​Description

​Welcome to AI Explorations: AI x Branding. We'll examine the technical and practical intersections of artificial intelligence and brand development.

​Bringing together experts in agentic workflows, design tooling for production-level systems, and startup strategy, this event focuses on how technical teams and founders can leverage AI to build defensible brand moats.

​Expect deep dives into custom agentic pipelines in branding, the limitations of code-generation tools in design, and the necessity of domain expertise when engineering creative solutions, prioritizing technical realities over marketing hype.

​​Agenda

​Raphael will establish the strategic baseline, defining why brand is a necessary structural moat for AI-era products. Fumito will then introduce the intermediate layer: the specific tooling, UX/UI requirements, and design control needed to execute that brand vision and bridge the gap between basic "vibe coding" and production deployment. Anthony will conclude with an applied technical topic: building custom agentic AI workflows and addressing the "judgment gap" in enterprise-level creative systems.

​18:00 Doors open

​18:30 - 19:00 Brand is the new moat (Raphael Hodé)

​19:00 - 19:30 Controlling Design in the Age of Agents — The Future Framer Is Building (Fumito Kikuchi)

​19:30 - 20:00 Built, Not Theorized: Agentic AI and the Judgement Gap in Brand Work (Anthony Baker)

​20:00 - 21:00 Networking

​21:00 Doors close

​Speakers

​Talk 1 - Brand is the new moat

​Speakers: Raphael Hodé (Co-founder, nowthen)

​Abstract: Building a product has never been easier, but breaking through has never been harder. In this talk, Raphael — co-founder and CEO of design studio nowthen — argues that in the AI era, brand has become one of the strongest growth levers young companies can have. Drawing on his work with founders and watching how the best startups win today, he lays out the fundamentals every founder needs to nail to build a brand that breaks through.

​Bio: Raphael is the Co-Founder and CEO of nowthen, a design studio based in Tokyo, helping founders worldwide build remarkable brands. He spent 15 years designing for large companies and startups alike, and loves to nerd out on brand, design, startups, and building products worth using.

​Talk 2 - Controlling Design in the Age of Agents — The Future Framer Is Building

​Speaker: Fumito Kikuchi (Japan GTM Lead, Framer)

​Abstract: The rise of vibe coding has made it possible for anyone to generate a simple website with a single prompt. But code-based output creates real barriers when teams need to edit, collaborate, and ship to production. CLI interfaces are not intuitive for everyone. And for professionals who need to differentiate from AI slop, achieving top-tier brand expression requires full control over design. How will design tools evolve in the age of agents? Framer's Japan GTM lead shares the future we're building toward.

​Bio: Fumito worked as a Solution Architect at Adobe, supporting enterprise clients, then built and led a high-touch sales & success organization at Studio. He joined Framer in December 2025 as Country Lead to spearhead the Japan GTM launch.

​Talk 3 - Built, Not Theorized: Agentic AI and the Judgement Gap in Brand Work

​Speaker: Anthony Baker (Managing Director, R/GA)

​Abstract: Most AI x branding conversations are about potential. This one is about practice. Anthony Baker, Managing Director of R/GA Japan, shares three case studies where custom agentic AI workflows produced real brand work — film, personalized content at scale, consumer-facing brand platforms — and what building those tools revealed about what AI actually requires from creative innovation teams. The insight: AI without domain expertise produces mediocre work. Domain expertise without hands-on AI capability misses the possibilities. Closing that gap — the judgment gap — is the real transformation challenge for brands and agencies right now.

​Bio: Anthony Baker is Managing Director of R/GA Japan, where he leads AI-driven creative and brand transformation across Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. He co-founded the Japan office in 2017 and has since built one of the region's most applied practices at the intersection of creativity, technology, business, and culture. A former technologist turned business leader, Antonio holds a D&AD Graphite Pencil (2024) and has spoken on AI and brand strategy at AdWeek Asia, DMS Seoul, Campaign360, and Eurobest.

​​Organizers

​Ilya Kulyatin is an entrepreneur with work and academic experience in the US, Netherlands, Singapore, UK, and Japan. He holds a BA in Economics, an MA in Finance, and an MSc in Machine Learning. He's a 3x founder, now helping Japan grow the local AI ecosystem through a not-for-profit community, Tokyo AI (TAI), while building an AI-native system integrator and solutions provider, Foundry Labs株式会社.

​​Supporters

​Tokyo AI (​​​TAI) is the biggest AI community in Japan, with 4,000+ members mainly based in Tokyo (engineers, researchers, investors, product managers, and corporate innovation managers).

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