By Nery Guzmán, CEO of Aly (an Allied Global Company)
In today’s rapidly evolving global economy, the question is no longer whether to innovate — but how and with whom. At Aly, our mission has always been clear: to build impactful technology that empowers businesses. But not just any kind of business — we’re focused on the future of innovation itself.
In our latest video feature, I speak about this journey and the critical role that companies like Aly and our parent company Allied Global play in driving transformation across markets. Our work is increasingly focused on a very specific type of enterprise — one that MIT REAP research defines as the IDE: Innovation-Driven Enterprise.
Understanding IDE vs SME — A Critical Distinction
As outlined in foundational work by MIT professors Fiona Murray and Bill Aulet, there are two very different types of companies in the modern economy:
- SME (Small and Medium Enterprises)
- IDE (Innovation-Driven Enterprises)
SMEs are essential for job creation at the local and regional level, they typically rely on traditional models with modest scalability. And, IDEs are built around some form of innovation — whether technological, process-oriented, or business model-driven — and are designed from the outset to scale globally.
“IDEs pursue global opportunities based on bringing to customers new innovations that have a clear competitive advantage and high growth potential.”
— Murray & Aulet, A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs, MIT Trust Center
This distinction is more than academic. It determines how capital is allocated, how products are designed, and how teams are built. IDEs demand multi-disciplinary talent, cross-border execution, and strong capital partners. That’s exactly what we’ve built through Aly and now through our scaling relationship with Allied Global.
Aly: Where Innovation Meets Execution
At Aly, we operate under two primary missions:
- Empowering SMEs through automation and AI-powered tools to help them grow efficiently
- Developing enterprise-grade innovations for large corporations that want to future-proof their operations
This dual focus allows us to bring agile product development to the SME market while also tackling complex innovation challenges for multinationals.
But what makes it work — and what gives us a global edge — is that we don’t just build software. We build systems that scale. And thanks to Allied Global, we now have the structure to take every product from proof-of-concept to mass deployment — fast, securely, and globally.
Japan: A New Frontier for Scalable, Quality-Driven Innovation
Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of working directly with innovation leaders and partners in Japan. This experience has taught us a profound lesson: true innovation is not just about speed — it’s about precision, discipline, and reliability.
Japanese industry has long championed the philosophy of monozukuri — the spirit of craftsmanship and perfection. At Kajiya, our innovation lab in Japan, we’ve adopted this mindset into our design and development workflows. We prototype in Japan and we feel safe scaling globally through Allied Global — a model that blends depth and breadth, local insight and global ambition.
Why Asia Is our proving ground for our Innovation Engine
Asia is no longer just a manufacturing hub — it’s becoming the epicenter of digital innovation. Markets in Japan, Korea, Singapore, and beyond demand:
- Higher standards
- Better user experience
- Truly future-proof solutions
What these markets need isn’t just vendors — they need partners who can deliver fast, but with trust, precision, and consistency.
Our learnings from developing and testing technology in Japan can be summarized as:
- Innovation through deep technical expertise
- Scaling through robust global operations
- Precision and discipline rooted in Japanese quality systems
Innovation isn’t just about tools or features — it’s about mindset.
At Aly and Allied Global, we believe that real innovation begins within our teams. Every product, every experiment, every MVP we build — it’s never disposable. It’s designed with the mindset that it could outlast the future.
Even when we’re working in lean or agile environments, we never sacrifice our commitment to quality. That’s not just a technical requirement — it’s a cultural one. It means designing with care. Reviewing with discipline. And constantly reminding ourselves that innovation should serve people, not just technology.
We believe that ideas must be shared across teams, across borders, and across disciplines. True innovation is not a solo act — it’s forged through collaboration, constant learning, and a shared responsibility for excellence.
In our latest video, I share a personal reflection on this journey — from founding Aly, to building in Japan, to scaling with Allied Global. You’ll also hear directly from Japanese executives and M&A advisors, who share their thoughts on why innovation must balance speed with structure, and why cross-border insight is the new competitive edge.
If you’re looking to build real innovation, not just digital buzzwords, the difference between an SME and an IDE isn’t just academic — it’s strategic. It’s the difference between staying local… and going global.
At Aly and Allied Global, we’re building the infrastructure for IDEs that get battle tested in Asia and scale to the world. And we’re just getting started.
