Takeshi Matsuda

Engineering Manager

Career Summary

I spent more than 10 years at NTT Communications, where I was involved in the Internet Service Provider (ISP) business. During that time, I took on a variety of roles, including network, infrastructure, and software engineer, as well as Product Manager (PdM), Project Manager (PjM), and Engineering Manager (EM). I joined CADDi as a member of the Platform Group and currently serve as the Engineering Manager for multiple teams, including SRE and QA. Outside of work, I enjoy a fulfilling life in the countryside with my wife and children. Since I commute to the office by Shinkansen, my biggest dilemma is having to leave drinking gatherings early to catch the last train, even though I love drinking.

Why I Joined

I spent more than 10 years at the same company while taking on a variety of roles and responsibilities. As I started looking for a new challenge and opportunities for growth, a recruitment agency introduced me to CADDi. At first, I had only heard of CADDi by name. However, after learning about its ambitious mission to transform what could be considered a legacy industry and seeing that it had attracted many highly motivated and talented people, I found the company extremely appealing. Another key factor in my decision was that I saw many parallels with my previous experience. At my former company, a well-established ISP with more than 25 years of history, I worked to drive change by introducing in-house software development. Although the industries are different, I felt that the challenge and mindset were very similar.

Role at CADDi

I currently serve as the Engineering Manager for several teams, including the Workflow Engine team (which powers large-scale data processing behind Drawer), SRE, and QA. While I occasionally get involved in hands-on technical work—such as troubleshooting network issues, managing infrastructure capacity, or maintaining shared CI/CD assets—I primarily focus on people management, setting strategic direction for teams, and driving cross-functional collaboration. My role is centered on taking a broader perspective to help both the business and the engineering organization grow. On a related note, one thing I truly appreciated after joining CADDi was the thoughtful onboarding process. I was given about three months to ramp up as an Engineering Manager, which was an invaluable experience. Although I had prior experience with technologies such as cloud infrastructure and CI/CD, there was still a great deal to learn—both technically and in terms of how the teams operated. Working alongside the team on the same day-to-day tasks also allowed me to build trust with my teammates, and looking back, I believe that was an essential part of becoming an effective Engineering Manager.