Zen and the art of creating software for driverless taxis

Tokyo

HISASHI Taniguchi took a sabbatical from developing software for driverless taxis and drones to go on pilgrimage to a Buddhist temple in western Japan. He shaved his head, donned black robes and studied to become the shrine's leader.

He passed the test to do so, yet within a week was back at the Tokyo offices of ZMP Inc, overseeing his robotics company in a more typical wardrobe of jeans and red Converse sneakers. As ZMP's founder and chief executive officer, he tries to sync millennia-old teachings with efforts to make artificial intelligence part of everyday life.