🤖 "Show me my priority tasks for this week, sorted by deadline." Just say that to an AI — and your entire workflow status appears instantly. A no-code workflow tool just learned to speak AI's universal language. Here's how a quiet revolution in business automation is unfolding from Kyoto, Japan.
Kyoto-Based Questetra Adds MCP Support to Its No-Code Platform
Questetra, Inc., a SaaS company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, released version 17.2 of its cloud-based workflow product "Questetra BPM Suite" in February 2026. The headline feature: built-in server support for MCP (Model Context Protocol), an open standard that connects AI models with external applications.
With this update, users can now interact with external AI clients like ChatGPT to query and understand their business process data on Questetra using plain, everyday language. Instead of navigating complex dashboards, you simply ask the AI, "What's happening with that project?" — and it tells you.
What Is MCP? Think of It as "USB-C for AI"
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open-source communication standard announced by Anthropic in November 2024. In simple terms, it provides a universal set of rules for connecting AI models with external applications and databases.
Before MCP, integrating AI with business systems required building custom connections for each service — different authentication methods, different data formats, endless engineering hours. MCP changes that equation. By supporting one common protocol, a platform can securely connect with a wide variety of AI clients.
The analogy people often use is USB-C: just as the universal connector replaced a tangle of proprietary charging cables, MCP is replacing the fragmented landscape of AI-to-app integrations. Since 2025, major tech companies including OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft have announced MCP support, making it a de facto industry standard.
What Can Questetra Users Actually Do Now?
Questetra BPM Suite is a cloud service that lets organizations build and operate workflow systems for routine business processes — approval requests, quotation submissions, customer inquiries — without writing a single line of code. With drag-and-drop design, it has served Japanese businesses since the company's founding in 2008.
With MCP integration, external AI can now directly access information within Questetra. Specifically, users can retrieve a list of process models (workflow blueprints), search for and view details of individual cases, and display tasks assigned to a logged-in user, including pending items awaiting pickup.
In practical terms, this means asking an AI things like: "What tasks should I prioritize this week, sorted by closest deadline?" or "Identify which approval processes are stalled and show me where the bottleneck is," or "Based on similar past cases, when can I expect this one to be completed?" The AI autonomously retrieves the answers from Questetra's data.
Other Upgrades in v17.2
Beyond MCP, version 17.2 includes several other significant improvements.
The main interface has been converted to a Single Page Application (SPA) architecture, eliminating full page reloads and fetching only the data needed. This dramatically reduces friction for workers who process high volumes of tasks daily. Google's Material Symbols icon set has been adopted for improved visual clarity.
On security, OAuth 2.1 with PKCE support and Content Security Policy (CSP) implementation strengthen both API authentication and browser-level defenses. The AI Agent workflow step now supports the latest Claude Haiku 4.5, Sonnet 4.5, and Opus 4.5 models.
The Bigger Picture: When No-Code Meets AI
Questetra's MCP adoption isn't just a single company's feature update — it's a symbolic moment in the convergence of no-code platforms and artificial intelligence.
One of Japan's persistent challenges is a chronic shortage of IT talent. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry estimates the country could face a shortfall of up to 790,000 IT professionals by 2030. In this context, embedding AI capabilities into no-code tools carries enormous significance.
Until now, building or improving business systems typically required the IT department's involvement. The combination of no-code and AI is enabling a different model: frontline business workers building their own systems and checking workflow status through AI conversations. This directly strengthens what the Japanese call "genba-ryoku" (現場力) — the ability of people at the front lines to autonomously improve operations.
There are challenges, of course. MCP is still an evolving standard, and concerns around security and cross-tool compatibility haven't been fully resolved. Gartner predicts that by 2026, 75% of API gateway vendors will incorporate MCP features, but increased standardization also means security safeguards become more critical.
It's also worth noting that "no-code" means no programming required — not no thinking required. Logical analysis and deep business understanding remain essential for designing effective workflows. AI is a powerful assistant, but humans still make the final calls.
From Kyoto to the World
Questetra operates from Kyoto with roughly $1.2 million in capital, yet has carved out a distinctive position in the BPM space. Compliant with BPMN 2.0 (the international standard for business process modeling notation), the company aims to optimize business processes worldwide — a fitting ambition for a SaaS company born in a city where tradition and innovation coexist.
The fusion of no-code and AI opens doors not just for large corporations but for small and medium businesses too. With products like Questetra starting at around $10 per user per month, the notion that digital transformation is "only for big companies" is rapidly becoming outdated.
The arrival of MCP in no-code tools represents a milestone in the democratization of technology. You don't need to code to talk to AI. You don't need specialized expertise to automate your work. This trajectory is irreversible — and it's only accelerating.
How far along is no-code adoption and AI-driven workplace automation in your country? We'd love to hear your thoughts on using AI at work.
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Reactions in Japan
Questetra's MCP support looks low-key but it's huge. My SME manufacturing clients don't even have IT departments — they're routing approvals via Excel. Being able to build flows with no code and ask AI 'what's the status?' is revolutionary.
MCP server implementation is good, but I'm more impressed they shipped OAuth 2.1 and CSP at the same time. Too many SaaS products neglect security. That said, we need to scrutinize exactly what data is accessible via MCP.
