DX Architect Inc. was established in 2023. The company is engaged in businesses related to “My Number Card Health Insurance” — the use of Japan’s My Number Card as a health insurance card — as well as the development of identity verification systems using the My Number Card and related consulting services.
How does the company’s founder plan to grow this still-young organization? How does he intend to tackle social challenges? And who does he want alongside him in achieving these goals? We spoke with Osamu Matsumoto, Representative Director of DX Architect Inc.
Osamu Matsumoto
Born on Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture. After graduating from a technical college, he moved to Tokyo and joined an IT company. Over roughly ten years, he accumulated experience as an IT engineer, including leading the maintenance of systems used by government agencies. He subsequently transferred to the My Number Division, which handled My Number Card-related work. After spending approximately three years there as a consultant rather than an engineer, he went independent.
Spreading the Identity Verification System — the Heart of the My Number Card — with the Right Knowledge
— Could you tell us about DX Architect’s business?
We operate a business that supports the introduction and development of systems designed around the use of the My Number Card. Our main line of work is a consulting business that supports the development, implementation, and operation of the “Online Eligibility Verification System” — a system whose rollout to medical institutions and pharmacies is progressing. We also support the development and implementation of identity verification systems that use the My Number Card.
The Online Eligibility Verification System is a system that enables online verification of insurance eligibility information, prescription history, and specific health checkup data for patients visiting medical institutions. When a patient checks in using their My Number Card, their insurance eligibility and validity can be confirmed instantly. With the patient’s consent, qualified professionals such as physicians and pharmacists can also access the patient’s treatment history, prescription records, and health checkup information. The government is currently encouraging medical institutions and pharmacies to adopt this system as a means of delivering higher-quality healthcare services.
While the My Number Card is becoming more widely held, the range of situations in which it is actually used remains limited. There are no shortage of voices arguing that the very convenience of the card — the ability to access a great deal of information from a single card — increases the risk of information leakage. With this in mind, our company focuses on dispelling doubts about the My Number Card among medical institutions and other organizations that have been hesitant to adopt My Number Card-based systems, approaching this from the perspective of the system operating entity. From there, we make improvement proposals to ensure that the resulting system meets the client’s needs. We see our role as resolving users’ concerns and building an environment in which systems can be used safely.
— I have the sense that more and more companies want to complete identity verification online. Is the My Number Card expected to play a role in those contexts as well?
Yes. We are also seeing an increase in inquiries from companies considering the introduction of systems that use a process known as eKYC (electronic Know Your Customer) for online identity verification. That said, many eKYC-based systems involve having users submit a photo ID such as a driver’s license alongside a self-taken photograph, with company staff then manually comparing the two. This kind of setup places a burden on users in terms of data entry, and can require a significant wait for the review to be completed. On the company side, it also makes it difficult to detect sophisticated forgeries of identity documents, and the review process carries personnel costs.
In response, we are proposing systems in which identity verification is completed simply by reading the IC chip on the My Number Card and entering a PIN. This simplifies cumbersome procedures for users and eliminates the manual review burden on companies. Going forward, we expect to see systems that leverage the My Number Card and offer greater convenience than conventional eKYC adopted in a wide variety of contexts.
— Where do you think the secret to successfully implementing a My Number Card-based identity verification system lies?
Making effective use of the My Number Card requires broad knowledge spanning the card’s mechanisms and functions, as well as the Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures (the “Number Act”) and other regulations governing the use of personal information. However, it is difficult for any single company to secure staff with deep expertise in the My Number Card, and these conditions are among the factors hindering its wider adoption.
Our company has been involved in numerous government DX projects aimed at promoting the use of the My Number Card and has built up substantial knowledge and expertise in this area. We also have extensive consulting experience drawing on that knowledge. Having that proven track record and experience — and knowing the critical points for using the My Number Card effectively — may be the secret to guiding projects to success.
At the same time, I believe the single most important factor in successfully implementing a system is listening closely to the client. If you have the knowledge of the My Number Card, building a system is entirely achievable. But whether that system actually serves the client is a separate question. Unless you build a system that fully reflects the client’s intentions — the purpose and background of the implementation, the outcomes they are hoping for, and their operational concerns — it cannot be called a success. Rather than simply fulfilling objectives like operational efficiency and productivity improvement through system adoption, we believe the focus should be on building a framework and environment that is attuned to the people who will actually use it. Maintaining that awareness at all times and engaging deeply with each client’s challenges is, I believe, the reason our system implementation projects succeed. Incidentally, our company name, “DX Architect,” stems from the belief that IT implementation support must be fused with consulting. Implementing a system or deploying digital technology alone is not sufficient to achieve a company’s DX. What truly matters is giving concrete form to aspirations such as “we want to transform our company in this way” or “we want to amplify this strength of ours.” We want to support clients by reflecting those wishes in the systems we build and helping them move closer to the future they envision. We chose the name “DX Architect” to express our aspiration to become a team of “architects” — designers — who carry out exactly that role.
Building an Organizational Culture That Is Not Afraid to Fail
— What kind of people are you looking for?
The company has only been going for about a year, and I am currently the only employee. So first and foremost, I am looking for someone who can take on a central leadership role. At the same time, laying the groundwork to develop new talent is equally essential. Regardless of whether someone has consulting experience, I am actively hoping to bring on younger people — those in their twenties and thirties.
— What skills and mindset are you looking for in the people you work with?
First and foremost, someone with a genuine interest in and enthusiasm for spreading the use of My Number Card-based services. If someone is interested in what we do, prior experience is not necessarily a requirement.
