Twelve students from the first cohort of "KANSAI AI BOOTCAMP," a program run by three IT companies in the Kansai region to cultivate humanities-oriented AI talent, have completed their studies
Beyond Inc. (Headquarters: Osaka City, Representative Director: Masahiro Haraoka, hereinafter: Beyond), a provider of managed cloud server services and system development services, held a "DEMO DAY" on October 23, 2026 (Friday), the final results presentation for the first term of the "KANSAI AI BOOTCAMP," an AI talent development program for liberal arts university students, which it jointly operates with Kansai-based IT companies Actobi Inc. (Headquarters: Osaka City, President and CEO: Ryosuke Fujiwara, hereinafter: Actobi) and Scene Live Inc. (Headquarters: Osaka City, President and CEO: Ryosuke Isomura, hereinafter: Scene Live). Twelve students, who had studied for three months with no prior programming experience, presented the web applications they had developed themselves, and all of them successfully completed the program
What is KANSAI AI BOOTCAMP?
"KANSAI AI BOOTCAMP" is an AI talent development project for liberal arts university students, launched in April 2026 by three Osaka-based IT companies: Beyond, Actobi, and Scene Live
*For details on the launch, please see here (https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000021.000019232.html)
The first phase began in June with the career event "Liberal Arts AI Night," which was attended by 76 students from the Kansai region. Following this, 12 liberal arts students from eight universities in Kansai who passed the selection process participated in a three-month boot camp starting in August, where they underwent a practical program guided by active engineers
Participating students' universities (in alphabetical order)
Kansai University, Kansai Gaidai University, Kindai University, Konan University, Kobe College, University of Hyogo, Yamato University, Ritsumeikan University
Twelve humanities students from eight universities in the Kansai region participated
KANSAI AI BOOTCAMP's initiative
3-month curriculum design
| period | phase | Content |
| Weeks 1-8
(For the first two months)
|
Basic knowledge acquisition period | Acquire broad knowledge ranging from development to infrastructure
Three active engineers from different companies, each with expertise in areas such as fundamental programming knowledge, prompt design, requirements definition, and server/infrastructure construction, will conduct in-person lectures and practical training once a week |
| Weeks 9-12
(The last month)
|
Practical team development phase | Web application development for DEMO DAY
Each team selects a task from the given challenges and develops a web application. Each member develops one web application, and ultimately, the team selects a representative work for refinement. Each team is assigned a mentor company to provide support and guidance |
Presentations and live demos to showcase results
Approximately 50 people, including employees and related parties from the three organizing companies, attended the DEMO DAY held on Friday, October 23, 2026
In the first half of the event, each team gave a presentation and a live demo of the web application they developed. Five judges from the Kansai region evaluated the teams on five criteria: "practicality," "technical skill," "user perspective," "idea," and "teamwork" (assessing the growth of all team members ) . Each criterion was scored out of 5 points, for a total of 125 points.
Judges (in no particular order)
Ryosuke Fujiwara, President and CEO of Actobi Co., Ltd
Ryosuke Isomura, President and CEO of Scene Live Co., Ltd
Masahiro Haraoka, Representative Director, Beyond Co., Ltd
Mr. Showa Kitano, Representative Director, Puzzle Co., Ltd
Masahiro Kondo, President and CEO of Mirai Style Co., Ltd
Award results and an overview of the three announced products
[Grand Prize] ' Local Door ' , a multilingual web app connecting tourists and local shops.
Developed by: TEAM C (Haisai)
The challengeis the disconnect between tourists who want to visit shops that locals frequent on a daily basis and local shops that want to attract inbound tourists but cannot allocate resources to multilingual support or reservation management.
Overview: A web application that matches tourists with hidden local shops in Japan, eliminating language barriers. Tourists can search for shops in their own language and learn about local businesses based on factors such as the proportion of local customers.
You can also find shops that people frequent. Shop owners simply enter their shop information in Japanese, and it is automatically translated into three languages and posted online. Communication before a visit can also be done in real time via chat in each other's native languages. Its practicality, which eliminates language anxiety for tourists while not increasing the workload for shop owners, has been highly praised
LocAI is a web app that connects farmers and restaurants, facilitating local production and consumption and sourcing vegetables in the quantities needed
Developed by: TEAM A (LocAI)
The problemlies in the distribution structure, which prevents direct transactions between independent restaurants struggling with undervaluation in the market and food waste, and local farmers who lack price-setting power due to intermediaries, leaving them with little profit.
Overview: This web application connects farmers and restaurants and features an AI called "Carrot" that automatically calculates and suggests the necessary ingredients and quantities. It includes various AI-powered functions, such as adding a brief explanation of why a particular ingredient is suitable for a restaurant when searching, and suggesting alternative ingredients if the desired ingredient is out of stock. The AI's role is strictly limited to connecting farmers and restaurants.
AI Regional Trading Company Web App 'AI Regional Trading Company' supports small-lot procurement for restaurants.
Developed by: TEAM B (beyond-the-past)
The problemlies in the distribution structure, which prevents direct transactions between independent restaurants struggling with undervaluation in the market and food waste, and local farmers who lack price-setting power due to intermediaries, leaving them with little profit.
