Mizo
Entry date…Joined Rakuten Group in March 2018 (mid-career)
Department…Business Support Development Department (BSD)
Commerce & Marketing Company
Position…Salesforce Engineer
Place of birth…Osaka, Japan
Hobbies…Comparing and testing AI tools
Mizo works in the Business Support Development Department (BSD) as an application engineer specializing in the customer management system Salesforce. His work primarily revolves around the Sales Cloud platform, where he is responsible for everything from planning and design to development and operation of systems that support the work of e-commerce consultants.
We interviewed Mizo, now in his seventh year at the company, about the role of a Salesforce engineer in the BSD, the rewards and appeal of the job, and the work environment.
INDEX
✔Developing on the Sales Cloud Platform Within a Sales-Related Department
✔Diverse Skills & Sales Cloud Expertise: Growing Through Work
✔The Reward of Being Involved in the Process from Design to Improvement
Developing on the Sales Cloud Platform Within a Sales-Related Department
――Please introduce yourself.
Hello, my name is Mizo, and I work as a Salesforce application engineer in the Business Support Development Department, or BSD.
In my previous job, I spent seven years helping with Salesforce implementations and development. After joining Rakuten Group in March 2018, I continued working as a Salesforce tech lead and lead consultant, and I am now involved in nearly all areas from requirements specification through to implementation and adoption.
Some of my biggest interests at the moment are AI, Business Intelligence (BI), and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) products, and project management. One of my hobbies is comparing and testing AI tools. Outside of work, I also use around 25 different services to continuously refine my daily workflow.
── Please tell us about your department and your role.
I currently work as a Salesforce application engineer in a sales-related department. We develop mainly on the Sales Cloud platform and are in charge of the planning, design, development, and operation of the system that facilitates the work of e-commerce consultants, who are in charge of supporting nationwide merchants that operate stores on Rakuten Ichiba.
We engage in the entire lifecycle, from accurately grasping sales challenges and proposing solutions to their implementation and sustained integration.
── What kind of development are you doing to support e-commerce consultants?
We develop in-house systems that support data-driven decision-making with the goal of better visualizing and streamlining sales operations. We also conduct Salesforce proof-of-concept (PoC) projects using the latest AI features, such as Einstein and Agentforce, for automatic summarization of sales information and proposal support.
Our work isn’t just about considering the best solution to meet the challenges of sales operations. We also develop features using the Apex programming language and Lightning Web Components (LWC), and we facilitate integration with our in-house Data Warehouse (DWH) by designing and implementing data pipelines using Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) tools. I design and implement these solutions myself as needed.
We are enhancing our Sales Cloud infrastructure by repeatedly verifying and improving it in short development cycles to achieve both standardization and speed.
── What does a typical day look like for you?
Our department handles everything from identifying issues to making improvements after release.
We start by analyzing data based on interviews with the sales teams and related departments, clarifying the issues and the direction for improvement. We then organize the requirements and define the business flows, data structures, necessary permissions, and security needs.
Next, we design the solution using Salesforce’s standard features with minimal customization, and, when needed, develop with Apex or LWC and configure or build data integrations.
We verify the system’s behavior together with e-commerce consultants, and once we’ve confirmed usability and safety, we release it to the production environment. After release, we continue improving quality and usability by responding to inquiries and making enhancement proposals based on actual usage data and KPIs.
Diverse Skills & Sales Cloud Expertise: Growing Through Work
──As an engineer, what kinds of skills can you develop through your work?
As a Salesforce engineer, you have opportunities to develop a wide range of Sales Cloud skills.
This includes everything from using standard features like Flow, to advanced development with Apex and LWC, and data integration using external APIs and ETL, as well as CI/CD.
You also have the opportunity to engage with AI utilization across numerous fields. We use modern development tools, including AI coding tools like Claude Code and GitHub Copilot, which makes it easy to apply what you learn directly to daily development. You can also actively try out automation and efficiency improvements using internal AI tools.
Depending on your role, you may also have opportunities to attend overseas events such as Dreamforce and bring the latest insights back to your work.
You can experience the entire cycle from forming hypotheses to Minimum Viable Product (MVP) development, impact measurement, and improvement. This process of leveraging technology to solve business challenges will also foster skills valuable for product management and consulting.
── Besides Salesforce, are there any other tools you work with?
