This Professionals series showcases talented experts who support PayPay Group’s operations.
We spoke with Yosuke Hazama from the DX Planning Team, Corporate Planning Department. We discussed the thrill of working close to management and what he values most in his job.
Yosuke Hazama
Manager of DX Planning Team, Corporate Planning Department, Corporate Planning Division
After finishing graduate school, he joined an IT vendor and was in charge of financial systems. He then worked as an in-house PMO at a financial company, an in-house SE at a pharmaceutical company, and then in the DX department of a manufacturing company before finally joining PayPay in May 2022. He currently is the Manager of the DX Planning Team in the Corporate Planning Department.
Using WFA to support management from a rural area
What made you decide to join PayPay?
Initially, I always found work related to management information systems very interesting, as business management and business planning directly relate to the direction the company takes. So I really wanted to get involved in this line of work. I was particularly interested in the cashless and fintech industries, which I had studied for a long time back when I worked for a financial services company and used to propose participation in the cashless movement to management. Among all the companies in the industry, I was headhunted by PayPay, the top code payment company. I found out that the WFA system (Work From Anywhere At Anytime). would allow me to work even from my home in Shiga, so I went ahead and applied for the position.
What is it like to actually work under the WFA system?
At my previous job, I had to leave the house at 5:30 a.m. and come home at 10 p.m. I think the appeal of WFA is that it allows me to take care of my children even during breaks. Now, I can drop my child off at daycare even during busy periods, and whenever I’m tired, I can pop into the living room and be with my kid, even for just 10 or 20 seconds. It’s definitely easier to balance work and family time.
The best part of working directly with management
Tell us about your work
The mission of the DX Planning Team is to transform business management operations within PayPay across the board using digital tools. Specifically, we are hands-on in building, operating, and maintaining management dashboards, management accounting systems, implementing AI/machine learning tools, and adopting RPA. Rather than having the entire team work on a project, each project is assigned to a different person, and I personally am in charge of the dashboard for the management team. Recently, we built a daily dashboard for PayPay Card, which is shared daily with executives within the PayPay group. I am closest to management, so speed and quality are always expected of me.
What is your workflow?
For example, if we were to build a new dashboard, we would create it imagining what type of dashboard the management wants to see. Once we create the material as a PowerPoint file or on Google Slides, we propose it directly to the President for review. Once we get the green light, we program the data, prepare the data, and make a report on the test. Finally, we do one more final review and release the product.
The pace at which new projects start and the time it takes to release them depend largely on the management’s inclination, so it’s hard to make a blanket statement, but the speed of operations is overwhelmingly faster than in my previous job. We can pull it off because we are a group of professionals, but above all else, you need people to commit to the work and to deliver results. It’s also important to always think about how we can be more efficient in order to meet the deadline.
What do you find most rewarding and interesting about your job?
The best part of the job is that I get to interact directly with management while also being hands-on on the job. Having all the corporate KPI data of a very well-known service like PayPay at my fingertips and the thought of how that report may impact management’s decision-making can be so rewarding. At the same time, the sense of responsibility is heavy. There is so much pressure, so there’s a great sense of relief and fulfillment once the first report is delivered and when we receive good feedback from the president or other executives.
The importance of DX in the continuing evolution of PayPay
What are the challenges that your team faces?
It is difficult to find the balance between my role as a system owner to promote digitalization and the workload of system users due to digitalization. The point is that digitalizing everything and anything is not necessarily the best approach. Installing a system may require a workload that was previously unnecessary. There is also the issue of striking a balance between the frequency of actual use and the man-hours required for operation. You have to be constantly mindful of the purpose for digitalization, otherwise it won’t lead to true DX. Even now, we are moving forward through a process of trial and error, introducing other digital tools and changing operations.
Tell us about the team members and the atmosphere
Our team is very cheerful and lively. The members talk with each other a lot and the communication can get so active that during team meetings, I don’t even get to slip in a word sometimes (laughs). Each of us is involved in different projects, but there is a culture of sharing any problems that we may have and working together to find solutions.
Each person is a professional with great experience in their respective fields of expertise, so it’s very inspiring to be among them. Members can make great use of the skills they’ve nurtured and also absorb new knowledge, so it’s a workplace that can generate a good cycle.
What do you value most in your work?
If I may choose from the PayPay 5 Senses, “Speed is our bet on the market.”
For instance, when we release a new report, we don’t just stop there, but always continue to improve them by adjusting according to the external and internal environments. So if PayPay rolls out a new service, we include that in the report, but are always mindful of improving our report so that the data is presented in a way that is more tailored to management. Speedy work is just as important, but since we send reports to top executives, it is critical that we stably provide the correct and important data needed for running our business.
Toward the realization of data-driven management
Is there anything you hope to accomplish in the future?
It is all about improving the speed and quality of operations so that we can realize data-driven management. As for the dashboards, we would like to accelerate the delivery time of each as much as possible. In implementing an operational system, we want to minimize the burden on the people on the ground who use the system. We want them to be able to focus on their core business responsibilities, which directly impacts business growth.
Current job openings
*The recruitment status is current at the time of the interview.
Special Thanks: Yosuke Hazama / Author: Danata / Editor: PayPay Inside-Out Editorial Team / Photographer: Keizo & Yuki
*Employees’ affiliations are as of the time of the interview.
