2025-10-6

Mercari Group To Host Mercari GEARS 2025, A Tech Conference For Everything Engineering

#Events

This November 13th, Mercari Group will hold the tech conference Mercari GEARS 2025.

The conference will take place 7 years after Mercari Group’s last tech conference held in 2018. Reflecting the Engineering Principles that guide our engineering organization, this year’s event will focus on presentations and sessions related to engineering initiatives at Mercari Group, as well as fostering interaction among participants.

We conducted an interview with @yasu_shiwaku, who is involved in managing the event, and Mercari CTO @kimuras to find out more.

They shared insights about the preparations for the event and its planned content.

Featured in this article

Shunya Kimura @kimuras

In 2007, Shunya joined MIXI, Inc., where he worked on recommendation engine development and data utilization. He was also involved in developing advertisements and marketing data that leverage machine learning. Shunya joined Mercari in 2017 and was in charge of establishing R4D, Mercari’s research and development organization, as well as overseeing a multitude of AI-focused research fields. Subsequently, he established an engineering organization focused on AI and search engine technologies, was appointed to a director role, and was one of the leaders who pioneered the introduction of AI to Mercari. In July 2022, Shunya was appointed Vice President of Platform Engineering, a position that oversees internal platform development. He assumed his current position in July 2024.
Yasuhiro Shiwaku @yasu_shiwaku

After being involved in the launch of a crossborder e-commerce business as a new graduate, Yasuhiro worked in marketing for a music social networking service. After that, he worked on competition operations as a member of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee. He then joined Mercari in December 2021. As the Technical Public Relations (Tech PR) representative of the Engineering Office, @yasu_shiwaku is involved in sharing information aimed at engineers, planning and managing events, and formulating engineering organization strategies.

Redesigning the event to focus on in-person interaction

――I am aware that this event is being held for the first time in 7 years. To begin, could you tell us about the concept and behind-the-scenes planning of this year’s event?

@yasu_shiwaku： This event was originally scheduled to be held in 2020 but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic continued, we were unable to hold in-person events for a while. However, during that time, we held online events such as Merpay & Mercoin Tech Fest 2023. Now that things are slowly returning to normal, we decided to plan an in-person event for the entire Mercari Group.

@kimuras: From the start, we wanted to plan an event that would be completely different from the one 7 years ago. We wanted to upgrade this event into something that participants would hopefully find more valuable, rather than just holding a traditional conference focused on presentations. So, instead of having participants simply listen to presentations, we decided to focus on interaction to add new value to the traditional conference format.

Specifically, we wanted to encourage opportunities for participants to get to know each other and interact directly with Mercari’s presenters. This event is also important for Mercari employees as it aims to improve engagement by deepening internal communication.

―You mentioned that “interaction” is a major theme. What kind of content do you have planned to promote that?

@yasu_shiwaku: In order to promote active communication, the sessions won’t just be one-sided presentations but will also include discussion time that involves the participants. We also plan to provide an “Ask the Speaker” section where attendees can ask presenters directly about topics that were not covered during the session, as well as casual activities like quizzes on tech subjects and a stamp rally event.

Additionally, we’re introducing an unconference format for the first time, which is a participant-driven meeting format where participants bring their own topics to discuss. We hope that this will provide opportunities for people with similar interests to gather and talk.

@kimuras: Poster sessions are also an important component, and we have done them in the past. In a poster session, the presenter stands in front of a large poster about their project and explains the project. Poster sessions serve as a communication hub where people who want to hear more details can directly ask the presenter questions, similar to an academic conference or exhibition.

Encompassing everything “Mercari”―the evolution and future of the Group

―What is the most important thing you want to convey to external engineers through this event?

@kimuras: What I most want to convey is how Mercari has changed since the last event in 2018 and where we are headed now. Over the past 7 years, Mercari has undergone tremendous changes. For example, globalization within the company has progressed, and the proportion of English-speaking engineers is significantly higher compared to back then.

