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NEC Corporation today announced the operation of "Metabob," an AI-powered code review service for software development. The service is provided by Metabob, Inc., a Santa Clara-based AI startup established through NEC X, Inc.'s new business creation initiatives.
Metabob is an important advancement for the development of AI agents, software programs that use AI to autonomously achieve specific goals. The development of AI agents requires both speed and high-quality assurance. However, traditional development processes rely heavily on manual code reviews and maintenance tasks.
Existing static analysis tools are limited to syntax-level checks, making it time-consuming to detect, pinpoint, and verify fixes for complex defects. This often leads to prolonged development cycles.
Metabob differs from conventional static analysis tools by analyzing code dependencies and execution flow as graph structures. This enables the early detection of complex bugs spanning multiple files, including issues that would otherwise only appear as runtime errors when a program is operating.
Furthermore, its proprietary AI model, trained on millions of code-fix examples, can automatically detect bugs, explain what is causing them, and suggest how to fix them.
NEC's verification tests of Metabob have reduced labor-hours required for software maintenance and defect fixes as follows:
• 66% reduction compared to manual visual review and manual fixes;
• 50% reduction compared to reviews and fixes using coding AI tools;
These results were achieved through NEC’s "Client Zero" initiative, where the company acts as the first user of its own advanced technologies and operational expertise, then shares the insights and value created through this approach with customers and society.
Going forward, NEC and NEC X will continue verifying Metabob's effectiveness while exploring its adoption and implementation throughout numerous fields.
"Companies need AI that can make changes to complex systems while maintaining accuracy and reliability. Through the NEC X program, we gained not only technical and financial support but also access to enterprise customers and investors, including NEC. By conducting repeated verification directly in actual development environments and use cases, we have incorporated the quality and requirements truly demanded by enterprises into our product. Through our collaboration with NEC, we have clearly demonstrated that AI can be safely and effectively utilized in large-scale software development." - Massimiliano Genta, Founder and CEO, Metabob
"Metabob's technology is already contributing to operations within the NEC Group and generating concrete results as part of NEC X's efforts to create new business value.
"We expect Metabob's approach, which combines advanced code analysis technology with generative AI, to become a new standard for safely and practically utilizing AI, even within companies possessing large-scale, mission-critical systems. NEC X will continue contributing to operational efficiency and productivity across society by leveraging the technology and insights we have cultivated to support startup growth." - Shintaro Matsumoto, President and CEO, NEC X
"While striving to enhance productivity through AI, prolonged development cycles and application quality have been longstanding challenges. Metabob utilizes AI to streamline and enhance complex code reviews, enabling our teams to focus on more creative and essential development tasks.
"Through this collaboration with NEC X, insights that are gained internally can be deployed across the entire NEC Group, accelerating innovation.
"Metabob is a powerful driver for advancing NEC's transformation into an AI-native company. We will continue to actively incorporate cutting-edge technologies and return the results achieved to our customers and society's DX." - Tokuaki Seki, Executive Professional, NEC Corporate IT Systems Division
About NEC X
Through its business creation program (Elev X!), NEC X empowers early-stage startups' journeys to success. The company’s unique blend of collaborative support and resources enables tech entrepreneurs to actualize their ideas into impactful realities that revolutionize the world around us.
About NEC
The NEC Group (nec.com) leverages technology to create social value and promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. NEC Corporation was established in 1899. Today, the NEC Group’s approximately 110,000 employees utilize world-leading AI, security, and communications technologies to solve the most pressing needs of customers and society.
Orchestrating a brighter world
NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Other product or service marks mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. ©2026 NEC Corporation.
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