do not have domain knowledge, so managers and seniors set problems, give necessary information and data, and excellent students solve it. I feel that it will only work if the triple time signatures are met. In that sense, the Chemistry Division is proceeding with a project to follow up with all departments, and the average level is very high in terms of the degree of perfection of the theme. In other words, success depends in part on the competence of managers. Efforts to foster a corporate culture, including managers and executives, will play a major role. What is DX for Daikin? Ishikawa: Thank you. Lastly, I'm sorry to ask you a rather big question, but could you tell us "What is DX for Daikin?" Mr. Ueda: I would like to work on new businesses, but my proposition is to change the main business related to existing air conditioning equipment. DX is a "battle for survival". Until now, we have been competing only with rivals by making good products, but in the future we will create a prosperous society by competing with various industries. I think that is the mission. Mr. Kobayashi: DX can be said to be "a threat and an opportunity." There are some very risky aspects where rivals that have never existed before come out, but if you put this much effort into your company, you will have various opportunities. The opportunity is a Dharma Talk, but there will be process innovations in traditional businesses and product and product innovations. However, at the moment, we are limited to process innovation, and even so, we can only provide AI that pleases the field. After all, we must create "innovations that are troublesome for people in the field." In other words, it must be an innovation that gives a sense of crisis that the field will be replaced by AI. At that point, DICT was able to recover its investment for the first time, and it can be said that it has taken the next step. Hiroaki Ueda Daikin Industries, Ltd. Executive Officer in charge of DX Strategy Promotion, General Manager of Corporate Planning Office Graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University. Joined Daikin Industries, Ltd. in 1997 (Design Department, Air Conditioning Production Headquarters), and after working in the Small RA Product Group, Air Conditioning Production Headquarters, in 2012, General Manager of Technology Planning Section, Corporate Planning Office. In 2017 he was the General Manager of the Technical Planning Department of the Corporate Planning Office, and in 2020 he was the Executive Officer and General Manager of the Corporate Planning Office. To this day, he is mainly engaged in planning-related work such as product planning and strategic planning. Currently, he is also in charge of promoting the DX strategy. Masahiro Kobayashi Full-time officer of Daikin Industries, Ltd. Graduated from the Department of Nuclear Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University. Joined Daikin Industries, Ltd. (Research Institute) in 1981, served as General Manager of Technical Planning Department, Corporate Planning Office in 2002, and became a full-time officer in 2004. He is the director of the Environmental Technology Research Institute in 2007, the vice president of Daikin Air Techno Co., Ltd. in 2012, the air conditioning sales division in 2016, and the building energy management and instrumentation business promotion in the Applied Solution Business Division. Since 2018, he has been the chief engineer of the Technology Innovation Center. Akihiko Ishikawa Representative Director, Executive Officer and CEO of Aidemy Inc. Graduated from the Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo. He dropped out of the same graduate school. While attending school, his specialty is environmental engineering, and utilizing his experience in applied research on machine learning in the water treatment field, he has developed a reskilling service "Aidemy" for DX / GX human resources and an in-house production support service "Modeloy" for systems. Developed and provided. His books include "A Book on Mathematics for Artificial Intelligence Programming" (KADOKAWA / 2018) and "Seven Rules for Introducing AI to Maximize the Return on Investment" (KADOKAWA / 2020). He was selected as "Forbes 30 UNDER 30 JAPAN 2019" and "Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2021" for 30 people under the age of 30 who will change the world.