Also, at that time, our fintech sector was not yet fully developed. Now, it includes businesses like Merpay and Mercoin. We have also greatly expanded our business portfolio, from our US business to our Work business (our on-demand work service, Mercari Hallo). The scale of the engineering organization has also expanded.

We have shared information about these changes through blogs and other means, but one of the main purposes of this event is to convey this overall transformation in an in-person setting. We want to communicate where we are now and where we’re headed, as well as our initiatives around AI, and allow Mercari’s future to be shaped by feedback and discussions from the event.

―What would you consider to be the highlight of the event?

@kimuras: The biggest highlight is that participants will get to learn about “everything engineering” at Mercari. For this event, we have gathered speakers from all possible organizations within Mercari Group, including Fintech (Merpay, Mercoin), Work, our R&D organization R4D, and our US and India offices.

@yasu_shiwaku: We have structured this year’s event considering the overall balance of content, ensuring representation from every company within the Group. I think the fact that Mercari can independently present such a rich variety of content is one of our strengths.@kimuras: Broadly speaking, the event will offer two main insights. One is the degree to which each domain within Mercari has evolved since 2018. And the other is what we are currently working on in the field of AI, and what we aim to accomplish in the future. I think these two topics will be the key talking points. In my keynote speech, I also want to touch upon Mercari’s past trajectory and the future direction of AI utilization.

Creating new value for Mercari, for participants, and for the industry as a whole

―The conference will not only share Mercari’s activities with external participants, but serve as a great opportunity for employees. How do you expect they will benefit?

@kimuras: To be frank, I want this event to actively facilitate lateral collaboration. As an organization grows, divisions between organizations become unavoidable. I hope that, through this event, employees will have the chance to listen to presentations about services beyond the scope of their business and interact. This will allow them to understand the potential of our technology and the challenges faced by the entire Group. And, I want this event to reignite people’s pride in their technology and work.

@yasu_shiwaku: I believe that interacting with people from other companies will also be a good opportunity for employees. By talking to people they don’t usually interact with, they will be prompted to think about Mercari’s values and re-familiarize themselves with the value of our Engineering Principles, which serve as the foundation for all of our actions. This event will also serve to share information about these Engineering Principles to both internal and external participants, and be a place where employees can embody them.

―So, what kind of impact do you think this event could have on the entire tech industry?

@yasu_shiwaku: After the pandemic, many people were of the opinion that the internet is all you need to share information, but we want to provide value that you can only obtain in person, beyond simply acquiring information. I look forward to the event creating a shift in perception regarding the value of in-person communication. Also, I hope this event and my experience in event management can make a contribution to the tech industry.

@kimuras: For me, I think the impact will be twofold. One will be to share expertise about successful use cases in a global environment. For example, how Japanese and global members overcome language barriers and collaborate to develop competitive services. I hope many engineers will get a sense of this through the various sessions.The other will be to demonstrate Mercari’s latest technical standards. I believe we have an important responsibility in the tech community to share information about the next standards, such as development premised on leveraging AI.

Those who want to talk technology: Don’t just come and listen!

―Finally, please share a message with those interested in this event. Who would you like to see attend?

@kimuras: Naturally, I’m happy for anyone to come and listen, but I especially want those who like to actively communicate to attend. At Mercari’s presentations, I want participants to exchange information with us, offering examples of how they do things at their company, for example. Because this event is not for recruitment purposes, I want it to be a forum for genuine technical exchange.

@yasu_shiwaku: I would like to see those who are hungry to talk about technology attend. We are looking for people who will join forces with us, the organizer, to liven up the event.

@kimuras: We as presenters would also like to gain new perspectives through discussions with people outside the company. It would also be great if we had participants of diverse nationalities; I would like foreign residents in Japan to participate as well.

@yasu_shiwaku: Also, we would love for participants from Mercari to actively engage in communication. We envision this event as a platform where engineers from both inside and outside the company can actively exchange knowledge, rather than simply share knowledge in a one-sided manner.

Leaders Talk! AI/LLM Behind the Scenes Open Door Vol. 4: Transforming the Customer Experience from the Ground Up — @yohei on the Future of Customer Service