Had to look up what MCP is... the explanation that it's like USB-C for AI made it click. So even someone like me who can't code can connect AI to business systems? What an era we live in.
Our company is still running workflows on Lotus Notes... Seeing a BPMS like Questetra connect with AI through MCP just makes the gap feel wider. But migration costs and pushback from the floor are real obstacles.
A Kyoto startup implementing MCP — that's nimble. There's a pattern where companies like this grab the standard while big system integrators are still deliberating.
Another AI efficiency story. Even with no-code, you need design sense for workflows and skill to ask AI the right questions. The real problem is executives who think just buying a tool solves everything.
Another win for Kyoto tech 👏 Didn't know Questetra before but seeing a regional SaaS company adopt global standards makes me proud as someone from Kyoto. We're not just Nintendo 😤
Is this the first BPMS with MCP support? Technically it's a server-side implementation, so you could pull workflow data from ChatGPT or Claude Desktop. Combined with an internal Slack bot, this could be incredibly useful.
HR onboarding and approval workflows are deceptively complex and tend to become person-dependent. Using MCP with Questetra to ask AI 'How far along are this month's onboarding processes?' would be amazing. Could be the real deal for HR digital transformation.
Implementing MCP server in a BPMN 2.0-compliant BPMS is a solid architectural choice. If AI can read process mining data, analysis capabilities expand dramatically. Next I'd like to see MCP client support too.
MCP-enabled BPMS for about $10/user/month — isn't that insanely good value? We use like 10 SaaS tools. Consolidating workflows into Questetra and managing everything through AI sounds totally viable.
Getting MCP bubble vibes. Same as last year's RAG hype — only a handful of companies will actually operationalize it. Not a fan of the trend of putting out press releases just for supporting a standard.
Wonder if our 15-person factory could use this. I want to organize our order→production→inspection→shipping flow. Being able to ask AI 'What's scheduled for shipment today?' would help a lot. Apparently there's a free trial — might give it a shot.
BPMS + MCP + AI is fascinating from an internal controls perspective. If AI can visualize approval bottlenecks and exception patterns, J-SOX compliance monitoring could become significantly easier.
Knew Questetra had multilingual support, but if English AI clients can pull Japanese workflow data via MCP, it could smooth out operations with overseas offices. This might quietly be a trump card for global business coordination.
I work with BPM tools in Silicon Valley, and a BPMS natively implementing an MCP server is unusual. Big players typically extend via APIs, so it's the smaller companies that move faster. Questetra — noted.
As someone at an Indian IT outsourcing firm, having clients' workflow tools support MCP is a blessing. It dramatically reduces integration work when developing AI agents. Honestly surprised a Japanese company adopted the standard this early.
In France, GDPR compliance is the biggest hurdle for MCP adoption. Letting AI freely access work data is convenient, but aren't employee task records personal data? Curious how Questetra handles that boundary.
MCP support alone isn't that newsworthy honestly. The differentiator is how rich the context the MCP server feeds to AI. If it serves not just progress but decision history and exception patterns, that's the real deal.
In Korea, Kakao Enterprise and NAVER lead workplace automation, but neither has MCP support yet. Respect to this small Kyoto BPMS company for getting there first. Korean companies need to pick up the pace.
$10/month per user isn't cheap for Mexican SMEs. But given that many run operations on Excel and WhatsApp, the no-code BPMS + AI combo could let us leapfrog. The question is whether it supports Spanish.
As someone using n8n and Make at a Polish startup, BPMS adding MCP feels like a natural evolution. But whether Questetra can compete globally with Zapier or Monday is another question. Might be smarter to focus on the Japanese market.
As a consultant working on German manufacturing DX, this has my attention. A BPMN 2.0-compliant BPMS with MCP could bridge quality management workflows on production lines with AI analysis. Very interesting in the Industrie 4.0 context.
UAE is pushing AI adoption as national strategy, so MCP-enabled BPMS could align with government procurement requirements. But it would be tough without Arabic RTL (right-to-left) display support.
In Nigeria's fintech sector, approval workflow transparency is crucial for regulatory relations. If AI can visualize approval bottlenecks, compliance gets easier. Would love to see this product in African markets.
Working at a Canadian healthcare startup where we use BPMS for patient referral and insurance approval workflows. MCP integration with medical AI could massively reduce referral delays. Though HIPAA-equivalent compliance needs checking.
Many Italian family-run SMEs still route approvals on paper. No-code BPMS itself hasn't penetrated here, so AI integration doesn't resonate with most. Technology adoption has stages — you can't skip them.
Leading DX at a Singapore financial institution. MCP's security model isn't mature enough yet. Feeding business data to AI via MCP servers in production needs 2-3 more security layers. I appreciate the early adoption, but enterprise operation is a different conversation.
I handle process improvement for an Australian local council. If we could use a tool like this for citizen service application flows, it would be fantastic. Just being able to ask AI 'Summarize this month's building permit processing status' would transform the work.
In Sweden, Microsoft Power Automate and ServiceNow dominate workflow automation. If Questetra wants to differentiate, the MCP + BPMN compliance combo is unique. Niche, but the right audience will appreciate it.