Overview: This web application automatically compiles a list of nearby farmers to supply you with ingredients and quantities you want, simply by entering them in natural language (voice or text). It searches for farmers with sufficient stock and, only if stock is insufficient, combines up to three other farmers for purchase. Its key features are its simple design that anyone can use without difficulty and its support for voice input.
Voices of participating students
As a team leader, what I enjoyed most was being able to develop the project together with the team members. The web application we created and this experience have become a great asset that I can confidently showcase
At first, I struggled with typing and submitting assignments, and every week I wondered if I even belonged there. However, with the support of my teammates and mentors, I was able to see it through to the end, and Iwant to use this experience to my advantage in the future.
I happened to attend an event through a friend's introduction, and that led me to participate in this project. Not only did it help me develop my skills, but it also became an opportunity that I can use in my job search. Italso gave me a chance to deepen my already existing interest in IT.
I've always been interested in IT, but I didn't know where to start, so I couldn't take the first step. Inever thought I could create web applications, soI feel like I've gained a valuable skill.
I came from a humanities background with no IT knowledge, so I started from scratch. Even so, I was able to actually create a service, which became a valuable skill.I want to share this experience with my friends and teach them about AI.
Regarding the future
In the first phase, liberal arts university students who had no prior programming experience just three months prior completed a web application to solve a chosen problem through lectures and team development. At DEMO DAY, the best team was recognized, and certificates of completion were awarded to all 12 participants who completed the program. With this, the first phase of "KANSAI AI BOOTCAMP" came to a close
The three organizing companies plan to continue holding this program in subsequent years. Moving forward, they will continue to create opportunities in the Kansai region for young people, including liberal arts students, who have had little exposure to IT, to learn about AI in a practical way, and contribute to the development of AI talent in the region
Comments from representatives of the three organizing companies
Masahiro Haraoka, Representative Director, Beyond Co., Ltd
This program started from the shared desire of three companies to "provide students with truly useful skills free of charge." All we hope for is that students will use the practical skills they gain here to achieve results in their job search and in society beyond, and thrive. As an initiative to nurture the next generation from Kansai, we will continue to promote this program in the coming years
Ryosuke Isomura, President and CEO of Scene Live Co., Ltd
As a for-profit company, our primary goal is to maximize profitability when investing resources. However, we are convinced that this initiative goes beyond mere profitability and holds immense significance in contributing to the local community and nurturing the next generation. The 12 students who successfully completed web application development despite having no prior experience will expand the circle of challenge if they can simply convey to just one more person that "even liberal arts majors can create value with AI." We expect them to use the hands-on experience they gained over these three months as a weapon to excel in their upcoming job search and in the next stage of their lives in society
Ryosuke Fujiwara, President and CEO of Actobi Co., Ltd
I pay my respects to the students who committed to investing their time to acquire a "lifelong asset" and saw it through to the end. We were able to directly pass on the "correct practical knowledge of AI" that we, who operate on the front lines of business, have cultivated. The way of thinking about AI and the confidence gained from bringing it to fruition that they acquired here will form the foundation of any career, not just development. I hope they will take pride in this sense of accomplishment and take on challenges in society going forward
■Company Overview
Beyond Co., Ltd
Beyond Co., Ltd. is a managed service provider (MSP) established in April 2007. In addition to server construction and 24/7/365 operation monitoring in multi-cloud environments such as AWS and Google Cloud, we also handle web system development and the development and operation of our own services
| Company name | Beyond Co., Ltd |
| Locations | Nankai SK Namba Building 3F, 1-10-4 Namba-naka, Naniwa-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture |
| Establishment | April 2007 |
| representative | Representative Director: Masahiro Haraoka |
| Number of employees | 90 people |
| Business Activities | ■ Cloud server business Cloud server design, construction, migration, operation, and maintenance (AWS and other services) ■ System Development Business: ■ Our own services: |
| HP | https://beyondjapan.com |
ACTBE Inc
| Company name | ACTBE Inc |
| Locations | ACN Shinsaibashi Urban 2F, 3-3-7 Hakuro-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture |
| Establishment | February 2018 |
| representative | Ryosuke Fujiwara, President and CEO |
| Business Activities | Tech-Integrator Business (DX support, software planning, development, and operation, branding, UX/UI design, Salesforce operation support, development, and consulting, etc.) |
| HP | https://actbe.co.jp |
Scene Live Co., Ltd
| Company name | Scene Live Co., Ltd |
| Locations | EDGE Bingomachi 9th Floor, 3-4-1 Bingomachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture |
| Establishment | April 2011 |
| representative | Representative Director and President: Ryosuke Isomura |
| Business Activities | ■Sales Tech Domain SaaS Business Development and operation of the outbound call system "lisnavi" / Development and operation of the cloud IVR "OSORA" ■HR Tech Domain: |
| HP | https://place-live.com |
Inquiry
For inquiries regarding this press release, please feel free to contact us using the form below
| Contact Information | Public Relations Officer, Beyond Co., Ltd |
|---|---|
| Contact form | For inquiries regarding this press release, https://beyondjapan.com/contact |
