Founder CEO Kento Sato Featured in the Official Interview Series for AI Requirement Definition Summit 2026
Kikuvi Founder CEO Kento Sato has been featured in the official interview series for AI Requirement Definition Summit 2026, hosted by ROUTE06, Inc. on June 11, 2026. The article covers the philosophy behind Kikuvi, how automating dry hearings reshapes the structure of requirement definition, Kikuvi's proprietary algorithm, and the growing enterprise adoption that has emerged within just six months of launch.
"Time is the only irreplaceable resource" — Why building from zero
The article traces Sato's path from Bain Capital, where he led AI- and DX-driven value creation, to founding Kikuvi within six months of leaving the firm in January 2025. The conviction that "people, things, money, and information fluctuate, but time only decreases" sits at the core of Kikuvi's product thesis.
Dry vs Wet — A structural answer to requirement gaps
The piece distinguishes "wet" hearings, where rapport and nuance matter, from "dry" hearings focused on facts, processes, and issues — and frames Kikuvi as a structural answer to chronic requirement gaps. By moving beyond time-charged interviews limited to a handful of key stakeholders, AI can capture input from the entire population, reducing the rework that plagues large IT and consulting projects.
Adapting questions to remaining time — Beyond foundation models
"LLMs are optimized for how to answer the questions humans ask. Hearings are the inverse: AI poses the questions, humans answer, and the question itself must be optimized without knowing what response will come." From this framing, Sato describes Kikuvi's proprietary technology, including a patent-pending algorithm that adjusts upcoming questions based on the time remaining in a session — much like a skilled human interviewer.
Enterprise adoption
Within roughly six months of launch, Kikuvi has been adopted by major Japanese enterprises across manufacturing, life insurance, real estate, advertising, and the public sector. Use cases span HR hearings, business process audits, and customer research — driven by the vast amount of dry listening work that exists across every industry.
Speaking at AI Requirement Definition Summit 2026
The interview is published as part of the official series for AI Requirement Definition Summit 2026 (Thursday, June 11, 2026, 13:00–18:00 at TODA HALL & CONFERENCE TOKYO), hosted by ROUTE06, Inc. Sato is scheduled to take the stage, calling for organizations to set aside today's process assumptions and reimagine an ideal to-be operating model with AI at its core.
