Speak Buddy for Business AI English Conversation Training

SpeakBUDDY Ltd. was established in May 2013 and is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, under CEO Takeshi Tateishi. It develops the AI English conversation app Speak Buddy, which has passed 5 million cumulative downloads, and the Coach Buddy English coaching service. Its corporate offer targets a common problem in Japanese companies: employees start English programmes but rarely keep studying long enough to use English at work.

Speak Buddy for Business lets employees talk with AI characters in sessions from five minutes a day. AI diagnoses each learner's level, proposes a curriculum and checks grammar and pronunciation with instant feedback, using more than 1,000 lessons from daily conversation to meetings, presentations, business trips and customer service. A corporate admin screen shows each employee's lessons and AI level checks. Companies can add one-to-one coaching by Japanese coaches or online lessons. More than 350 companies, municipalities and schools have adopted it.

• AI conversation partners: free talk and scenario dialogues with AI characters on a smartphone.
• AI level diagnosis: automatic assessment and a personalised curriculum for each learner.
• Instant feedback: AI checks grammar and pronunciation after each response.
• Business content library: more than 1,000 lessons covering meetings, presentations, business trips and customer service.
• Corporate admin screen: progress and level-check data for every employee.
• Coaching add-on: one-to-one coaching by Japanese coaches and optional online lessons.

• Japanese-invested manufacturers in Vietnam offering company-wide AI English practice as an employee benefit.
• Hotels and retail chains training frontline staff on customer-service English in short daily sessions.
• Universities and vocational schools adding AI speaking practice to English courses.

• Habit-forming design: AI characters reduce the fear of making mistakes, and five-minute sessions fit busy schedules.
• Wider reach on the same budget: the low per-person cost lets companies extend training to two to three times more employees.
• Visible progress: HR monitors lesson counts and AI level checks for every employee in one admin screen.
• Low-risk adoption: trials have no limit on participant numbers, and contracts run for 6 or 12 months.

Companies in Japan and across Asia are moving English training from selected staff to the whole workforce, driven by overseas business growth and investment in human capital. Low-cost AI conversation apps make company-wide rollout affordable. Vietnamese firms in manufacturing, hospitality and outsourcing face similar pressure to raise practical English across large frontline teams.

SpeakBUDDY Ltd. was established in May 2013, HQ Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo; CEO Takeshi Tateishi. The app has 5 million+ downloads and a 4.6 App Store rating, and won the Japan e-Learning Award. Corporate users include Fujikura, Kito and Japan Marine United. Prize winner at HR Award 2026, backed by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.