We also work with Tableau, a data analysis and visualization tool, and help build data analysis and visualization frameworks.
Several Salesforce engineers on our team have completed Data Saber, the official data analytics certification program offered by Tableau Japan, and have passed the exam. As a result, we are able to drive process improvements from both the data-utilization and user-experience design perspectives.
──You mentioned using the latest technologies in your work. What challenges do you face?
Shifting to a new Sales Cloud platform while maintaining existing systems and integrations is a major challenge.
Our team works to replace legacy features with event-driven or standard Salesforce functions without disrupting day-to-day operations, continually improving while balancing stability and change. We measure the impact of new features and initiatives with usage data and business KPIs, ensuring accountability based on data and connecting those results to further investment and improvement.
Technology in data, AI, and BI evolves extremely quickly. Keeping up with new solutions and architectures, testing them hands-on, and adapting them into practical, usable forms is a constant challenge.
When introducing a new approach, we need to consider factors such as effectiveness, safety, and operational cost, and then gain internal alignment. Finding ways to quickly but carefully accomplish the unprecedented is not easy, but that’s a big part of what makes the work rewarding for me.
The Reward of Being Involved in the Process from Design to Improvement
――What kind of roles do you collaborate with?
I mainly collaborate with people in charge of sales planning in the business divisions. We work side by side with them as partners, from identifying issues and suggesting improvements to ensuring adoption post-release.
I also collaborate with product managers from related products, data analytics teams, and security and infrastructure specialists to advance data integration, operational rules, and quality reviews. We manage projects through tickets, review progress and priorities in weekly meetings, and share all decisions through documentation.
── What do you find most rewarding about your job?
Since my work is directly tied to the core of Rakuten’s Commerce and Marketing sales operations, the improvements I make have an immediate impact on operational efficiency. It’s gratifying to have the autonomy to quickly translate feedback into tangible solutions and be involved end-to-end, from identifying issues to design, implementation, and improvement.
It’s also very rewarding to be able to test ideas through MVPs, measure the impact, and continuously refine the product.
I also enjoy working on PoCs using AI, such as automated summarization of sales information or proposal functions, which have the potential to significantly improve efficiency and have a positive impact on product development.
──What basic skills and experience are required for this position?
This position requires practical skills to lead the development and operations of Salesforce-focused systems.More specifically, you need an understanding of standard Salesforce features, like data models, permission design, and Flow, development experience with Apex and LWC, and experience working in teams using Git.
We also value the ability to structure and document requirements, as well as design tests and conduct reviews to ensure quality.
──Beyond the basics, what other skills or experience are preferred?
Experience in large-scale business application development, implementation and use of Data360 or Account Engagement/Marketing Cloud, advanced data integration solutions, CI/CD operations, and knowledge of security reviews and compliance design will be helpful.
We also welcome candidates who can drive technical alignment in both English and Japanese, as well as those with interest or experience in AI, such as PoCs for summarization or proposal generation and designing evaluation metrics.
Our team is looking for people who want to apply these skills and take on technical selection, design, and implementation in Salesforce as well as across data and AI domains.
──What mindset makes a good fit for your team?
We value the ability to understand real-world issues, form hypotheses, and quickly turn them into solutions. Because things change so quickly, people who thrive here are those who think for themselves, take action, and work with the team to find the best solution rather than waiting for the right answer.
If you enjoy creating value as an engineer while working closely with the sales organization and tackling real operational challenges, then this will be a great fit for you.
──Do you have a message for those interested in working as a Salesforce engineer at Rakuten Group?
Our team works with Salesforce (Sales Cloud) at its core while adopting tools such as Tableau and data integration, while also rapidly integrating the latest AI trends including Einstein and Agentforce, carrying ideas from experimentation all the way to production. Another great aspect is that you can work in a style similar to an FDE, or forward-deployed engineer, directly engaging with stakeholders, proposing ideas, implementing solutions, and supporting operations.
You’ll also have opportunities to collaborate with colleagues who have expertise in different domains, allowing you to take on challenges beyond Salesforce as well.
We’d love to have you join us!
*The information in this article is current as of December 26, 2025.
Come work with us!
The Business Support Development Department (BSD) of the Commerce & Marketing Company is seeking talented individuals to join our team in developing new services, managing daily operations, and driving continuous improvements. Recruitment is open for a variety of positions, including engineers and product managers. We look forward to receiving your application!
