July 2026
Last week, Monstarlab Founder and CEO, Hiroki Inagawa and Americas Managing Director, Trish Martin took the stage at the Japan-Texas Business Leaders Roundtable Breakfast, hosted by the Japan-America Society of Houston at the Petroleum Club of Houston. The invitation-only event brought together senior leaders from the Japan-US business community including executives from energy, industrial, and trading companies who are actively managing the complexity of operating across both markets.
Hiroki spoke on digital transformation, global leadership, and the growing economic relationship between Japan and Texas. His perspective drew from Monstarlab's 20-year arc, from a Japan-born mobile development firm to an AI and digital transformation partner operating across 12 countries — and from what that journey has taught about building technology practices that work in two very different business cultures at once.
The room reflected what makes Houston's Japan-US business corridor distinct. These are not companies exploring international expansion in theory, they're running it. That context shaped the conversation that followed, with Q&A ranging from practical questions about AI adoption in legacy industrial environments to what it actually takes to operate effectively across Japanese parent companies and their US subsidiaries.
For Monstarlab, the morning was more than a speaking opportunity. Houston is a market we're actively investing in, and the Japan-Texas relationship sits at the center of what makes our Americas practice different. We bridge both directions: helping US technology companies grow in Japan through our established client base and local teams, and helping Japanese enterprises entering or expanding in the US navigate that transition with a team that understands both sides.
We're grateful to JASH for the invitation and for the community they've built here. We look forward to continuing to be part of it.
