SOMPO’s new digital strategy: DDAX
The Sompo Group established SOMPO Digital Labs in Tokyo and Silicon Valley in 2016, and has been advancing digital data transformation (DDX), including data-driven portfolio realignment, while incorporating leading-edge digital technologies. I have worked on our company's projects since 2016 when I was at my previous post, and from that perspective, I believe our strength lies in our history of taking on challenges. In the past, new technology deployment sometimes became an end in itself, which resulted in a lack of improvement in user convenience and a lack of acceptance, leading to so-called technologydriven failures. Having gone through this experience, we now make sure our thinking is issue driven, deploying technology in order to resolve user and on-site issues. In this way we can align with customers and employees, ensuring their acceptance of new initiatives.
Implementation teams are crucial when implementing AI and digital technologies in an issue-driven manner. Our digital department now has about 200 people, and I don't think there are many companies in Japan—other than IT firms—that have such an in-house organization. We believe that our in-house development capabilities, which allow us to maximize development speed while keeping costs down and addressing specific needs, are a major strength of our company.
With AI advancing at a dizzying pace in recent years, incorporating AI to enhance operational efficiency, personalize the customer experience, and bring reform to business models has become essential to companies’ survival. In utilizing AI, preparing the underlying data to fully harness AI’s power is crucial. The DDAX we are aiming for is to radically evolve our conventional digital strategies and achieve AI-driven transformation, while capitalizing fully on the data.
Mission
I joined Sompo Holdings as Group CDO in June 2025 because the company’s Purpose resonated with me and I wanted to be involved in something that has social significance. My mission is to promote DDAX across the entire Sompo Group, and within that context my focus is on driving forward AI. We are implementing AI in various business processes across the Group, leading to improved productivity and the creation of new businesses, thereby contributing to the achievement of the Group’s goals for FY2030.
There are three phases in advancing AI in a company: the first phase is when employees become proficient in using AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), the second phase is when AI is incorporated into business operations, and the third phase is when business models are changed to incorporate AI.
In the first phase, the Group’s proprietary conversational generative AI was used by over 50% of employees, contributing to increased efficiency in tasks such as creating meeting minutes and drafting emails. In the second phase, we are incorporating AI in a way tailored to each business’s operations. For example, Sompo Japan Insurance’s insurance claims service division uses AI to assign staff when accepting accident claims and to strengthen fraud detection. Sompo Care’s nursing care facilities provide personalized care for each resident based on sleep data and care records. Going forward, we aim to provide even greater experiential value by leveraging AI based on this kind of data. Sompo is now steadily implementing the second phase of its AI advancement, and we are engaged with each business division as we move towards the third phase, where we transform our business models.
Spreading our AI vision and fostering a culture within the company is indispensable to achieving our mission. To foster a culture of AI utilization, we operate a community to share know-how and further reinforce the spread of AI throughout the group. In addition, to further accelerate our activities, we are actively working to develop and acquire AI talent to further enhance our in-house development digital division, which is one of our strengths.
What we aim to achieve by advancing AI
I have been involved in the launch of many new businesses, and even in difficult situations, I have found a path to success by continually addressing customer challenges and achieving results. In my last post, I launched a business in Silicon Valley on my own without any overseas experience. I believe my strengths lie in my ability to work backwards from a goal and my mental toughness. Leveraging these strengths, I will implement the necessary solutions one by one and tackle various challenges to achieve DDAX through each phase, enhancing AI use by all employees, implementing AI in business processes, and transforming each business such that it has a business model that incorporates AI. I expect to face many challenges and difficulties along the way, but I will never give up. I will be at the forefront of advancing AI, mobilizing the power of our digital team. I will provide customers with new experiential value that can only be achieved through AI, and I will work hard to push forward with DDAX to contribute to the realization of a future of health, wellbeing and financial protection.
