For more than twelve years, Cisco Japan has fostered community‑driven innovation—starting with our early “Technology Contest,” evolving through the “DevNet Innovation Challenge,” and arriving at the annual Cisco D‑1 Grand Prix. Across these programs, we have pursued ideas that harness product APIs, integrate with other applications to create new value, and explore advances in technology and architecture that connect to real business outcomes. In 2025, we proudly held the fourth Cisco D‑1 Grand Prix, bringing together developers, students, partners, and Cisco engineers to learn from one another and grow together.
From Registration to the Final Stage
Registration opened in late April for teams of up to five members. Interest was strong from both professionals and students, and once registration closed, each team began full‑scale development of their entries. This year, a Cisco engineer served as a mentor for every participating team, staying alongside them as an advisor—from build and submission through to final presentations for teams that reached the Final Stage.
On July 1 we hosted a mid‑program Meetup that sparked peer exchange and collaboration, giving participants a further boost as they refined their ideas.
Submissions closed on August 18. We received many thoughtfully crafted entries from engineers in industry as well as from students. Presentation materials and demo videos were of such high quality that the first‑round judges had to deliberate carefully. After a rigorous review, seven finalist teams were selected on September 5.
Congratulations to the finalists, and sincere thanks to every team that put their passion into building a solution!
Final Stage — September 19, 2025
The Final Stage took place on September 19 as a hybrid event at Cisco’s Roppongi office with a large Webex audience. The program opened with remarks from our Networking business leadership, who noted how quickly the IT landscape continues to evolve and expressed appreciation for participants’ commitment to tackling the next era’s challenges.
In the venue, approximately 50 attendees gathered—including finalists, supporters from their companies and schools, and even members of teams that narrowly missed the Final Stage—while about 340 people joined on Webex to cheer on the finalists. Each finalist delivered a 10‑minute presentation followed by 5 minutes of Q&A with the judges.
Final judging was conducted by six Cisco judges using five criteria:
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Effective use of Cisco technologies
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Originality and forward-looking vision
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Social impact
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User experience (UI/UX)
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Business potential
For the first time, we also welcomed a judge from outside Japan—Nairi Adamian, Director of Solutions Engineer in the Asia‑Pacific region—adding a valuable global perspective alongside the view from Japan.
Judges: Director, Solutions Engineer — Nairi Adamian / Leader, Solutions Engineer — Kazuo Takada / Director, Sales Business Development — Yasushi Fukunaga / Principal Engineer — Kazumasa Ikuta / Leader, Customer Delivery — Yukiko Watanabe / Leader, Solutions Engineer — Kana Azuma
Finalist Presentations (in presentation order)
Please note: the solutions introduced below were developed specifically for this contest. They are not products or services currently offered by the participating teams.
Here are the highlights from the seven finalist teams—their live presentations and a brief overview of each project.
1) Team Pleiades (SUBARU CORPORATION) — MOMIJI: Monitoring Optimization with Meraki & Intelligent Justification Integration
Team Pleiades presented “MOMIJI,” a prototype that addresses the cost, complexity, and potential for human error in server‑room operations. By combining Meraki MV cameras and Meraki MT sensors, the system automates routine checks such as LED state recognition, presence and vital detection, and entry/exit counting, while collecting environmental telemetry (temperature, humidity, power) in real time. Data from multiple sensors and cameras is consolidated on Microsoft’s platform and visualized on centralized dashboards, enabling instant situational awareness, anomaly detection, and automated notifications. The expected outcome is a reduction in manual rounds, faster response, and more defensible, data‑driven operations.
During Q&A, judges asked about the accuracy of information when using generative AI and about operational considerations in real environments. Looking ahead, the team plans to add predictive analytics and early‑warning capabilities, explore integrations with Splunk and ITSM tools, and extend applicability to access control and restricted‑area management across facilities.
2) NOS/NOP Joint Team — Project One (Net One Systems Co.,Ltd. and Net One Partners Co., Ltd.) — EduLink 360: A New Way of Learning
Focusing on disparities between urban and rural learning opportunities, the NOS/NOP joint team proposed EduLink 360, an education‑support solution that combines cutting‑edge technologies to create a fairer environment for all learners. Through an avatar robot (LogiBody), expert teachers based in urban areas can take part in lessons remotely and in real time, including hands‑on experiences.
A cloud learning platform (StudyCloud) provides lesson recording, automatic transcription, and AI chat Q&A to deepen understanding. Tight integrations with Cisco Webex, Webex Board, Spaces, Meraki, ThousandEyes, Splunk, and AI Defense support smooth lesson delivery as well as visibility and safety for connectivity, endpoints, and the network.
In Q&A, judges explored the extent to which the solution could support practical subjects such as physical education and home economics, and how it might perform in low‑bandwidth regions. With further advances in robotics and AI, the concept aims to deliver more effective, hands‑on support and to contribute to the equalization and improvement of educational opportunity and quality.
3) TS-IaC (TOYOTA SYSTEMS CORPORATION) — Reimagining Network Build-Outs with AI & Automation
TS‑IaC addressed the shortage of IT talent and the need to let engineers focus on strategic work by building a high‑practicality automation framework for network construction. Assuming environments composed of Catalyst and Nexus series devices, the team combined an AI agent (Gemini CLI) with an MCP server integrated to Catalyst Center and NetBox, orchestrated via GitLab.
