[Interview with Kanade Nishina, Executive Officer of PLAID & Head of STUDIO ZERO, and Takahiko Ito, Senior Business Architect] Hands-On Consulting Driven by a Group of Entrepreneurs: Inside the Corporate Transformation Envisioned by PLAID’s “STUDIO ZERO”

Plaid Inc. brings together members with rich operating company experience. Within Plaid, the in-house entrepreneurial unit “STUDIO ZERO” handles what it calls “execution-accompanying” consulting in the business development domain. STUDIO ZERO members call themselves not “consultants” but “business architects,” remaining committed to support with the genuine, ground-level perspective of a business operator — aiming for certain execution.
What kind of “transformation” is uniquely possible for a team with such diverse backgrounds? We also asked about the policies they hold dear and the vision for the future.

An Organizational Structure That Drives Transformation with the “ART” Spirit

— Could you tell us about Plaid Inc.’s business?

Nishina: We operate on two axes: our CX (Customer Experience) platform business, and a professional services business that supports strategy design and business transformation.

In the CX platform business, we develop products including the “KARTE” series — which uses clients’ 1st Party Customer Data and other data to provide real-time, user-tailored actions in a one-stop fashion, equipped with a rich array of features. We support clients broadly, from user analytics and customer journey design through to site improvement.

In the professional services business, we operate two offerings: “PLAID ALPHA” — which provides consistent accompanying support from data-based strategy formulation and implementation through to business outcome creation — and “STUDIO ZERO,” which supports business transformation across industries, armed with deep expertise in business development.

— Both of you are involved with STUDIO ZERO. Could you tell us about STUDIO ZERO’s purpose and reason for existing?

Ito: STUDIO ZERO operates under the mission of “accelerating the transformation of industries and society.” There are three stances we hold central to that, and we call them “ART” after their initials.

The first is Aufheben. Rather than choosing one side when two conflicting views — A and B — are in tension, it means generating a new, higher-order solution “C” by making use of both. The second is Respect — Plaid and our clients standing on equal footing and mutually respecting each other. The third is Travel — the idea of aiming together for transformations that go beyond what was conventionally conceivable, rather than settling for a predictable future.

This “ART” stance is our reason for existing. We don’t stop at drawing a strategy — we are thoroughly committed to “execution” and “impact.”

— STUDIO ZERO uses the title “Business Architect” rather than “consultant.”

Nishina: Yes. We approach our work with the stance of “architecting” not just the client’s business, but the organization itself — one that is capable of sustainable growth. That is why we use the title “Business Architect.” Legally, we are external parties, but we believe that real transformation cannot happen unless we act with the sense of ownership of “a member involved in the final decision-making.”

— Could you also tell us about the organizational structure?

Nishina: We currently have about 20 members: five leaders and thirteen members. Notably, only one of those comes from a consulting firm background — the majority of the organization consists of people with operating company experience.

This is both our strength and a hiring challenge. Some operating company professionals have driven Aufheben while communicating with multiple stakeholders even without prior client-work experience. On the other hand, some past hires were cases of mismatch — people who were too attached to the idea that “my logic is the most correct one.” Prior client-work experience is not required, but being able to respect others’ thinking without imposing your own agenda is critically important.

Gathering Primary Information and Searching for the Essential Challenge

— How are actual projects structured and run?

Nishina: Current projects run with a minimum of two people and a maximum of six. Because we are working on the theme of business development with a single client while also at times developing new businesses or developing people capable of business development, the total number of people across an account tends to be higher. That said, to ensure each individual member provides deep impact for the client, we cap simultaneous assignment at two projects per person.

— Could you give us a concrete sense of what a “Business Architect” actually does?

Ito: To give an example from my own current work: I’m handling an engagement for a major corporation that wants to “create new businesses in the data business domain.” There is a theme for the new business, but it’s a crowded market where even early movers haven’t yet achieved significant success — we’re at a phase of building together from “which challenge do we solve, and how?” The first thing I committed to was thorough collection of primary information. Centered on our team, we conducted interviews with 50 to 60 target practitioners over the course of one month. Clients were surprised — “you’re going that far?” — but it’s on the basis of this thorough deep-dive into primary information that we hold weekly discussions with the client about “what is the challenge we should solve?” A lot of our work involves this kind of painstaking effort — thoroughly engaging with the client company, its organization, and the people in it.

