Seranova
🇯🇵 日本語Free AI diagnosticBook a call

Fractional bilingual PM / PdM for Japan project delivery

The offer

AI handles admin and status-chasing. A human makes decisions, keeps stakeholders aligned, and ensures the project is delivered.

Book a 30-min call For a small or mid-sized business, a 3-minute free AI diagnostic
Our ServicesBrochure
S
T
A
K
Bilingual | 14+ years in Japan | Startups / Enterprise DX
Founder details
AI Opportunity Matrix
Weekly PM ops · an example
Task
Manual
With AI
Saved
Impact
Progress reporting
20 min
High ImpactHigh
Meeting notes & actions
10 min
High ImpactHigh
Stakeholder updates
30 min
High ImpactHigh
Risk & issue logging
15 min
MediumMed
Vendor coordination
45 min
MediumMed
Requirements drafting
1 hr
High ImpactHigh
Problem

Tech project delivery in Japan has specific challenges (see below). Seranova can help, wherever you are in your journey.

  1. 01

    IT talent gap

    400,000–800,000 IT professionals short by 2030.About 70% sit in SIer / subcontracting layers. (METI)

  2. 02

    Gaishikei recruitment barriers

    About 60%: qualified hiring is the top hurdle.Mid-level bilinguals: often 20–30% more. (JETRO)

  3. 03

    Bilingual product leader scarcity

    42.3% of domestic tech firms report a severeshortage of product management leadership. (IPA)

  4. 04

    Low ROI from AX / DX

    ≥5% AI/tech: one-fourth to one-eleventh the US.Over 70% lack a formal DX vision or roadmap. (IPA)

  5. 05

    Global HQ–Japan team friction

    B2B sales and approval take two to three timeslonger than in Western markets.

Who we work with

Growing Japanese startups

Roughly 30–100 people, scaling fast, and needing a delivery process leadership can actually see. Often working with English-speaking engineers, offshore teams, or overseas partners.

Foreign companies in Japan

Teams that need a bilingual PM/PdM they can trust between an English-speaking HQ and the team on the ground in Japan.

Not sure you're a fit? Book a call anyway. We'll check fit in 30 minutes, with no obligation.

Three ways to work together

Start with a sprint to set up how delivery runs, then keep it running on a monthly retainer if you need to. We'll decide where to start on a 30-minute call.

Compare the cost of hiring a bilingual PM

Brochure
Best place to start

AI PMO Sprint

You get working results — not a PDF or another consultant report.

4–6 weeks. Fixed from ¥400,000 excl. tax.

  1. 1.Measure where your PM/PMO team loses time (meetings, status, tickets, requirements)
  2. 2.Put AI on the top 1–2 workflows
  3. 3.Leave a simple system your team can run

Start with a free 30-min discovery call. If we’re a fit, we run the sprint. After that, we can stay on a monthly retainer if you want.

Talk to us about a sprint

Monthly retainer

Join your team and keep delivery moving.

From ¥600,000/month excl. tax

  1. 1.Weekly priorities, progress, and risk
  2. 2.Japanese–English stakeholder alignment, with decisions on record
  3. 3.Requirements, roadmap, and vendor coordination
Talk to us about a retainer Compare hire vs retainer

Custom

For large programs and small asks.

Multi-vendor programs, large projects, or setting up a foreign company's Japan operation. Quoted to scope.

Ask for a quote

AI PMO Sprint · Monthly retainer · Custom

HOW IT WORKS
1Free 30-minute call to check fit, no obligation
2AI PMO Sprint (4–6 weeks), or start a retainer
3Move to a monthly retainer if needed, with scope adjusted each month
See what we cover →

Not ready for a PM? Start with a free AI diagnostic

Find out in a few minutes where AI can cut admin work in your operations. Built mainly for small and mid-sized businesses.

Over 70% of Japanese companies don't yet have a formal DX roadmap (IPA). The diagnostic is a first step.

If the results point to a bigger need, we can talk about a sprint or retainer.