Engineers can use natural‑language prompts to retrieve network information at once, drive automated configuration changes, and keep documentation synchronized with the latest running state. The team estimated ~5.25 hours saved per task and roughly 500 hours annually (about six engineers’ time).
In Q&A, judges asked about operational load and quality control for the MCP server, and how recovery would work if a job failed. The team plans to expand support for more device types and workflows, integrate with ServiceNow and Zabbix, and continue building a platform that is friendly to both developers and operators.
4) NKC-GoTech ( Nagoya Kogakuin College of Technology) — “Mimamori-kun”: A Fresh Approach to Care-Home Waitlists
“Mimamori‑kun” tackles the challenge of staff shortages in an aging society by enhancing safety monitoring in elder‑care facilities. Meraki MT sensors and MV cameras are placed in high‑risk areas; MQTT relays human‑detection data; and alerts are triggered only when risk persists, reducing false positives and helping staff focus on genuinely urgent situations.
Collected data is delivered via Meraki Cloud and AWS services to families and facility managers, while Webex chat and dashboards provide real‑time visibility. In Q&A, judges asked about differentiation from similar systems, usability that takes IT literacy into account, and the potential operating and business models for broader deployment. The team’s roadmap includes building community‑based mutual‑watch features, adding Webex Instant Connect for one‑click video calls, integrating smartwatch data for health insights, and improving care‑plan suggestions and incident‑detection accuracy.
5) Juntendo University, Applied Mathematics Lab — TeamPulse: Visualizing Team Heartbeat and Atmosphere
TeamPulse explores how signals from online collaboration—voice, text, and video—can be transformed into practical insights for hybrid teams. Without requiring special operations, users simply start meetings as usual in Webex. After the meeting, an AI bot delivers automatic analysis for self‑reflection, while leaders and managers see role‑appropriate dashboards that visualize conditions at team and individual levels.
The system analyzes the tone and manner of speech, psychological tendencies in text, and expressions and gestures to infer non‑technical skills and indicators related to mental health, then quantifies and visualizes the results. In Q&A, discussions touched on privacy, data safety, how to handle video‑off scenarios, and the broader importance of non‑technical skills and mental‑health management in real‑world business contexts. By combining university research with Cisco Webex, the project points to promising applications in both education and business for stronger team management and healthier ways of working.
6) Net Care Service Dev Club (NetCare Service Co.,Ltd.) — Netomo: Your Friendly Network Personality
“Netomo” reimagines network operations as a daily conversation with a friendly persona. Instead of opaque alerts and reports, a characterful AI personality retrieves data on demand via APIs, learns over time, detects anomalies and degradations, and provides clear notifications and suggestions that are easy for non‑engineers to understand.
During Q&A, judges asked about demonstrating the basis for final configuration decisions and about improving overall trust. The team outlined plans to diversify the AI engines, add voice and animated interfaces to increase approachability, strengthen guardrails to prevent unsafe actions when automating changes, and broaden API integrations across Cisco’s product portfolio to provide more comprehensive operational assistance.
7) Super FNETS (FUJITSU NETWORK SOLUTIONS LIMITED) — Reducing CO₂ with MCP
Aimed at elementary schools, this solution pursues CO₂ reduction through two lenses: power optimization and school‑lunch food‑waste reduction. With MCP and Meraki, device usage can be analyzed by AI to schedule automatic power‑offs when appropriate. For lunches, Meraki MV cameras capture images of leftovers for AI‑based analysis, and the system can also estimate the CO₂ impact of food waste in ways that are easy for students to understand. Natural‑language and smart‑speaker support make the solution approachable for teachers and pupils alike.
At a school with roughly 50 access points, the team projects around 3.5 tons of CO₂ reduction per year from power optimization and about 6 tons per year from reducing food waste. In Q&A, judges asked about scalability in real deployments and UI considerations for younger students. The solution aims to contribute to early environmental education and a more sustainable society, with strong potential for further development and real‑world adoption.
And the Awards Go To…
Grand Prix: Super FNETS (FUJITSU NETWORK SOLUTIONS LIMITED) — Reducing CO₂ with MCP
Judges’ Special Award: TS‑IaC (TOYOTA SYSTEMS CORPORATION) — Transforming Network Build‑Outs with AI & Automation
Judges’ Special Award: NOS/NOP Joint Team — Project One (Net One Systems Co.,Ltd. and Net One Partners Co., Ltd.) — EduLink 360: A New Way of Learning
All seven teams delivered presentations filled with passion and energy, making the final deliberations truly challenging. Congratulations to the winners, and heartfelt thanks to every team for the creativity and effort that brought their ideas to life.
Closing Words and What’s Next
The event concluded with closing remarks from Nairi Adamian, who praised the many outstanding projects and the high level of creativity on display. She emphasized that participants were not merely applying technology, but using creativity to tackle real‑world problems, and she encouraged everyone to keep their passion alive and continue building new solutions. We closed with a casual get‑together where teams, supporters, and Cisco members exchanged stories about their journeys.
Finally, a sincere thank‑you to all teams, supporters, and attendees who helped make the 4th Cisco D‑1 Grand Prix Final a success. While dates for the next event are still to be determined, Cisco Japan will continue to build an open community around programmability, APIs, and automation, creating a place where technologists can challenge one another, collaborate across domains, and grow together.
This article is also available in Japanese
Nana Ogawa “第4回 Cisco D-1 グランプリ ファイナルステージ開催：イノベーションが結集した一日！”
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