Cognitech.DEV
Category: AI in Manufacturing
Okayama-based AI and robotics startup for manufacturing, whose flagship HOZEN is an AI-FTA (fault tree analysis) agent for equipment maintenance and quality assurance. Cognitech.DEV was founded in 2024. The company is led by 蘭 陽 (Ran Yō). Based in Okayama, Japan. Team size: 1-10. Latest round: Undisclosed.
- Founded
- 2024
- Headquarters
- Okayama, Japan
- Team size
- 1-10
Value proposition
Turns scattered trouble records into fault-tree structures so maintenance and quality teams can investigate root causes, compare countermeasures, and preserve expert judgment. People make the final decision.
Products and solutions
HOZEN (AI-FTA maintenance agent, live, joint pilots open), Millwright (AI-RPA workflow control, design/validation stage), Hemkar (human-AI development workflow, design/development stage), FlashRouter (multi-LLM connection, version and usage management), IngaDB (embeddable causal analysis database, v0.1.0, self-hosted, live), Heir-RAG (hierarchical RAG), free 'Past Trouble Checkup' service.
Unique value
Grounds AI cause hypotheses in the customer's own trouble records, with evidence and confidence levels. A calculation engine estimates countermeasure effects before implementation, and AI output is never treated as the conclusion without human review.
Target customer
Equipment maintenance, quality assurance and production engineering departments at manufacturers, especially auto-parts and machine-parts makers (including chemicals).
Industries served
Manufacturing (auto parts, machine parts, chemicals), industrial maintenance, robotics and control
Technology advantage
LLM + FTA (fault tree analysis) combination, hierarchical Heir-RAG knowledge database, and a causal analysis engine. CTO background in autonomous cranes (Tadano), ship automation (Honda R&D) and the Dify ecosystem. Publicly stated 3-stage roadmap toward physical AI: human-supported judgment, then field-verified prediction, then execution within verified bounds. The later stages are plans, not shipped features.
How they differentiate
Specializes in FTA-based causal reasoning over past trouble records, with a human-in-the-loop decision flow, quantitative countermeasure comparison, and exportable why-why, 8D and FMEA reports. Low-friction entry through a free 100-300 record 'Past Trouble Checkup' with NDA and a data deletion certificate.
Main competitors
FAcraft (Fixey), Stockmark (Aconnect), Daikin x Hitachi maintenance fault-diagnosis AI agent
Key partnerships
Selected company in Okayama Prefecture's Startup HARE-RISE Project, exhibited at OTEX 2026 (Okayama Technology Expo) and its Startup CROSSING 2026 co-event, based at the Okayama Research Park incubation center. Technical lead for the Robotmate Hub Hackathon.
Major milestones
2024-06 founded (Okayama), 2024 Heir-RAG and AI-FTA technical development, 2025-09 AI-FTA Agent announced, 2025-10 CEATEC 2025 exhibit, 2026 selected for Okayama Startup HARE-RISE Project, 2026-04 AI-FTA case study published, 2026-11-09 Kiji Marudan appointed CTO, 2026-11-12 physical AI roadmap presented at OTEX 2026, 2026-11-13 call for 5 HOZEN joint pilot partners.
Growth metrics
Seeking 5 joint pilot partners by March 2027; completed an AI-FTA case study covering 11 furnace-related machines and 1,212 defect records (April 2026); Dify co-founder Kiji Marudan joined as CTO in November 2026.
Market positioning
Early-stage, regionally anchored Japanese manufacturing-AI startup moving from maintenance knowledge toward physical AI and robotics.
Geographic focus
Japan (Okayama and the Chugoku region first, then national manufacturers)
About 蘭 陽 (Ran Yō)
13 years in manufacturing sales (proposals to trading companies, manufacturers and end users); Master's degree in Economics, Okayama University.
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Official website: https://cognitech.dev/