If you didn't notice AGC Group when it opened its new digs in the Silicon Valley last week, you can perhaps be forgiven. After all, a four-person office operating out of one of the few buildings in Cupertino without an Apple sign on it is easy to miss.
But in this case, that small office is just the tip of a much larger spear. AGC Group is one of the world's largest manufacturers of glass and glass products, with nearly $12 billion in annual revenue, and it's in town to do deals.
I spoke with Yoshiaki Tamura, AGC's Chief Director of Technology, about the office and what it's trying to do. Tamura told me that the office is intended to act as a strategic scout for new technology, finding innovative technologies that fit AGC's needs to buy, as well as companies who need AGC's technical expertise around glass to partner with.
Tamura said the Silicon Valley represented a unique opportunity for AGC, because there were so many technology industries that the corporation was interested in located in the same place. AGC is looking for technologies related to displays for electronic devices, green building materials, photovoltaics, fiber optics and biotechnology. He also sees the automotive industry as an important source of business, and noted that many of the big car companies have located their research labs in the Silicon Valley.
Offices like AGC's are becoming increasingly important to the big Japanese conglomerates because the pace of technological innovation is so fast these days that they realize they can't do everything in-house anymore, Tamura said.
"Obviously, I can't speak for all companies," he said.