— So you discuss together rather than presenting answers.

Ito: Yes — the client isn’t looking to us for answers either. We present facts and say “this is how we interpreted them — how do you see it?” and engage in genuine debate. I used new business development support as an example, but it’s the same for transformation support of existing businesses. It’s not uncommon for a client to think they have a problem with business strategy, but for repeated rounds of discussion to reveal that the essential challenge is actually “organizational structure” or “decision-making processes.”

— Do you point out the essential challenge even when it differs from what was originally requested?

Ito: Of course. A typical consulting firm might say “that’s outside the scope of the contract,” but we don’t hesitate to say “if you want to produce real impact, you should do this first.” That is our practice of the stance of “Respect” and “Aufheben.”

Rich Business Experience and What Led to Joining STUDIO ZERO

— Could you tell us about your career backgrounds and how you came to join STUDIO ZERO?

Nishina: The origin of my career was a vague dream I held around age 20 of “wanting to build infrastructure that enhances self-efficacy by age 50.” To start by learning about infrastructure, I joined NTT Docomo as a new graduate. But I gradually realized that learning sales was what mattered most for building infrastructure, and since NTT Docomo’s role was primarily planning with limited sales exposure, I left. After that, using the single keyword “can scientize sales” as my guide, I cold-called Salesforce.com’s main line and made the move. While building experience in their customer success division, I sensed the potential of the SaaS business model — still unusual at the time — and through fortunate connections joined Plaid, which was then still pre-listing. That said, I had an insufficient understanding of startups at first and experienced failures in management and valuation, which led me to enroll in Waseda University’s MBA program to systematically learn about management. After acquiring those skills, I left Plaid once to gain practical experience — serving as CFO and CPO at a Series B startup, working on fundraising and product development.

— How did you come to be involved in launching STUDIO ZERO?

Nishina: At the point when I was graduating from my previous company, I reconnected with Plaid’s founder, Kurahashi. Plaid had just listed at the time, and through our conversations I came to understand that he felt a challenge with the overly strong image of “Plaid = solving marketers’ challenges.”

Plaid has held, since its founding, the value of “PLAY & AID” — cherishing full immersion in something, expressing your own capabilities, and above all enjoying it, and wanting to actively support those things through business. Returning to that origin, he came to me with a request: “We want to become an entity that goes deeper into the executive layer and supports the transformation of businesses and entire organizations.” I started in an advisory capacity, then returned to Plaid in 2021 and launched STUDIO ZERO.

— Mr. Ito, could you tell us about your career background?

This is my third employer. At Senshukai, where I joined as a new graduate, I worked on fulfillment planning, company-wide BPR projects, EC strategy formulation, and launching a new business with Nintendo.

But as companies like Rakuten and Amazon were rapidly generating new value, I wanted to be part of creating transformation at an even faster pace, and made the move to a startup.

— Your second company was a startup in the fishing industry, I understand.

Ito: Yes — Foodison. I had always, as a consumer, felt the unique appeal of Japan’s primary industries and traditional crafts, while also feeling a sense of crisis that those industries were in decline. That led me to wanting to drive transformation in those domains. I joined Foodison — which was working to transform the seafood distribution industry — from its early founding phase, and experienced the choppy waters of startup life: building new fresh food distribution networks, launching new businesses, fundraising, navigating the pandemic, and a Growth Market IPO.

While driving the business as an executive officer, ten years passed since I joined, and I reached a milestone of turning 40 — and I found myself wanting to take on a new challenge from scratch. It was at that point that I met Nishina. The uniqueness of an in-house entrepreneurial unit at an operating company, the organization’s distinct character of calling itself a “group of business builders” while operating a consulting business, and the assemblage of members who had been at the forefront of various industries — I remember being genuinely attracted by all of that. I found myself thinking “what on earth is this organization?” while instinctively feeling “this looks interesting.” When I actually spoke with Nishina, I was moved by his overwhelming passion and sense of excitement, and decided on the spot to join.

What We Are Looking for: “R→A→T” Cross-Domain Experience and “Openness”

— What skills and mindset does it take to thrive at STUDIO ZERO?

Nishina: Someone who can understand and practice our “ART” stance at the level of day-to-day work is a strong match. Actually, “ART” has a flow to it — it starts with “R (Respect).” Having respect for the client’s organization and culture, and even for structural challenges like “why can’t they do this?” — holding that respect, organizing the structure, and becoming someone who is in turn respected — only once that equal relationship exists does “A (Aufheben)” — the crossing of views — become possible. The result of that is what enables “T (Travel)” — the challenge of venturing into uncharted territory.

Someone who has experience of moving things forward through this “R→A→T” process — in business development, alliance negotiations, or any other context regardless of role — will likely find a strong affinity here.

Ito: “Openness” is also necessary. When I joined, I was confident in my operating company experience, but the way we engage with our work here is completely different. For experienced people, past successes can sometimes get in the way. Being able to set aside past successes and approach new methods with genuine openness — that’s essential. Without that thinking, you may not even be able to get to the starting line of Respect.

— What do you think is the appeal of operating company professionals challenging themselves through STUDIO ZERO?

Ito: There are two things I personally feel. The first is the sheer number and depth of “at-bats.” If you’re at an operating company, you can be deeply involved in a single business, but running multiple transformation projects across diverse industries in parallel is simply not feasible. Being able to do that is what makes STUDIO ZERO compelling and interesting as work.

The second is being able to get “the best of both worlds” from startups and large corporations. Running hypothesis validation at startup speed while multiplying the overwhelming assets and resources of a large corporation to drive dynamic transformation — I call this “startup muscles and large-corporation muscles,” and the environment where you can develop both simultaneously while generating real impact is, I think, the greatest attraction of all.

— Could you also tell us about how people work? Plaid has an office in Ginza — what is the balance between office attendance and remote?

Nishina: We encourage around three days of office attendance per week, but because we have many client visits as well, we’re not always in the office. The only time the whole team is in the same physical place is usually Monday morning meetings.

We also have many members who are raising children, and the environment is flexible enough for school pickups and drop-offs and similar needs. It’s an environment where you can be autonomous as a professional while also working flexibly.

Wanting to Propagate Self-Efficacy to Society Through Transformation

— Finally, what would you like to realize going forward — as STUDIO ZERO and as individuals?

Nishina: As STUDIO ZERO, I want to keep generating new examples of transformation that involve our clients. By connecting those examples with academic domains and disseminating them as know-how, I want to spread a sense of self-efficacy — a feeling that “maybe we can do this too” — throughout society. That is also my personal mission.

— How do you see STUDIO ZERO’s role within the broader group?

Nishina: With STUDIO ZERO supporting transformation at the executive level, while also encouraging reform that leverages Plaid’s assets such as products and technology, and with PLAID ALPHA connecting these as CX and DX consulting… I want us to remain a partner supporting transformation as this kind of trinity.

— What role would you like to play, Mr. Ito?

Ito: In my own words, I want to increase what I call “animal spirits.” A term from the economist John Maynard Keynes, it refers to the “desire to act and believe in the future even in the face of uncertainty.” In an era of rapid change and unpredictable futures, I believe that in large corporations — and in Japan as a whole — the challenge-embracing spirit of “there are risks, but let’s try it!” will become increasingly important.

Together with clients, we take the first plunge into uncharted territory ourselves, igniting the client’s passion. And then the client propagates that “animal spirit” within their own organization. I want to create as many of those exhilarating moments as possible through STUDIO ZERO. Beyond those moments is where I believe our mission of “accelerating the transformation of industries and society” truly comes to life.

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【Post-Interview Note】

Plaid Inc. — Company Information

Address	GINZA SIX 10F, 6-10-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
Capital	¥3,091,157,000 (as of September 2024)
Representative	Kenta Kurahashi
Business Activities	Development and provision of SaaS including the CX platform “KARTE,” and DX support for companies, organizations, and local governments through professional services

Plaid Inc. — Job Listings