Beyond that, people who embody what might be described as a “getting-your-hands-dirty” work ethic are also a great fit for us. IT is a fast-moving field, and in day-to-day work you frequently encounter things that are unfamiliar or beyond your existing knowledge. In those moments, we are looking for people who refuse to leave gaps in their understanding unaddressed — who will dig in from scratch to build understanding and form a hypothesis.
Consultants who remain in constant dialogue with clients are always expected to offer advice and recommendations. But there are times when you have to provide guidance on questions that have no clear right answer. In precisely those moments, the ability to derive a hypothesis from multiple pieces of evidence is what matters. If you leave unknowns unaddressed, you cannot form evidence-based hypotheses — and you cannot even begin to verify what the correct answer might be. That willingness to roll up your sleeves and pursue the facts doggedly and sincerely is, I believe, the foundation of everything.
— Is there a particular kind of organizational culture you want to build?
I want to build a culture where people are not afraid to fail. People who are young and less experienced tend to fear failure all the more keenly the less experience they have. But it is precisely because they are young that failure is something to be permitted. My hope is to foster a culture where younger people can take on challenges without fearing failure, and where the whole organization embraces that tolerance for mistakes.
Forming hypotheses is part and parcel of a consultant’s work, but those hypotheses are not always correct. Rather than treating those mistakes as simple failures and moving on, I believe we should treat them as material for the next hypothesis. I also want to build a culture in which we don’t look away from failure, but instead share what we’ve learned and the lessons drawn from it across the whole organization.
“Trustworthiness” — Indispensable to the Realization of a Super-Smart Society
— Could you tell us about your career background and what led you to found the company?
I grew up on Awaji Island, went to a technical college, and then joined an IT company in Tokyo, where I worked for about ten years. After joining I spent six months training in India — a country with highly advanced IT capabilities — and went on to oversee the maintenance of systems used by government agencies, steadily building my knowledge and experience as an IT engineer.
I then transferred to the My Number Division, which handled public sector projects centered on the My Number Card. It was there that I worked as a consultant for the first time, eventually becoming the leader of the consulting team — a role I held for about three years.
— You came to consulting without prior experience. Did you find a significant gap from your previous work?
The word “consultant” had a glamorous ring to it and I was genuinely excited at first, but until I found my feet the days were full of struggle. The job of a consultant is to think through problems that have no predetermined answer and come up with solutions yourself. There are also frequent situations where you have to identify the questions to ask in the first place. I encountered a lot of culture shock from that way of working, which is unique to consulting.
— What led you to start your own company?
After roughly two years of grinding through unfamiliar consulting work, I completed a particular project and felt a deep sense of confidence and achievement. Someone who had previously been quite critical of me came to recognize my abilities. In that moment, I realized I might be capable of tackling any challenge from scratch and seeing it through.
Around that same time, a senior colleague at the company said to me offhandedly: “The era of the My Number Card is coming. Starting your own company is one path worth considering.” It was a passing remark, but it was all the push I needed to take the leap and start the business.
— How do you want to grow DX Architect going forward?
The wave of DX being driven at a national level will only grow larger from here, and eventually we will see the realization of a “super-smart society” in which everything is connected to the internet. In that kind of society, what will matter most is “trust.” On the internet, interacting with people whose faces you cannot see is simply part of everyday life. Commercial transactions with such people are not uncommon. But it is also true that malicious third parties are exploiting this reality, causing problems ranging from fraud to information leaks. In a super-smart society, the importance of how you trust others — and how you earn others’ trust in return — will be greater than ever before. As the era of the super-smart society approaches, we hope to contribute to building the frameworks needed to establish that trust reliably.
One of the building blocks of that framework is Public Personal Authentication — the use of information stored on the IC chip of the My Number Card. While it has yet to achieve sufficient penetration, it is expected to become embedded not only in government agencies but in private-sector companies as well. When that time comes, building systems using the Public Personal Authentication framework so that anyone can transact safely is our mission. In a future where “trust” backed by the My Number Card is used in online transactions, I believe our company will be there — still growing. To inch ever closer to that future, we want to start by supporting our clients’ DX journeys one step at a time.
【Post-Interview Note】
The sense of mission that Representative Director Matsumoto articulates — “building trust in the My Number Card as social infrastructure” — carries a weight that goes well beyond a passing trend. Precisely because the company is still in its early days, each person has the full experience of building something as an “architect” — designing and constructing from scratch.
What struck me most during the interview was a culture that respects the willingness to face facts honestly and persistently form hypotheses, rather than leaving the unknown unaddressed. Because Representative Director Matsumoto himself carved out his own path through hard work and difficulty as a complete newcomer to consulting, his perspective on the younger generation’s failures is warm — viewing them as shared lessons and as fuel for growth. For young professionals who want to personally build the “trust” that will be most essential in a “super-smart society,” and to help update the world in the process, there is no other environment quite like this one for individual growth and genuine challenge. Grasp the sense of accomplishment here that you simply cannot get at a large organization.
ConsulNext Senior Consultant
Masahito Tsukada
DX Architect Inc. — Company Information
| Company Name | DX Architect Inc. |
| Representative Director | Osamu Matsumoto |
| Address | 302, 6-13 Hosoda 3-chome, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo |
| Capital | ¥1,000,000 |
| Business Activities | Computer software development and consulting services related to the introduction of various telecommunications and information systems, etc. |
| Founded | September 2023 |
| Main Clients | Value Consulting Inc. Japan Communication Inc. |
| Main Banking Partner | Mizuho Bank |