Founder

Ved Kamat — Founder of Seranova
Ved Kamat
Tokyo, Japan

Bilingual PM/PdM · 14+ years

  1. Now

    AI-native PM/Ops

    Founder, Seranova KK. I embed as a bilingual PM and run delivery with workflows.

  2. 03

    Startup PM/PdM Lead

    Sprinklr, SmartNews, minacolor (docomo)

    Led product and project delivery at fast-growing startups, from roadmap to release.

  3. 02

    Consultant

    30+ projects

    30+ projects as the PM or PdM each engagement needed.

  4. 01

    Enterprise DX

    Large-scale digital transformation programmes at Accenture and MetLife.

  5. 00

    Foundation, system engineer

    Started as a system engineer at Infosys, building and running enterprise systems.

Book a 30-min call.

We reply within one business day (JST). A conversation to check fit — not a hard sell.

Tokyo, Japan

Book a 30-min call

Pick a time that works for you — no back-and-forth needed.

Or share some context first

How we handle this form: Privacy policy.

Frequently Asked Questions

4–6 weeks. Fixed from ¥400,000 excl. tax.

We’ll measure where your PM/PMO team loses time (meetings, status, tickets, requirements), put AI on the top 1–2 workflows, and leave a simple system your team can run. You get working results — not a PDF or another consultant report.

Start with a free 30-min discovery call. If we’re a fit, we run the sprint. After that, we can stay on a monthly retainer if you want.

Many teams run it themselves from there. If you want continued support, you can move to a monthly retainer. There's no obligation to continue.

A senior project/product operator who embeds in your team on a monthly retainer. Faster to start than a full-time senior hire; more continuity than a one-off freelancer. We keep Japan delivery and English stakeholders (HQ, investors, overseas) on the same story. AI cuts admin — notes, status-chasing, prep — so people stay on judgment and alignment.

Compare hire vs retainer

Ideal Fit:

  • Japan startups roughly ~30–100 people with real project/product delivery underway
  • Gaishikei Japan offices that need a bilingual owner on the ground — not another vendor seat

We are not built for solo founders as the primary fit. A discovery call is still welcome if you want an honest check. Usually a poor fit: no English stakeholder side at all, or shopping only for the cheapest headcount.

Book a call

Yes. The bilingual bridge is the job. Field in Japanese; HQ, investors, or overseas in English — same priorities, same progress, same decisions on both sides. This is not translation-as-a-service.

Same idea as the stakeholder matrix on the services page: clear ownership by seat.

  • Product — priority and scope tradeoffs
  • Engineering — realistic sequencing, dependencies, risk
  • Business / GTM — field constraints vs customer and contract needs
  • Executives / HQ — decision-ready context and a written record, not a status dump

Fewer meetings where possible; decisions captured; a weekly “moves / waits” list the whole group can trust.

These are modes of work on an engagement.

  • Human-led — people own judgment, alignment, and stakeholders; AI helps with admin drafts and notes
  • AI-assisted — routine status and prep shift to AI; people spend time on decisions and exceptions
  • AI-native (mode) — workflows themselves get redesigned; people mainly handle exceptions and final calls

In every mode, accountability stays human.

We don’t sell seats or 人月 stacking. You get a senior fractional PM/PdM inside your team — priorities, progress, EN↔JP bridge, decision record. The goal is weekly forward motion on the work, not slide decks or headcount supply. We don’t name competitors.

MISSION

Accelerate project delivery with our embedded PMs and AI workflows

Seranova team collaborating on project delivery in Tokyo
VISION

We believe AI should feel like lift, not replacement - a quiet force beneath human ambition, carrying us higher than we could rise alone.

AI lift illustration — paper plane launching over Tokyo skyline

Seranova tools and media

Built and run by Seranova to help move AI adoption forward in Japan.

Seranova AI Map
Tool
Seranova AI Map
A map of Japan's applied AI landscape
Visit site
Newsletter
Media
Newsletter
AI insights from Japan, every two weeks. 1,000+ subscribers
Visit site
Ved Kamat · LinkedInInsights on AI adoption in Japan, building a solo business with AI, and bilingual posts (EN/JP).
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