My name is Nobuko Echizen, and I work as a Customer Success Engineer at Qt Group. My role is to help customers who adopt our products make the most of them from a technical perspective.
I’m quite an indoor person, and I often spend my days off playing 3D games. I've always loved 3D graphic design, and even when I play games, I naturally find myself analyzing how the characters’ movements and rendering are created. My interest in 3D expressions is what originally inspired me to pursue a career as an engineer.
Since joining Qt Group, I sometimes catch myself thinking, “How would this expression look if I recreated it in Qt Quick 3D?” while playing games. At this point, I enjoy the 3D expression itself more than the gameplay. As part hobby and part study, I even recreate my favorite game characters using Qt Quick 3D.
More recently, I’ve become deeply interested in neuroscience and hope to pursue a PhD in the future. Learning that one of our engineers at headquarters took a leave of absence to enter a doctoral program made me realize that such challenges are supported here, which encouraged me to dream bigger. I also enjoy reading academic papers - not always easy or accessible but fascinating in how different researchers’ perspectives and personalities come through. If I'm playing games or reading papers, the day is gone before I know it.
A Career Where Experiences Connect Over Time
After graduating from graduate school, I began my career as a software engineer at a major Japanese IT company. However, my desire to become a graphic designer grew stronger, and I eventually left the company to study 3D design at a vocational school. I initially aimed to work in the gaming industry but realized that the working style in that industry didn’t suit me, so I returned to the IT field.
From there, I gained experience across software development, systems engineering, and internal IT management. Without realizing it, I had spent over 20 years building my career across various companies.
A significant turning point came when I studied in the UK in my 30s and earned a master’s degree in computer science. Until then, I had only held a mechanical engineering degree, but obtaining an advanced degree in software helped me feel confident - both academically and professionally - that I was truly a software engineer.
Later, when I reached a major career crossroads, whether to continue as an engineer or move into management, I chose a managerial role in pursuit of future opportunities. I worked in quality assurance and IT management but ultimately realized that I wanted to return to being an engineer more than anything.
A New Challenge That Led Me to Qt Group
While reevaluating my career, a recruiter from Qt Group introduced me to the Customer Success Specialist position. At the time, there was no engineering-focused Customer Success team in Japan, and hearing that they hoped to “build it from scratch” resonated deeply with me. I was drawn to the idea of building trust with customers while supporting them as an engineer.
I received offers from a few companies, but I chose Qt Group because the recruiter took the time to understand me, and the explanations about benefits and working conditions were clear and transparent. It made me feel that this was a company where I could work with peace of mind.
Since it was a new area for me, I had concerns initially. But my manager, at the director level, spent three months onboarding me through intensive weekly 1-on-1 sessions. Team members from all over the world also supported me through weekly discussions and feedback on presentations, helping me become independent as a professional as quickly as possible.
While building the foundation for customer support during this onboarding period, I was also working to educate the Japan office about the still-new concept of Customer Success. Establishing this role was a slow and patient process, and it was one of the toughest challenges early on.
I began by explaining to sales and other departments what Customer Success could bring to the organization. Gradually, understanding grew, and eventually the sales team began introducing customers to me. That was when I finally felt that Customer Success in Japan had taken shape. I’m still very grateful to the sales members who trusted me even when I had no track record yet.
Customer Success at Qt Group: Where Technology and Trust Come Together
Customer Success at Qt Group covers a broad range, from consulting and training for new customers to day-to-day support for existing ones. Japanese customers tend to have very strong technical backgrounds, so many do not require formal training. Recognizing this difference, we work with headquarters to explore what “Japan-specific” support should look like.
Another important part of the role is collaborating with sales to encourage existing customers to adopt our products in their new projects. By listening to their challenges and discussing solutions together, we build long-term partnerships.
In a role that requires both technical expertise and customer engagement, my past management experience has proven invaluable. Coordinating across departments, understanding organizational perspectives, and recognizing customer context, insights that pure engineering work alone wouldn’t have given me are now essential to my work.
When talking with customers, I’m not only offering technical answers but also naturally empathizing saying, “I understand why that’s difficult.” I feel that these moments of empathy build trust. Looking back, I realize every experience has contributed to where I am today.
A Workplace Built on Transparency and Diversity - A Company I Truly Love
One of the first things that surprised me after joining was how much managers try to understand me as a person. They care not only about my tasks but also about my health and work preferences, and they always listen sincerely. Even the employee survey includes a question asking, “Does your manager care about you?” a reflection of how much the company values its people.
I also appreciate that company events are held during working hours. Lunchtime events or evening activities scheduled so they don’t interfere with personal commitments show consideration for employees balancing childcare, caregiving, or other responsibilities.
Another aspect I love is the strong presence of women across the company. Everyone is energetic, insightful, and genuinely fun to work with. I'm grateful to be part of such a supportive and inspiring group of colleagues.
Internally, communication is very open, even with teams like R&D and Product Management, which can sometimes feel distant. Because discussions are flat regardless of title, I feel safe expressing my thoughts. The willingness to openly discuss both positive and negative topics reflects Qt Group’s flat and transparent culture. Having worked at many companies, Qt Group stands out as the company I value most.
Finally, what I aim for as a Customer Success professional is to always give my best to the customers who use our products and to remain someone they feel comfortable reaching out to at any time. In our global CS team, we often refer to the idea of an “orchestrating.” It doesn’t mean leading from the front; it means harmonizing all the teams – Sales, Technical Support, Professional Services, Solution Engineering - so each can perform at its best. That is the role I hope to continue fulfilling.
