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The Buddhist Monk Using Age-Old Wisdom to Shape Robotics
ZMP may hold IPO as soon as September, person familiar says.
Hisashi Taniguchi, president and CEO of ZMP.
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Hisashi Taniguchi took a sabbatical from developing software for driverless taxis and drones to pilgrimage to a Buddhist temple in western Japan. He shaved his head, donned black robes and studied to become the shrine’s leader.
He passed the test, yet within a week was back at the Tokyo offices of ZMP Inc., overseeing his robotics company in a more-typical wardrobe of jeans and red Converse sneakers. As ZMP’s founder and chief executive officer, he tries to sync millennia-old teachings with efforts to make artificial intelligence part of everyday life.