Taiyo Akashi
The career history of an engineer whose work spans end-to-end web development from backend to frontend, new businesses, system replacements, and technical advisory.
My personal projects and open source live on taiyop.com .
What I've done
End-to-end web development, from backend to frontend.
Balancing fast releases at low initial cost with designs that account for future scale.
New businesses, system replacements, development consulting, technical advisory, and project management.
13+ years in development and business building 10 main projects 0→1 leading design and build of new businesses
What I'm good at
I tend to add the most value in 0→1 new business development, integrating existing systems, architecture design, turning requests into workable plans, SEO, and PjM/PM.
0→1 early-stage development
From planning and design to hiring and development, I pick up the issues an early engineer needs to cover and propose ways to release quickly.
Design and implementation together
I handle database design, software architecture, and the abstraction of processing flows, and implement with future scale and maintainability in mind.
Turning requests into workable plans
I surface ambiguous requirements and work with PdMs, CS, QA, customers, and technology partners to turn them into implementable specs and a way forward.
Driving delivery and building teams
I can cover a wide range: development lead, PjM, technical advisor, code review, infrastructure, and bringing in hires and contractors.
Where I can help
Hands-on Backend, frontend, infrastructure, database design
Lead Development lead, frontend lead, PjM, code review, SRE
Consulting Development consulting, technical consulting, technical advisory, client-facing work
Experience
All
Lead / PjM7
0→15
Advisory1
2024.10 – 2025.07 Lead / PjM
Design and implementation for an HR and labor DX cloud service
Design and implementation, spec writing, working with PdM/CS/QA
Ruby · Rails · AWS · JavaScript · Figma
What I did
Owned feature development for large enterprise customers end to end, from writing specs to implementation
Surfaced ambiguous requirements and drove proposals to address them
Database design and software architecture design
Built a design system for the existing service in Figma and rolled it out to all teams
Abstracted and structured processing flows; introduced clean architecture
Outcomes
Helped recover a troubled project that my team was responsible for
Introduced clean architecture to a Rails codebase
Went live on the originally planned schedule
2023.08 – 2024.08 Lead / PjM
Development and operation of an AI character service
PjM, development lead, frontend lead, SRE, client-facing work
Python · FastAPI · AWS · Cognito · LLM · TypeScript · React
What I did
Led the most difficult parts across three projects and products
Surfaced ambiguous requirements; database design and software architecture design
Architecture design and library selection
Design and implementation based on clean architecture and SOLID principles
Supported frontend and backend development, code review, and documentation
Led and drove implementation of an AI avatar voice conversation project
Used and operated an authentication platform built on AWS Cognito
Joined sales meetings for client negotiations; coordinated specs in English with a technology partner
Outcomes
Delivered development and release on a very short schedule
Contributed to PR through trending on X, the top of Yahoo! News, and TV coverage
Went live on the originally planned schedule
2020.08 – 2026.01 Lead / PjM · 0→1
Development and operation of an entertainment media service
CTO role, planning, requirements, review, bringing the team together
Ruby · Rails · GCP · Cloudflare
What I did
Acted in a CTO role at a separate company started together with a friend
In the early days, handled planning, requirements, design, and development across the board
Brought in marketers, designers, and engineers
Database design, software design, and architecture and library selection
Supported Ruby on Rails development, code review, and scraping implementation
Infrastructure, hiring, and cost reduction
Migrated the database and application from Heroku to GCP
Outcomes
Drove the work across the initial concept, development, and setting up operations
In the later period, focused on code review, planning, and requirements
2021.07 – 2022.03 Advisory
Project management and technical advisory for a system replacement
Technical advisor, project management, review, infrastructure
Ruby · Rails · AWS
What I did
Joined a troubled project and supported building a new team and drawing up a roadmap
Advised on technical questions affecting the business
Defined project milestones; project management
Infrastructure setup
Database design, software design, Rails implementation advice, and code review
Outcomes
Completed a replacement that had been rescheduled several times
Built a setup the company could run with its in-house team alone
2019.12 – 2022.08 Lead / PjM · 0→1
New business development of Mieruno, a people management tool
Overall director, requirements, hiring, progress management, development support
Ruby · Rails · GraphQL · WebSocket · React · TypeScript
What I did
Brought in sales, design, and engineering members; handled project management and the execution plan
Database design, software design, and architecture selection
Infrastructure setup
Supported and reviewed development in Rails, React, Next.js, and React Native
Built Slack data collection, chat, reporting, and stamp registration features
Ran owned media, SEO, and advertising
Outcomes
Oversaw the new business from launch through execution planning and development support
2018.08 – 2020.08 Lead / PjM
Development of an email form SaaS
Backend and frontend developer
Ruby · Rails · Vue · TypeScript
What I did
Built business-hours management, email templates, and step forms
Built saving of in-progress input, image-selection button templates, and private pages
Social sharing buttons and double-entry confirmation of email addresses
Improved font and color settings, label creation, and image attachments for email templates
Other bug fixes and improvements
Outcomes
Proposed database designs and implementation plans for the issues I owned
2017.08 – 2020.02 0→1
Development of a clinic booking platform
New business engineer: requirements, design, implementation, operations
Ruby · Rails · Vue · jQuery · AWS · RDB
What I did
As the engineer on a new business, covered everything from requirements to operations
Gathered requirements and translated them into implementation
Database design
Built visit booking, clinic search, and doctor search
Built the clinic admin console, reviews, and bank transfer management
Outcomes
Turned client requests into a design that kept initial cost low while staying easy to change later
2017.02 – 2017.12 0→1
Development of an affiliate analytics SaaS
Main implementer
Ruby · Rails · JavaScript · RDB
What I did
Built a billing system using Stripe
Database design
Collected data such as page views, sessions, and EFO from JavaScript and built the aggregation
Outcomes
Implemented nearly all features up to the initial release
Wrote the aggregation with readability and extensibility in mind, to make later additions easier
2017.03 – 2017.06 Lead / PjM
Development of an SFA platform
Implemented external integrations
Ruby · Rails · AngularJS
What I did
Calendar integration with Garoon
Business card integration with Sansan
Outcomes
Developed while raising implementation concerns from the bottom up
2013.05 – 2016.01 Lead / PjM · 0→1
Development of an e-commerce platform
Early development member: planning, design, development, operations, outsourcing, hiring
Ruby · Rails · jQuery · AngularJS · MySQL · AWS
What I did
Engineering team building and team management
Project management
Built category, cart, and payment features
Took part in business planning meetings
Looked for developers through both outsourcing and hiring
Outcomes
Joined as the first engineer and handled design, implementation, and operations across the board
Basic info
Name Taiyo Akashi
Location Kunitachi, Tokyo
English TOEIC 840
Cert. Outcome Delivery Practitioner