AI Builders × Branding

VC, agency, event — partnerships come in many forms. No local GTM succeeds without them. We co-hosted “Intercom for Startups” with Chen-Chen Huo from Intercom on the theme of “AI Builders × Branding.”

The AI Ops Manager / Teracy team took the stage, and with 44 attendees we discussed customer touchpoints, branding, product building, and AI-native operations.

Customer support as a context layer

Chen introduced Intercom’s AI agent Fin — when AI enters the context-rich layer of customer support, it changes how companies engage with customers. Customer support is no longer a separate surface from brand experience; it is one of the places where the brand is most actively felt.

Teracy’s brand carries warmth, subtlety, and nostalgia. Their philosophy isn’t just visual polish — it’s a compass for “Is this really us?” That lens shapes everything from community to business strategy. AI Ops Manager’s mission is equally clear: one AI operations partner per company. Not just deploying tools, but having someone orchestrate them on the ground — creating a new cross-functional role in Japan.

Key takeaway: branding decisions in the early stage are organizational decisions. Who are we, and how do we build the trust to prove it?

What we’ll keep building

There’s a lot to learn from Shunsuke Morii’s balance of market intuition and aesthetic sensibility. We’ll be co-creating many more events together. Chen — thank you again. It was great fun.