Headwaters Joins Miyagi Prefecture Business Network 'MISA' as a Supporting Member

Headwaters, Inc. (Headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Yoshisuke Shinoda; hereinafter referred to as "Headwaters") is pleased to announce its membership as a supporting member of the Miyagi Information Service Industry Association (Miyagi Information Service Industry Association, hereinafter referred to as "MISA").

Background of Membership Miyagi Prefecture, led by Sendai City, which has been promoting the "AI-Ready City Sendai" initiative, and the prefecture-led "Digital Frontier MIYAGI" advanced technology demonstration project, has systematically developed administrative-led AI and digital promotion measures. As Microsoft announces large-scale investments in Japan's AI infrastructure, interest and enthusiasm for AI utilization in the industrial sector are growing in Miyagi Prefecture, where the environment for AI agent development is accelerating nationwide.

Under such circumstances, Headwaters has been exploring opportunities for collaboration with excellent companies in Miyagi Prefecture, centered on the FDE (Forward Deployed Engineering) model, which consistently handles AI requirements definition, implementation, and establishment from the customer's site. MISA is a network of approximately 200 companies in the information service industry in Miyagi Prefecture, with a track record of university and college of technology industry-academia collaboration, and was decided to be an important foundation for building points of contact with local companies and local human resources.

Post-Membership Achievements In March 2026, during a business trip to Sendai, our company conducted multiple company visits in two days. All of these were realized through the MISA network, and we have already concluded partnership agreements with 60% of the visited companies.

Among the projects we are working on are real projects utilizing AI agent infrastructure on Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Foundry. By sharing such cutting-edge AI implementation experience with local companies through the MISA network, we believe we can contribute to raising the overall level of AI utilization in Miyagi Prefecture.

Strengthening the Recruitment Base MISA continuously conducts information exchange with universities and colleges of technology, joint company briefing sessions, and industry-academia collaboration activities. Our company will utilize this network to strengthen the recruitment of local human resources, including U-turns and I-turns. We believe that the practical environment of our company, which is at the forefront of AI agent development, can be an attractive career opportunity for local human resources with a high technical orientation.

Future Prospects Our company is scheduled to be the main speaker at the seminar event "ICT Conference" (annually attended by approximately 100 people) to be held next spring. As the momentum for AI promotion in Miyagi Prefecture grows, we will continue to disseminate the insights we have accumulated in AI agent implementation to the region.

In addition, we are also considering utilizing our independently developed AI engineering OS "SAIDDar" (Cider) in future collaboration with regional partner companies. SAIDDar is a mechanism that structures and speeds up the planning process from organizing customer requests to technical selection and proposal document creation, and is operated by our company in its proposal activities. By also deploying such mechanisms in collaboration with regional cooperation partners, we will explore jointly accelerating the promotion of AI utilization by local companies.

Our company will continue to deepen ties with regional companies in Miyagi Prefecture, return AI agent implementation know-how to the region, and work continuously toward the acquisition of next-generation IT human resources, using MISA membership as an opportunity.

Reference Information ・Independently developing "X-Tech FDE" by fusing the global trend of "Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE)" and "X-Tech" to maximize the ROI of AI projects https://www.headwaters.co.jp/news/x-tech_fde.html

・Headwaters shifts AI-driven development from individual dependence to organizational standards, deploying AI Engineering OS "SAIDDar" ~ Organizing Copilot Cowork/Claude Cowork as organizational skills and automating from standard design to AI coding implementation using GitHub Copilot ~ https://www.headwaters.co.jp/news/SAIDDar.html

About MISA (Miyagi Information Service Industry Association) The Miyagi Information Service Industry Association (MISA) was launched as a voluntary organization in December 1996, recognized as a juridical person by the Governor of Miyagi Prefecture in April 2001, and transitioned to a general incorporated association in July 2011. The association aims to promote the information service industry in Miyagi Prefecture and contribute to the advanced informatization and economic development of the regional society. In addition to approximately 220 business establishments in the prefecture as regular and supporting members, it is composed of 11 special members including Miyagi Prefecture and Sendai City.

URL: https://www.misa.or.jp/

Trademarks Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Foundry are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. The unique names of events, etc. listed are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Company Information Company Name: Headwaters, Inc. Address: 4F Shinjuku Island Tower, 6-5-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-1304 Representative: Representative Director Yoshisuke Shinoda Established: November 2005 URL: https://www.headwaters.co.jp/ Keywords: