Beyond the Answer
As AI becomes both coder and tutor, teachers ask what students still need to learn and what role they should play.
As AI becomes both coder and tutor, teachers ask what students still need to learn and what role they should play.
According to Satya Nadella, artificial intelligence (AI) writes 20 to 30 percent of the code in Microsoft’s repositories, with some already passing the halfway point. Sundar Pichai puts Google’s figure at roughly a quarter to a third. At my own startup with 15 engineers, no one handwrites code anymore. Two years ago, any of these claims would have sounded like science fiction.
Linus Torvalds, who created Linux, the operating system that powers every Android phone and most of the world’s servers, has pointed out that compilers write 100 percent of everyone’s code and nobody boasts about that. He is right that this has happened before. The difference is that a compiler is reliably correct, and a large language model is not.
If professional software is increasingly written by machines, what do schools have left to teach?
I put that question to four people from very different disciplines who do this for a living: in schools, in coding boot camps, in research, and in the creation of Japanese school textbooks. Surprisingly, there was a good deal of consensus.
That Which Survives
Simon Guest, a computer science educator and former chief technology officer of Code.org, the nonprofit behind the Hour of Code and the largest provider of free computer science curriculum in US schools, teaches AI at both the high school and undergraduate levels. He explains what he thinks endures using house construction as a metaphor.
“The student could ask an AI to ‘build me a house’ in one shot and simply accept whatever it produces,” he said. “Or they could design the house first, deciding on the structure and what each room needs to accomplish, and then use AI to help build each part. Using the second approach, AI may still do much of the construction, but the student is the ‘builder’ of the system.”
Stefania Druga holds a PhD in AI tools for creative coding, created the Cognimates platform, and is currently a staff research scientist at Sakana AI in Tokyo. She arrived at the same place after a decade of studying children learning alongside these tools. When agents write more of the code, she said, “knowing how to decompose a problem, specify what you want, and evaluate what comes back matters more, not less.”
Kani Munidasa cofounded Code Chrysalis in Tokyo in 2017, initially helping people transition into software engineering, and today works primarily with companies to develop their in-house software development and organizational capabilities. He put it in the language of hiring.
“As building software becomes faster and cheaper, the scarce capability is increasingly not simply, ‘Can you code?’ but ‘Can you decide what to build, and can you build it effectively as a team?’ That’s an organizational capability,” he said.
This is not new. I have hired senior engineers for 15 years by asking why they built the thing they are describing—what prompted the migration, who decided, and whether they understood the reasoning. If somebody simply told them to do it, the interview is largely over. What’s new is that I now ask the same of juniors. The judgment that used to earn a promotion is becoming the price of entry.
AI as Teacher
Let’s do a little philosophical exercise. AI could be the perfect teacher. It is infinitely patient. It never tires of the same question asked a fourth time. It explains at whatever level you need, in whatever language you speak, and it will do it at two in the morning.
Munidasa does not hedge: “I think AI will eventually do a lot of what we traditionally think of as teaching, and probably do some of it better than we can,” he said. “It can already explain concepts, answer questions endlessly, adapt to the individual, review code, generate exercises, and give immediate feedback. We shouldn’t pretend those capabilities are somehow protected from AI.”
Of the years Code Chrysalis spent running consumer boot camps, he said: “People weren’t paying us for access to information. Even when we started, you could learn JavaScript, algorithms, databases, or almost anything else online for free. What they were paying for was an environment designed to transform how they learned and worked.”
The evidence for that predates AI. When Harvard put CS50, its introductory computer science course, online for free, 150,349 people registered in the first year. Just 1,388 of them finished. On campus that same year, 703 of 706 students completed the identical course, taught by the same instructor from the same material.
Guest does not think the difference is pedagogical.
“When a student signs up for an in-person course, they’re accountable to another person,” he said. “If they don’t show up or complete the work, there’s a teacher or professor who notices.” Online, most of that disappears. Anyone who has joined a gym in January and stopped going by spring already knows how that story ends.
“I am much more optimistic about AI as a ‘teaching assistant’ rather than a teacher—an AI that can provide immediate, personalized help, while a human teacher remains responsible for the relationship, motivation, and accountability,” he said.
“AI may become an extraordinary teacher, but education still has to develop the human being.”
Who It Fails
“The people who can benefit most from self-directed AI learning are often the people who have already learned how to learn without it,” Munidasa noted.
“The danger,” he said, “is when you don’t yet know what you don’t know. AI can give you an answer that feels complete, and even produce something that works, without you understanding why it works.”
Druga explained it this way: “An answer machine optimizes time to answer. A teaching tool optimizes what you can do after it leaves the room.”
In her most recent study, North American participants already had AI at home, while several from other regions had never used it. “The tool amplifies whatever head start a child already has,” she said. “That is why access has to be designed, not assumed.”
The Adult in the Room
Japan has already tested whether access on its own is enough. In 2018, Japanese students spent less classroom time on digital devices than students in any other country in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The government’s response, announced the following December, was the Global and Innovation Gateway for All, or GIGA, School Program, which put a networked device in the hands of every public school student, with 1,769 local governments, or 97.6 percent, having completed planned delivery by the end of March 2021.
Distribution was never the hard part.
The education ministry’s own reviews now describe uneven use between regions and between schools.
The constraint is the adult at the front of the room. A survey by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for FY2022 found that 23 percent of junior high school teachers responsible for technology were teaching under a temporary license or an out-of-field arrangement.
That is easy to read as a competence problem, but I do not think it is one. “The gap is teacher confidence, and tools built for learning rather than for answers,” Druga said.
Ayana Murakami, who works on the digital content in Japan’s authorized junior high school textbooks and is a software engineer and PhD candidate at Ochanomizu University, describes a second structural problem. “The national curriculum is revised roughly once a decade, and junior high school textbooks follow a four-year cycle, while AI can change dramatically within months.”
The ministry appears to agree. Its budget documents describe a new junior high subject under consideration, provisionally called Information and Technology, and say work on teaching materials will begin without waiting for the next curriculum revision to take effect.
Murakami is not pessimistic about schools. Asked whether compulsory education is better placed than self-directed learning to help students understand the potential, risks, and use of AI, she said: “AI makes it easier to learn on your own, but it can still be hard to study things you are not interested in. Schools provide a common foundation by giving students a structured learning environment.”
What’s Left
Having granted AI that much, Munidasa draws a conclusion that runs against his own interest. “But if that’s all a boot camp does, then yes, I think AI should replace it.”
What survives is the part that was never about information. “You don’t learn teamwork by reading about teamwork. You learn it by having to build something with another human being when you don’t agree.”
Asked what she would fund in Japan if she could fund one thing, Druga did not name a tool for learners. She chose “AI tools that assume a teacher is present and make her better.” Every person I spoke to for this piece said a version of the same thing.
A country where every child has a device, a teacher, and a teacher confident with both would be the first of its kind. Japan already has two of those three.
The third is the hardest. Teachers need confidence with these tools, as well as AI built for learning rather than for answers. Current AI products will not do that out of the box. They are built to answer. So tools that enhance and support the learning process have to be built.
MEXT is reconsidering the curriculum now, and the obvious move is to add AI to the syllabus. But nothing in a syllabus reaches a student except through a teacher. What we do know is that accountability matters more than it did, and that what is worth teaching is the reasoning rather than the result. As Munidasa put it: “AI may become an extraordinary teacher, but education still has to develop the human being.”
AI in the Workplace
As artificial intelligence gets its own desk in the office, workers and leaders weigh its risks and rewards—and whether age shapes their view.
As artificial intelligence gets its own desk in the office, workers and leaders weigh its risks and rewards—and whether age shapes their view.
A client question nobody has an answer for leads to a stalemate in the middle of a meeting. One colleague takes the old-school approach and books another meeting for next week, spending the days between sketching notes. The other opens an artificial intelligence (AI) tool and has a workable plan within the hour.
That contrast, said Roy Tomizawa, chief executive officer of Reinventing Asia, is the story of AI in the workplace: it is changing the distance between thinking and acting.
“So much organizational time is spent waiting and procrastinating,” Tomizawa said. Unread emails and slow-to-schedule meetings are a kind of quiet tax that most companies never measure. “Half of what was discussed could have been thought through, drafted, or prototyped beforehand by the person who leveraged the available AI tools on his or her own.”
How businesses close the gap between thinking and acting is dividing opinion, forcing leaders to decide what AI should handle and what it shouldn’t, while young professionals are discovering that the skills worth building are shifting day to day.
The Age of the Generalist
Tomizawa explained that the shift goes beyond speed. AI is dissolving the old dependency on specialists. An employee who knows how to assemble credible first versions of a website or a video will have an advantage. Tomizawa called this “the age of the generalist.”
But that doesn’t flatten the value of expertise, he said.
“It actually raises the price of real expertise, since shallow, surface-level work is now cheap and abundant.” Someone still has to know when an AI’s answer is actually good, he added. Without that, the same tools that make people efficient just make them “efficient masters of AI slop.”
Sludge, Slop, and Everything in Between
Not everyone sees the acceleration in such rosy terms. Dr. Greg Story, president of Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo, compared the effect of AI on communication to that of social media. Both are technologies that can make people more insular, offering contact with or through a machine as a substitute for real contact with each other.
Story, who has written nine books and recorded thousands of podcast episodes, said listeners can identify his writing by ear. Hand that same task to AI by default, he argued, and you never develop a personal voice.
“If you’re ever going to have a distinctive style, and you keep outsourcing it to AI, then you’ll never achieve that and you’ll be part of the sludge,” he said. “There’s no discrimination between one piece of sludge and the other.”
For most professionals, the risk, he argued, is that AI tends to default to generic text unless given deliberate direction. That caution shows up in how he runs his own training business. Dale Carnegie has built its own AI system, trained only on its own material, to keep answers on brand rather than generic. But Story keeps it confined to prework and follow-up, away from the live instruction that’s actually being sold.
In sales, he explained, AI becomes a genuine research tool for those who ask the right questions, provided someone checks it for hallucinations—the tendency for AI to make up information when it doesn’t have an answer.
“The human dimension is being reduced,” he said, “so we have to hold on to it as much as we can to counterbalance the swing to impersonal communication.”
“AI is dissolving the old dependency on specialists. An employee who knows how to assemble credible first versions of a website or a video will have an advantage.”
Finding a Voice with AI
Ted Katagi, CEO of Kenja K.K., builds tools based on retrieval-augmented generation, or RAG, that draw only on a company’s own material rather than the open internet, including the system behind Dale Carnegie’s own AI tool. Katagi makes a distinction between content and style.
“We have to separate things—the voicing of it, which to me is the style, versus the content,” he said. The content has improved with AI use, he said, but the style “will tend to aggregate” as writers rely on it. Part of that, he argued, is simply that AI eliminates bad writing—which raises its own question. “If we get rid of the bad writing, isn’t that going to make you a little bit more similar in a sense?”
Preserving an individual voice, he said, takes deliberate work. “I wouldn’t just say, ‘Here, AI, write like me.’ I would say, ‘Here are all my papers. How do you think I write?’” Skip that step, he warned, and a personal voice doesn’t get replaced so much as quietly forgotten.
Katagi’s advice to young professionals is to treat AI more as a “sparring partner” than a first-drafter.
“Ask always: What did it do that was smart that I need to learn?” Katagi advised. “What did it do that was bad that I need to check on?” For those who genuinely engage with AI, it “can seem like they gain 10 years of experience.”
“It will get you where you want to go and it will help you finish the last mile,” he said. But human judgment and intuition are still needed. He cited as an example a recruiting-industry deployment that builds an editor directly into the workflow rather than letting AI hand off a polished document unchecked.
Differentiating from Sameness
Meghan Barstow, president and representative director of ACCJ Corporate Sustaining Member Edelman Japan K.K., has watched two prior technology shifts reshape her industry: the internet and mobile phones.
“I experienced the advent of the internet and mobile phones,” she said, “both of which transformed how we create, communicate, and connect.” She expects AI to do the same, viewing it as a tool that “aids and amplifies human creativity rather than replaces it.”
Her concern is closer to what Story called sludge. Barstow called it “sameness.”
“AI is incredibly good at producing something plausible. But plausible isn’t necessarily interesting, original, or culturally meaningful,” Barstow said, adding that her worry is more about the behavior it enables.
“If we all use the same tools, trained on much of the same material, and accept the first answer they give us, there is a real risk that we will create more content but with less creativity.”
As an executive, Barstow, who is also an ACCJ vice president, described adopting AI as “quite fun,” but said the stakes reach into business models themselves, with real winners and losers ahead. Organizations that treat AI as additive to their core value rather than a replacement for it will succeed, she predicts.
For young professionals, she offered this advice: “Raise your hand. Get involved. Be curious. Learn, learn, learn. Use the new tools, absolutely, but don’t do so at the expense of learning the fundamentals or having experiences that develop your judgment and perspective.”
She also viewed the generational exchange as a two-way street. Edelman brought interns back this year for the first time since the pandemic, several through the ACCJ’s own internship portal, and Barstow credited them with making the organization sharper.
“The more opportunities we create for generations to learn from one another, the better all of us—and our organizations—will be,” she said.
What Leaders Need to Know
Digital fluency doesn’t mean becoming a technologist, Tomizawa said. It means understanding how value is created and decisions are made. He said three mindsets matter most:
- Treating information as a strategic asset
- Measuring outcomes, not activity
- Introducing AI deliberately
By treating information as a strategic asset, Tomizawa means that it is important to know where critical data sits, who owns it, and whether it’s reaching the people making decisions. Once that is in place, the value of the technology must be assessed. “High usage of an AI tool, for example, tells leaders little about whether people are saving time, making better decisions, improving customer outcomes, increasing revenue, or reducing risk,” he said. When preparing to implement AI tools, leaders should start by looking at the work itself to find the bottlenecks and errors before choosing the technology. Finally, they should define exactly what AI should recommend and where human approval stays mandatory.
Story said that leaders rarely had time to check employees’ work before AI, and they have even less reason to start now. His solution is to train people on privacy and instill in them a healthy skepticism.
Cybersecurity is another area to be mindful of.
Katagi said a clash between cybersecurity’s oldest principle and AI’s newest capabilities exists, pointing to “zero trust,” the model he said most cybersecurity experts rely on now.
“Zero trust means you say you’re Chris and it looks like it, but I’m not going to trust it until I see some irrefutable proof that you are who you say you are,” he explained. Agentic AI, a system trusted to act on a user’s behalf that Katagi said is at the center of AI right now, asks for the opposite. “Basically, what it’s allowing you to do is say, ‘Okay, trust me and I’ll do the thing.’ But that’s going directly against all the cybersecurity frameworks that people have.”
“The professionals who thrive will be the ones who know when to trust it, when to challenge it, and when to think differently.”
A Youthful Approach
Among young professionals, thoughts on AI lean more toward the opportunities the technology brings.
“AI is one of the most significant shifts I have seen in how we work, and I think young professionals have a real opportunity to shape how it is adopted,” said Fatim Diallo, a director at FGS Global and vice-chair of the ACCJ Young Professionals Forum (YPF). “Used well, it frees up time for the kind of creative thinking and relationship-building that transforms careers.”
The shift has made her more curious about where she can add value than anxious about what AI might replace. At a company dealing with multiple markets, AI has “meaningfully reduced the friction of working across linguistic and cultural contexts,” she said.
Her main concern is what she dubs a “meat proxy”—people who pass AI output straight through without reviewing or questioning it.
“The professionals who thrive will be the ones who know when to trust it, when to challenge it, and when to think differently.”
Kelly Langley, CEO of Gemini Group K.K. and co-chair of the YPF, noted a similar shift in what makes someone valuable. AI increasingly handles the “first 80 percent” of a task, he said, freeing people to spend more time exercising judgment on the final 20 percent.
“That makes me more interested in capabilities that are difficult to replicate: judgment, trust, persuasion, relationship-building, improvisation in moments of crisis, and understanding what motivates people.”
Langley pushed back on the idea that there is a generational divide among AI adopters.
“The bigger distinction is between people who are relentless learners and early adopters and those who remain comfortable with established ways of working.”
Progress in the Age of AI
The next wave of AI innovation isn’t going to come from the massive, companywide rollouts most large organizations are currently betting on, Katagi said.
“People think the big projects are the thing. I think the next innovation is going to occur in agile projects at the middle level,” he said, predicting smaller teams and narrower budgets focused on solving one specific problem well rather than applying a general-purpose tool everywhere at once.
Story said that “at the end of the day, most business problems are people walking around on two legs talking to each other. That doesn’t go away, but the skill sets are going away in a sense, as people become more isolated.”
But he sees an opportunity ahead in the people using the tools themselves.
“As we’re moving away from voice and body language, we are getting to a stage where AI is just going to accelerate that process,” he said. “If you have the ability to communicate, you’re going to stand out head and shoulders above everyone else. You’ll be clear, empathetic. I think that’s an opportunity rather than a threat.”
Tomizawa argued that most companies are still years from redesigning how work actually gets done around AI, rather than just using it to make things faster.
“The more capable AI becomes, the more important human judgment becomes in deciding what problem deserves attention, what ‘good’ looks like, and which trade-offs are acceptable,” he said.
Five years from now, he added, the people with the greatest value will be the ones who know how to combine machine capability with sound human judgment.
Healthy Momentum
As Lilly marks its sesquicentennial, the ACCJ President’s Circle member focuses on what comes next for Japan.
As Lilly marks its sesquicentennial, the ACCJ President’s Circle member focuses on what comes next for Japan.
It has been 150 years since American pharmacist, chemist, and businessman Eli Lilly founded Eli Lilly and Company in 1876. It was just over a decade after the end of the Civil War that the former Union Army officer turned his attention to creating innovative medicines of the highest quality. A century and a half later, the company that started in Indianapolis has become one of the world’s leaders.
In Japan, where ACCJ President’s Circle member Eli Lilly Japan K.K. has operated for more than half a century, the milestone is being treated as a responsibility to shape what comes next. The country is one of Lilly’s most important markets, thanks to its world-class scientific capabilities, highly skilled healthcare professionals, and exceptionally high standards of patient care.
The next chapter for Lilly in Japan starts with building the manufacturing muscle and partnerships with government, academia, and the tech world to close the gaps in diagnosis and access to ensure that medicines get to the patients who need them most.
That also means putting technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to work to accelerate scientific discovery and improve how medicines are developed, manufactured, and delivered.
The ambition is to become the most trusted and impactful medicine company in Japan by 2030.
“Our success will be measured not only by business growth, but by the lasting difference we make for patients, the healthcare system, and society,” the company told The ACCJ Journal. “Our legacy is what we do next.”
Bridging Leadership
That next chapter arrives alongside a change at the top. In July 2026, Karla Alcazar became president and representative director of Lilly Japan, succeeding Simone Thomsen, who had led the organization since 2019.
Thomsen described Japan’s healthcare sector as having reached an important turning point during her tenure. The country’s strengths remain considerable, she said, including universal healthcare coverage, highly skilled professionals, strong scientific institutions, and a deep commitment to quality. All this comes as the healthcare environment has grown more complex with an aging population and a growing burden of chronic disease, which have raised the need for innovation.
While Lilly’s mission remains to bring innovative medicines to Japanese patients, continued uncertainty around pricing and reimbursement policies makes it increasingly challenging to sustain investment, accelerate innovation, and ensure timely patient access, she added. Going forward, a more predictable policy environment will be essential to support both innovation and long-term healthcare sustainability.
For Thomsen, that means integrating Japan into global development, strengthening the company’s manufacturing network and supply resilience, raising awareness in areas such as obesity disease and Alzheimer’s disease, and building partnerships that help patients move from awareness to diagnosis and appropriate care.
She was especially proud to see Lilly Japan’s role extend beyond medicines, working with local governments, medical societies, and patient organizations to promote earlier diagnosis and build more connected care pathways.
“The progress achieved over these years was not the work of one leader,” Thomsen stressed. “It was created together by our employees and partners, and that shared journey is what I value most.”
Alcazar arrives in Kobe after nearly 20 years with Lilly. With most of those spent in Latin America and the United States, she brings with her a perspective shaped by very different markets.
What stands out to her in Japan is the strength of its universal healthcare system, the scientific rigor of its medical community, the emphasis on quality and safety, and the discipline with which organizations execute.
Set against a rapidly aging population, issues such as healthy longevity, chronic disease management, sustainable access, and earlier intervention have become especially urgent.
“My experience has taught me that sustainable progress requires both strong execution and collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem,” Alcazar explained. “I come to Japan with curiosity and humility.”
She said that the greatest opportunity is to expand early and consistent access to innovation for more people in Japan.
Through deeper collaboration and responsible use of data and technology, Japan can further improve early diagnosis, personalize care, strengthen treatment pathways, and continue to play an important role in global medical innovation, she added.
The harder task, in Alcazar’s view, is that scientific innovation alone does not automatically lead to better outcomes.
Patients can still face stigma, limited disease awareness, uneven access, and complex care pathways. The system needs a predictable, sustainable environment that recognizes the long-term value of innovation.
“We must work across sectors to remove barriers, strengthen the patient voice, and build an ecosystem in which advances in science can translate into meaningful improvements in people’s lives,” she said.
Confronting Obesity Disease
Nowhere is that approach more visible than in Lilly’s push on obesity disease, a chronic, progressive condition shaped by biology, genetics, psychology, the environment, and social circumstances.
The disease is linked to more than 200 serious complications, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, and liver disease.
Despite this, the condition remains widely misunderstood as simply a matter of personal responsibility or willpower. This misconception often creates stigma that can keep people from recognizing it or seeking care at all.
Japan’s aging population and its barriers to diagnosis and treatment make the country a particular focus for Lilly. Its role extends beyond developing medicines, the company said, to working with medical societies, healthcare providers, and policymakers to strengthen disease understanding, treatment pathways, and evidence generation, so that people can move from awareness to appropriate action.
Digital healthcare is central to that effort. The company argued that the biggest challenge is not simply access to treatment, since many people living with obesity disease never reach the point of seeking medical care in the first place. Earlier recognition can encourage people to seek professional advice before the disease leads to more serious complications.
Online medical consultations can help reduce psychological barriers to seeking care and improve access to appropriate healthcare. Lilly recognizes the potential of digital health solutions to enhance patient access to care and support better health outcomes.
Digital tools can also narrow regional gaps in access. They can connect patients, regardless of location, to appropriate care, since specialists and experienced providers are not evenly distributed across the country.
Looking beyond individual medicines, the next frontier is a more personalized approach with integrated treatment decisions reflecting disease severity, related conditions, patient needs and preferences, as well as old-fashioned clinical judgment.
Earlier recognition, stronger disease awareness, reduced stigma, and better-coordinated care across the healthcare ecosystem, the company argued, all matter as much as the medicines themselves in improving long-term outcomes.
The goal is to ensure people living with obesity disease can recognize the disease earlier, seek help without fear of stigma, and access the right care at the right time.
Lilly said Japan has an opportunity to build a more patient-centered ecosystem for obesity disease care that combines in-person care, digital health services, disease awareness programs, and community-based support. No single organization can achieve this alone.
Collaboration among healthcare professionals, policymakers, patient communities, academia, and industry, the company said, will be essential to enable earlier diagnosis, smoother referral pathways, and equitable access to evidence-based care.
Applied Intelligence
The other pillar of Lilly’s forward-looking push is the ever-growing field of AI, which is becoming a foundational capability across the full medicine value chain for the company rather than a standalone technology initiative.
In early discovery, AI allows scientists to analyze complex biology and chemistry at a scale and speed that were previously impossible. Its reach extends well beyond early discovery, supporting clinical-trial design, regulatory-document preparation, manufacturing quality, supply-chain resilience, and more precise patient engagement.
That integration was reinforced recently with the launch of a Co-Innovation AI Lab alongside Nvidia, pairing Lilly’s drug-development know-how with Nvidia’s computing horsepower.
The goal is to reinvent how scientific discovery happens by pairing AI-driven computational research with real lab experimentation so hypotheses get generated, tested, and refined in a continuous loop, far faster than before.
Ultimately, the company said, the purpose of the collaboration is to help address some of the most difficult challenges in medicine and accelerate scientific breakthroughs that can improve patients’ lives around the world.
AI will be a powerful accelerator of drug discovery and healthcare, according to the company. But it’s ultimately people who make the breakthroughs that improve patients’ lives. Curiosity, scientific judgment, creativity, and accountability remain fundamentally human traits.
As the company put it, AI does not replace scientists but, rather, augments human expertise. Scientists remain at the center of every decision, while AI helps analyze complex biology, generate insights, and explore possibilities at a scale that was previously impossible.
Over the long term, Lilly expects the greatest impact to come from connecting AI across a medicine’s entire life cycle: better trial design and patient selection in development, improved quality control and planning in manufacturing and supply, and, in research, a far wider exploration of biological and chemical possibilities.
For patients, the company noted, the ultimate value will not be the technology itself but what it enables: better scientific decisions, a greater probability of successful development, faster learning, and more reliable supply.
For organizations using AI, the company said that those who empower their people to use it responsibly and effectively will create the greatest value.
The Value of a Network
Lilly credits its ACCJ President’s Circle membership with a distinct role in supporting its work. The company described it as an important platform for dialogue, partnership, and shared learning across industries, one that allows it to engage with business leaders, policymakers, and the US Embassy,
Tokyo on issues touching both healthcare and the broader US–Japan economic relationship.
That matters, Lilly said, because many of today’s healthcare challenges cannot be solved by the pharmaceutical industry alone. Through the ACCJ, the company contributes its expertise to policy discussions, learns from other sectors, and helps develop collaborative initiatives spanning healthcare innovation, digital transformation, sustainability, inclusion, and women’s empowerment.
The premium membership also gives Lilly’s employees a chance to broaden their professional networks and engage with initiatives beyond the pharmaceutical sector.
“Ultimately,” the company said, “the ACCJ helps us strengthen trust and collaboration and advance our goal of creating a healthier, more innovative, and sustainable future in Japan.”
Meaningful Mentors
Heather Kodhelaj and Leo Abufadil share how being chosen as Bishop Scholars has opened doors to their future careers.
Heather Kodhelaj and Leo Abufadil share how being chosen as Bishop Scholars has opened doors to their future careers.
From left: Leo Abufadil, ACCJ Executive Director Laura Younger, and Heather Kodhelaj at the 2025 ACCJ Shinnenkai
In her final year of high school, Heather Kodhelaj’s philosophy teacher suggested that she go into the foreign service. “I didn’t see a clear path, but my mom encouraged me to start traveling.”
Though Kodhelaj was born and raised in the United States, her parents are Albanian and immigrated in 1998. On her mother’s advice, Kodhelaj went to Europe. When she returned to Philadelphia, she caught herself falling into a rut and headed to South Korea for more international experience.
“When I came back from Korea, I was changed as a person and had fallen in love with Asia,” she explained. “My mom and I bonded over her love of a Korean drama called Crash Landing on You. It’s about a North Korean and a South Korean who fall in love despite their different cultures. Having been raised under Communism, she really identifies with the story.”
Seeing how time abroad was shaping Kodhelaj, her mother encouraged her to keep going. “When I heard about the Bishop Scholarship, she said, ‘Take a chance, the worst they can say is no.’”
Kodhelaj arrived at the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) on August 22, 2024, for a five-month internship provided by the scholarship established after ACCJ leader Bill Bishop, his wife, and daughter were killed on Christmas morning in 2022. The award, established by the ACCJ and the US-Japan Bridging Foundation, brings students from the United States to study at Temple University, Japan Campus, where Bishop was a lecturer and board member.
The experience, Kodhelaj said, opened her eyes and changed the impression she had of Japanese business culture. Working on the ACCJ–Kansai D&I Summit was especially meaningful.
“The collage of 10 years of their events, seeing how everyone was so happy, talking, interacting, not a phone in sight—it was just genuine human connection. That they had done this for a decade, even through Covid … the perseverance of people was really inspiring,” she said.
Kodhelaj was also inspired by the her interactions with the Women in Business Forum, which she credits with teaching her to be more confident.
“I struggle with impostor syndrome. At the first event I helped with, I asked the executive who was speaking how to get over that feeling that you don’t belong in a room, that you’re not supposed to be there,” she recalls.
“I learned that, at the ACCJ, it’s not about your title or how much money you make, it’s what knowledge you bring to the table. And you don’t always have to have something valuable to say; listening to others is valuable as well. Now I understand that everyone belongs in the room, you always belong.”
Kodhelaj said she is grateful for the experience, the chamber, and Bishop. “I wish I could have met him. I learned that his daughter had also been an intern. That was very emotional for me. I could feel how important my role was, what it means to be an intern at the ACCJ.”
Following her internship, Kodhelaj has returned to Temple University in Philadelphia for her final semester studying global relations.
Leo Tanaka Abufadil already had ties to Japan before arriving on January 14 as a Bishop Scholar. His mother is Japanese and he attended elementary school in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, during summers despite growing up in Oklahoma.
Now a political science and international studies major at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, the Tulsa native said he is “fixated on the bilateral relationship between Japan and the United States.”
To pursue that interest, he applied for the US-Japan Bridging Foundation Scholarship, which he received, and the foundation then said they had another opportunity they felt he would be right for. “I was honestly very moved by the memory of Bill Bishop,” Abufadil said.
“As a Japanese American, the Bishop family’s passion for cultivating the bilateral relationship resonated with me. My goal as an intern was to propel that relationship while honoring the Bishop family’s legacy.”
Coming in, Abufadil explained, he had an idea of what the ACCJ might be like. He expected to work with economics and trade relations while improving his formal Japanese, known as keigo.
“But it’s been so much more than that,” he said. “Not only have I been able to sharpen my keigo, I gained a new perspective on how businesses operate in Japan. Something that was really illuminating and captivating is how intertwined business and government are. Being able to sit in on a lot of external affairs meetings, I could see the direct impact US and Japanese domestic and international policies each have on the other country. I find that quite fascinating.”
Abufadil said he especially loved that his time at the ACCJ wasn’t limited to one department or one activity. “There were a myriad opportunities. It was wonderful.”
The project he said he’s most proud of is the Student Internship Portal. “To see how the other interns and I, as well as our supervisors, worked so hard on this project, and to watch it take off, feels so rewarding. I love that I was able to make a tangible impact.”
He also recalls an unexpected moment with a member of a Japanese ministry.
“He was willing to talk to me and break down financial technology—something I had never engaged with in my life. People’s willingness to explain things and put them into perspective has been amazing. It’s something I’ll take with me for the rest of my life.”
Unified and Secure
As artificial intelligence sweeps the world, there is growing concern. Cisco is ensuring that it is powerful, efficient, and safe.
How Cisco is ensuring that artificial intelligence is powerful, efficient, and safe.
As artificial intelligence (AI) sweeps the world and finds its way into nearly everything we touch, there is growing concern about its safety. The breakneck pace at which companies are deploying this emerging technology—whose behavior is not fully understood—has some people delighted and others sounding alarms.
American Chamber of Commerce in Japan President’s Circle member Cisco is committed to securing AI technologies by integrating advanced measures and encouraging a culture of innovation and responsibility. By doing so, the company is ensuring that AI solutions are not only powerful and efficient but also safe and reliable for users in Japan and around the globe.
On March 26, Cisco hosted the AI Infrastructure and Security Summit at the ANA InterContinental in Tokyo for customers, partners, analysts, and the press. During the event, the tech innovator presented its latest solutions to promote further safe and secure utilization of generative AI by Japanese companies and local governments.
“To address the increasing challenges of managing AI security risks, Cisco’s latest innovations harness agentic AI to empower IT professionals with advanced tools for efficiently managing threats and streamlining security operations,” Cisco Japan President Yoshiyuki Hamada told The ACCJ Journal. “These innovations simplify the complexities of navigating the AI era, enabling security teams to stay ahead in today’s dynamic landscape,” he explained.
Thinking Machines
Agentic AI is a form of artificial intelligence that acts with agency to achieve specific goals—essentially a machine that can take on tasks and make decisions on its own. Jason Clinton, chief information security officer of Anthropic, developer of the Claude large language model, told Axios in April that he expects to see fully AI employees become part of companies in 2026.
“Agentic AI systems can make rapid decisions, manage complex tasks, and adapt to changing conditions,” Denise Shiffman, senior vice president of networking strategy and marketing explains on Cisco’s official blog. “They have agency to reach beyond the data their large language model was trained on and interact with external environments, such as IoT sensors, cloud platforms, [and] analytics software. The possibilities are endless for what an agentic AI system can achieve in improving customer experiences, increasing productivity, and creating new innovation.”
Such independent technology might give many IT departments pause. Clinton noted when speaking to Axios: “In that world, there are so many problems that we haven’t solved yet from a security perspective that we need to solve.”
This and other AI-related challenges are why Cisco has formed a partnership with chipmaker Nvidia to provide enterprises with an AI factory architecture that puts security at its core.
Called Cisco Secure AI Factory with Nvidia, these are data centers purpose-built for AI workloads that dramatically simplify how enterprises deploy, manage, and secure AI infrastructure at any scale.
Safe in the Fast Lane
At the core of these data centers is Cisco Silicon One, a unified network silicon architecture that facilitates fast switching and routing. Launched in 2019, the family of network processors is now in its fourth generation. Whereas a CPU is the brain of a computer or smartphone, Silicon One is the brain of high-performance routers and switches. The top-end G200 model is capable of routing data and switching traffic at 51.2 terabits per second—speeds essential for handling the massive amounts of data flowing among AI clusters.
“We are collaborating to deliver networking technology solutions through a unified architecture, with a focus on simplifying and optimizing customer experiences,” explained Hamada. “By enabling interoperability between Cisco Silicon One and Nvidia Spectrum, as well as their respective networking architectures, the partnership aims to provide full-stack solutions that prioritize customers’ needs.”
This approach, Hamada added, allows customers to maximize AI infrastructure investments while leveraging existing management tools and processes across both front- and back-end networks. “Additionally, the collaboration creates new market opportunities for Cisco by streamlining the management of enterprise and cloud provider networks through a unified architectural model.”
A New Architecture for Security
It seems as if every application you launch in 2025 is brimming with AI. Document readers want to save you time by offering a summary. Mail applications want to pull out key points and reply on your behalf. And large language models are handing smart assistants and search engines their coats and hats as they see them to the door. How we interact with devices and information is changing in the blink of an eye, and the amount of data being passed around is growing exponentially.
Networks and data centers as we’ve known them are often not up to the task of securing the high-performing, scalable infrastructure and AI software required to develop and deliver AI applications. A new architecture is needed—one that embeds security in all layers of the AI stack and automatically expands and adapts as the underlying infrastructure changes.
This is where the strengths of, and synergy between, Cisco and Nvidia technologies come into play.
“Cisco and Nvidia are collaborating to deliver networking technology solutions through a unified architecture, with a focus on simplifying and optimizing customer experiences,” said Hamada.
Cisco Secure AI Factory with Nvidia is expected to build on the companies’ unique abilities to offer flexible AI networking and full-stack technology options that leverage the planned joint architecture. The partnership will bring together technologies from Cisco, Nvidia, and our ecosystem partners into a secure AI factory architecture for enterprise customers.
The State of AI Security
Cisco did extensive research in developing the Cisco Secure AI Factory with Nvidia and its solutions such as Hypershield and AI Defense.
The company recently published the Cisco State of AI Security Report, which analyzes dozens of AI-specific threat vectors and more than 700 pieces of AI-related legislation to highlight key developments in a rapidly evolving AI security landscape.
In its conclusion, the authors note that the report “validates that the AI landscape has and continues to evolve rapidly. As we drive towards future breakthroughs in AI technology and applications, Cisco remains committed to AI security through our contributions to the community and cutting-edge solutions for customers pushing the envelope of AI innovation.”
Expo Connections
From 1970 to 2025, Osaka has played host to chamber member company opportunities and innovations. Aflac and IBM share stories past and present.
From 1970 to 2025, Osaka has played host to chamber member company opportunities and innovations.
Japan has been chosen three times as the site of the world’s fair. The first was in 1940, when Tokyo was to host an event that would have commemorated the 2,600th anniversary of the country’s founding. The onset of World War II put an end to that plan. But two other times—in 1970 and this year—the global celebration has come to Osaka, putting Japan in the spotlight. Both celebrations of global unity and culture presented opportunities for members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ). The ACCJ Journal spoke with two Corporate Sustaining Member companies about those experiences.
Expo ’70: Aflac
Aflac celebrated its 50th anniversary in Japan last year, and is today the country’s leading provider of cancer and medical insurance in terms of policies in force. The company’s entry in the market was inspired by a visit to the very event Osaka is hosting this year: a world’s fair.
John Amos, Aflac’s first chief executive officer and one of three brothers who founded the company, observed Japanese people wearing surgical masks during his trip to Expo ’70. He figured that people who were that keen on preventing the spread of colds and the flu must be health conscious and would understand the need for cancer insurance, Aflac’s core product. He was right.
Principal founder John Amos (center) watches Deputy Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda perform the traditional kagami-biraki sake barrel-breaking at Aflac’s grand opening party in 1974.
For the Columbus, Georgia-based company to bring that protection to the people of Japan took some effort. Cancer insurance was unprecedented at the time and required approval from several government ministries and agencies. There were no nationwide statistics on cancer hospitalizations, so the Aflac team had to gather the data from scratch. It took four years, but in October 1974, Aflac obtained its license, and the next month launched Japan’s first cancer insurance product. Sales took off right away.
Today, Aflac Japan has 4,874 full-time employees, and its products are sold by approximately 6,600 sales agencies and some 114,000 licensed associates employed by those agencies. More than 20,000 Japanese post offices and 360 banks—nearly 90 percent of all banks in Japan—serve as points of sale for Aflac.
“Localization has been an important factor in our success,” notes Andrew J. Conrad, senior vice president, general counsel, and compliance officer for Aflac Life Insurance Japan Ltd. “For example, back when Aflac first started selling cancer insurance in Japan, doctors and families typically hid cancer diagnoses from patients. They believed that knowing the diagnosis would be too stressful and hinder the patient’s recovery. Accordingly, in those early days, Aflac had to devise ways to pay claims without letting the patient know. This included sending documents in plain white envelopes, sending documents to family members at predetermined addresses, and making calls outside the home.”
Another way in which Aflac adapted to the local culture was to give its trademark duck—celebrating its 25th birthday this year—a softer, quieter character. It’s more consensus-minded than its US counterpart. In fact, for a time, there was a Maneki Neko Duck—the Aflac Duck dressed as a traditional beckoning cat good-luck charm.
In addition to insurance, Aflac focuses on two other areas in Japan: childhood cancer and youth scholarships. Three Aflac Parents Houses—two in Tokyo and one in Osaka—serve as comprehensive support centers for children with cancer, or other serious diseases, and their families. They provide accommodations for children undergoing treatment at hospitals away from home. Families can stay for ¥1,000 per night per person, with no charge for the affected children. More than 150,000 people, including those from overseas, have stayed at an Aflac Parents House. And through its scholarship fund, Aflac has helped more than 3,600 high school students who have had childhood cancer or lost a parent to cancer.
Aflac is looking ahead to the next 10 years and beyond with a new long-term management vision called “By Creating ‘Living in Your Own Way, Create New Shared Value,’” explains Conrad, who also serves as senior vice president of Aflac International, Inc. and is an ACCJ governor. “This vision highlights Aflac’s practice of using the company’s unique knowledge and resources to address societal issues in a manner that meets customer needs and creates economic value over the long-term.”
Japanese society has benefited greatly from Aflac’s dedication to helping others, and it all started among the pavilions of the Osaka expo.
Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai: IBM
Another ACCJ Corporate Sustaining Member is making a societal difference at this year’s expo. IBM Japan, Ltd. is giving guests the opportunity to try its AI Suitcase, a luggage-shaped robot that guides people with visual impairments to their destinations.
IBM Japan is working as a member of the Consortium for Advanced Assistive Mobility Platform, commonly known as the AI Suitcase Consortium, which leads the development as well as the demonstration at the expo. AI Suitcases are being used in the Smart Mobility Expo Robot Experience of the Future Society Showcase Project.
Enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), various sensors, and human–machine interfaces, the device autonomously navigates a user from point A to point B based on what the user asks for through voice interaction. The device is equipped with three cameras—positioned on the left, front, and right—which enable it to see the surroundings and describe them through audio, including how many people are nearby and what objects or structures are around.
The device’s capabilities have evolved significantly since its development began in late 2017. Until around 2023, AI Suitcase mainly used deep learning technology for image recognition of surrounding pedestrians. But the consortium began incorporating AI in 2024 as the technology rapidly advanced. AI has enabled new features, such as flexible voice-based interaction and detailed audio descriptions of the surrounding environment.
“The AI Suitcase project is a cornerstone of our work in the accessibility research domain,” explains Hironobu Takagi, senior manager of the accessibility research team at IBM Research in Tokyo. “Chieko Asakawa, IBM fellow and chief executive director of Miraikan, has defined this grand challenge as ‘real-world accessibility,’ which combines AI, software, computer–human interaction, robot operation, and human social behaviors.”
Miraikan is the commonly used name for the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, located in Odaiba. The popular innovation hub has been offering daily demonstrations of AI Suitcase since April 2024.
Takagi, who has been a researcher with IBM since 1999, says that, working with key partners, the company is successfully showcasing “tech for good” not only to Japanese society but the whole world through Expo 2025.
“Our experience at Miraikan has given us great confidence in the practicality of AI Suitcase,” he noted. “The know-how we developed at Miraikan, such as how to safely operate the AI Suitcase on a daily basis and how to explain its use briefly, has proved highly valuable, especially at Expo 2025.”
As of May 1, more than 216 groups had already participated in AI Suitcase since the opening of Expo 2025 on April 13, with 200 more reservations already booked for the first two weeks of May. Participants commented on how surprised they were that the robot had guided them safely, and said they hoped many people would experience this technology, because it is useful for society. One visually impaired person also commented that it was the best highlight of the Expo.
Still, this is one of many test runs for the life-changing technology. “Given that the current version of AI Suitcase is still a research prototype, very expensive to build, and operable only in limited environments, we have many hurdles to overcome—technically, socially, and legally—before it can be deployed in the real world,” admits Takagi. “But to make technologies like AI Suitcase truly practical, it is essential to offer members of the general public hands-on experiences and to broaden society’s understanding. If you have a chance to visit Osaka or Tokyo, we invite you to try AI Suitcase at the expo or Miraikan.”
Driven by Innovation
Lilly Japan’s Simone Thomsen reflects on six years of leading with purpose and ACCJ collaboration.
Lilly Japan’s Simone Thomsen reflects on six years of leading with purpose and ACCJ collaboration.
When Simone Thomsen arrived in Kobe in 2019 to guide Eli Lilly Japan K.K. as president, she fulfilled one of her longtime career goals. Over the past six years, she has been a critical player in the mission of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ), serving on the Board of Governors, helping launch the Healthcare x Digital (HxD) initiative, and mentoring young professionals. The ACCJ Journal talked to the 23-year Lilly veteran about her experiences in Japan, the value that ACCJ programs provide, and the mission of the President’s Circle company.
Has leading Lilly Japan been what you expected?
It’s been an amazing journey. The number of medical innovations we have brought to Japanese patients is really impressive. I always knew we had a very strong pipeline, but working with the team here has been impressive for me.
Between 2020 and 2024, we launched 11 new products and received 15 new indications for diabetes, oncology, immunology, Alzheimer's disease, and migraine.
Dealing with three years of Covid-19 was not in my plan, but it was important and interesting.
In January 2023, I became the first female chair of the Japan-Based Executive Committee (JBEC) of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). That was a new experience for me. There’s a lot going on in the healthcare system and policy, which I have worked on with the PhRMA president, JBEC, and other companies.
Did I envision all that in 2019? No. Looking back at that time, I’m proud of what we have done to support Japanese patients, and how we operate at Lilly Japan as a well-developed organization. The company has grown and matured since then. Our colleagues in Japan would say they’re working for a much better organization today compared with six years ago.
How has the pharmaceutical market changed?
In 2019, Japan was the number two pharmaceutical market globally. Now it ranks sixth. One reason for this shift could be the result of the Japanese government policy decisions in recent years. In the past, the pharmaceutical industry in Japan was viewed as a key growth sector. We are ready to partner with policymakers to try to revitalize the industry while also addressing the challenges brought by a super-aging population.
In the decade since 2016, I have seen many negative ad hoc pricing reforms. I believe there have been
approximately 60 such changes.
We’ve also seen the move from biennial to annual price revisions. What that has done to the industry basically is to accelerate the decline of biopharmaceutical innovation in Japan. Globally, our industry has never been more productive. Every year, we’re investing ¥37 trillion just in R&D. Growth over the past couple of years has been around 99 percent. But in Japan, it has remained relatively stable, having grown only six percent. So, in the area of R&D investment, the gap between what is happening globally and in Japan is pretty striking. And it continues to grow.
Currently, 70 percent of global phase-three trials for any type of medicine are not conducted in Japan. That’s an issue for Japanese patients, because innovative medicines are coming to Japan much later. At a time when you have a super-aging population, you really want to have innovation coming to help you deal with the challenges.
As pharma and as Lilly, of course, we are heavily invested; we want to bring back investment. That’s why, as Lilly Japan and as the JBEC chair, we are in conversation to help the government understand that they need to make positive, bolder reforms.
How has the HxD initiative tied into your goals?
At Lilly, we believe that we can find synergy among medicine, science, and technology. It helps us to serve patients better, to create more engagement and better outcomes. So, we have always been looking at new technology and how it can help us. That’s why HxD was perfect for us and we became one of the founding companies in 2020, along with AstraZeneca and Bayer.
For example, we are focusing on how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning can be used to quickly screen millions of molecule options to select the best candidates, allowing us then to accelerate clinical development.
During the pandemic, using these digital technologies allowed us basically to keep all of our clinical development programs going, despite the restrictions. I think that showed us what it could look like and what we actually can accomplish with these tools. It also helped us increase accessibility for patients to enroll in clinical trials. That allowed us to drive diversity—you always want to have a diverse population for the clinical trial design.
We are also utilizing automation for quality control. Specifically, we have automated the visual inspection of our incretin pens, which are used to deliver medications. This technology allows us to increase production with enhanced accuracy and efficiency, thereby meeting the growing demand more effectively.
Tying this back to HxD, when the opportunity arose to collaborate with a few other Kansai-based multinationals with similar interests, we said, why not work with the ACCJ on healthcare digitalization. It’s such a big, important focus area.
How vital is inclusion to Lilly?
We advocate for inclusion because it drives innovation. An inclusive culture empowers employees to bring their unique perspectives and capabilities to work, fostering out-of-the-box thinking. As we are an innovation-based company, this approach remains unchanged.
We started focusing on women’s empowerment 16 or 17 years ago. At the moment, about 30 percent of our leadership roles are held by women, and more than 46 percent of executives are female—the highest number in the industry. Today we also have a strong LGBTQ+ ally network at Lilly Japan. We continue to be recognized as a gold PRIDE company, have participated in the Tokyo Rainbow Pride, and this year we took part in the Osaka and Kobe Rainbow Festas.
We have also been accelerating our accessibility strategy to ensure everyone working at Lilly, regardless of whether they have disabilities, has a seamless experience.
Terminology may shift over time, but our commitment to people will not change. It has been part of our recipe for success. If you work in an inclusive culture and feel welcome, heard, respected, and valued, then you feel a sense of belonging at that company. We’re here to remove barriers, and we will continue to do this for employees as well as the people and communities we serve.
How does the ACCJ factor into your work?
The chamber has facilitated the growth of Lilly Japan. As a President’s Circle member, we participate in the networking and learning opportunities provided by the ACCJ, and our brand visibility has increased.
Personally, I have been proud to serve as an ACCJ–Kansai governor on the Board of Governors. I feel it’s a win-win-win for Lilly Japan, me as a leader, and the ACCJ. By participating, you will have the opportunity to collaborate extensively, provide valuable insights, and influence various areas, particularly in advocacy. For our employees, this serves as an excellent occasion for learning and networking.
I mentioned HxD. ACCJ companies emphasized the importance of healthcare digitalization and proposed collaboration on its design. This initiative would not have been undertaken by Lilly without the involvement of the ACCJ and the opportunity to work with other entities.
We believe that company growth comes from continuous individual development. Networking, discussions, events, and learning offer new ideas that can create business opportunities when brought back to the company.
What advice do you have for women in business?
It starts with identifying your goal and being confident. You need to be passionate about that goal, love what you’re doing, and be good at what you’re doing. But you don’t need to be perfect. That’s a trap women sometimes fall into. Build out a network and use it. You will never succeed if you feel you just need to be excellent to move ahead, because you will hit a certain ceiling. Now, 30-plus years into my career, that’s the recipe I feel has worked for me.
When I started my journey in pharmaceuticals, I wanted to become the first female leader of a purpose-driven multinational company in Japan. Funnily enough, that was my objective. In 2019, I came here and that aspiration came true. So, I hope I’m proof that what I’m saying can work.
AI 1988
Look back at how members viewed the potential of AI in 1988 in this reprint from the ACCJ Journal archives.
Look back at how members viewed the potential of AI in 1988 in this reprint from the ACCJ Journal archives
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more and more widely used in Japan. Companies in this country are coming to realize that if they want to stay internationally competitive, they have to incorporate this technology. Davis is a popular contributor to these pages who specializes in high-technology subjects.
Japan’s large electronics companies are constantly looking for ways to boost the efficiency of their administrative work while searching for new markets so as to diversify their business. AI, a type of sophisticated computer programming that promises to revolutionize many job-related tasks, is catching on among electronics companies and software businesses here, and is also a target of interest among trading houses. All of these enterprises want to establish a foothold in this up-and-coming technical sector so as to enhance their long-term prospects. AI systems in the years to come may make or break certain companies in highly competitive areas of business. It would not be an exaggeration to say that a “mini boom” is being seen today in Japan’s AI sector.
AI systems under development here are intended to address bottlenecks within corporate product-development departments, and they are being marketed to outside customers, sometimes together with special types of data processing equipment. One of the best ways to sell more computer hardware is to market such equipment with an emphasis on higher value-added features, such as the ability to effectively handle AI writing tasks. However, Japanese companies in this field are all well aware that they have to contend with the likes of Symbolics Inc., a Cambridge, Massachusetts, global leader in AI workstations.
Two years ago (in 1986) the Artificial Intelligence Association of Japan was established in Tokyo by electronics companies, telecommunications businesses, software houses, and others interested in new developments in computer programming. The association cultivates exchanges between researchers in various AI-related fields and disseminates technical information to its members. Moreover, the association promotes specialized training of so-called knowledge engineers and other experts needed for the advancement of the new discipline. Establishment of the special association signifies the maturation of the initial commercial phase of AI here.
In contrast to Japan’s AI infrastructure, state-of-the-art American AI work is typically dominated by clusters of small businesses mainly located around major universities. In fact, many Japanese AI specialists have studied at leading US universities. As a result of the difference in the two paradigms, the large electronics enterprises of Japan have tremendous potential resources to devote to AI studies, whereas in the US, venture capital must typically be raised to fund much of the innovative work in AI.
“The global market for AI systems is likely to grow to as large as much as $10 billion per year sometime between 1995 and 2000, according to Japanese electronics industry estimates.”
The Japanese approach to the AI business often relies as much on proximity to leading US universities as it does on relationships with the top Japanese universities. In other words, Japanese universities are not major actors within the immediate sphere of AI business here. The paradigms are not without exception, however, because some smaller businesses in Japan, such as CSK Corp., are doing work in the field as well.
As AI is widely considered a promising growth market within the information processing sector, electronics companies are offering products that will allow users to develop their own AI systems, such as so-called expert systems. This customized programming is developed on the basis of experts’ knowledge; hence expert systems comprise handy tools for novices—so that they may easily draw upon the comprehensive knowledge of specialists to assist them in complicated tasks, such as writing specific types of software programs.
The global market for AI systems is likely to grow to as large as much as $10 billion per year sometime between 1995 and 2000, according to Japanese electronics industry estimates. The leading AI language today is LISP (LISt processor), and it is widely expected to retain its front-running position. Four of the largest AI applications expected in the mid-to-late 1990s are those for integrated circuit design assistance, manufacture planning, financial planning, as well as computer systems diagnosis and maintenance.
An example of a medical application of AI systems is the so-called RINGS program—rheumatology information counseling system—developed recently by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. and a medical college in Tokyo. The system is used by those suffering from rheumatism to help them in diagnosing minor problems over the telephone. When more serious problems arise, doctors are to be consulted. A variety of other medical-related AI systems are now under development, in part because the medical sector is likely to see rapid growth due to the aging of Japan’s population.
In the area of nuclear power plant operations, a group of Japanese enterprises is developing an expert system to enhance the safety of pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The LISP-based expert system is intended for use in new types of PWRs to be operated by Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. and three other electric utilities.
Greater safety in operating nuclear plants can lead to enhanced profits for the utility companies, as they will not need to shut down reactors for prolonged periods in order to do repairs, precautionary tests or other types of maintenance.
The most prominent of Japan’s AI-related development programs is the so-called fifth-generation computer project, which is administered by the Institute for New Generation Computer Technology (ICOT). The institute was established in 1981 under funding from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry’s (MITI’s) Machinery and Information Industries Bureau.
“Although today’s AI systems can only cope with surface level knowledge, those of the year 2000 are likely to be capable of dealing with more abstract forms of knowledge. ”
Altogether, there are nine private companies participating in the project. Researchers based at MITI’s Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL) in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, are also involved. Moreover, the ETL, which is administered by MITI’s Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, is doing its own independent work in the field. Six to eight researchers from each of the electronics companies work at the ICOT center in Tokyo, and then only for periods generally ranging from two to four years.
When the project began in 1982, it was the subject of considerable attention throughout the world, due to its bold proposals and the perceived threat that it posed to the American and European computer software industries. However, recently it has not attracted much interest because Americans and Europeans have been less than impressed by the meager results of the project. US interest in the ICOT project led to the establishment of Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corp., a research consortium headquartered in Austin, Texas.
AI systems have a long way to go before they reach a phase of maturity. Although today’s AI systems can only cope with surface level knowledge, those of the year 2000 are likely to be capable of dealing with more abstract forms of knowledge. Advances in the memory capacity of computer microchips, parallel processing capabilities of computers, data processing speeds, and knowledge bases will accelerate the progress of the AI business sector.
Let us hope that people will always be able to keep the upper hand of control on such advanced tools as AI systems, and that the sophisticated tools won’t ever “discard” the humans they are supposed to be helping.
Alliance Maker
As US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel prepares to hand over the reins to a new envoy, he talks to The ACCJ Journal about the experience, the importance of the alliance, and the future.
ACCJ Person of the Year Rahm Emanuel reflects on three years as the US ambassador to Japan
After being tapped by US President Joe Biden to serve as the nation’s ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel arrived in Tokyo in January 2022 at a pivotal moment for the world. The Covid-19 pandemic was raging, Japan’s border closures were wreaking havoc on the business community, and the ripple effects were exposing vulnerabilities across the region.
Strengthening the bilateral relationship was essential. During his time as chief of mission, Emanuel has tirelessly worked to build bonds that foster a prosperous future not only for the United States and Japan, but for the entire Indo–Pacific.
In recognition of his strong support, the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan named Emanuel its 2024 Person of the Year and honored him with a special event on October 23 at Tokyo American Club.
As he prepares to hand over the reins to a new envoy, the 31st US ambassador to Japan talks to The ACCJ Journal about the experience, the importance of the alliance, and the future.
How can the business community strengthen the US–Japan alliance?
The US–Japan alliance is far from limited to our far-reaching security cooperation and the alliance’s place at the heart of a new latticework of security partnerships across the Indo–Pacific. That, of course, is fundamental to our relationship and to our collective deterrence in the region, but the United States and Japan have made strides on every front over the past three years.
As the largest foreign direct investor in each other’s economies, our two nations are persistently pursuing opportunities to forge closer links in business and research. In the fast-evolving environment of emerging technologies, our tech firms and academic institutions have the opportunity to lead the way in the research and development of artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, semiconductors, and other cutting-edge scientific fields.
But just as important as technological advances are our measures to protect them. This means tightening our export controls to ensure that technologies such as advanced AI chips don’t end up in the hands of adversaries with malign intentions. Ultimately, this is about securing our intellectual property, our economies, and the jobs of tomorrow.
“As the largest foreign direct investor in each other’s economies, our two nations are persistently pursuing opportunities to forge closer links in business and research.”
Of course, we need to ensure we have the relevant education programs in place to train the workers who will be shaping these 21st-century technologies. The United States and Japan have made real progress in this area through partnerships between tech companies and universities. We now need to keep up the momentum by continuing to expand and enhance these talent pipelines.
Investment is the fuel of great business ideas and ambitious thinking. Since the United States has a flourishing venture capital ecosystem, there are boundless opportunities for cooperation in this area between US and Japanese companies. Japan has long been a source of innovation and invention. It’s just a matter of finding the funding to ensure those ideas can take flight.
One area with huge potential is Japan’s biotechnology sector. An increasing number of start-ups are drawing interest from investors here. With greater collaboration and support from US biotech enterprises, and investors with expertise in the sector, Japan can become a leading biotech hub, not just in Asia but globally.
How do talent hurdles and gaps in DEI and marriage equality impact the alliance’s economic strength?
Japan faces the dual challenges of a rapidly aging society and a declining birthrate, which means that the country doesn’t have a person or a talent to lose when it comes to winning the 21st century.
Every country, including the United States and Japan, has a long way to go in fully implementing the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. But if we are to build well-functioning societies and thriving economies, we need to leverage all our assets. It’s about properly and fairly employing the people we have and embracing an ethos of lifelong learning, upskilling, and retraining.
How can we best collaborate on AI?
Looking at the speed at which AI is being developed and adopted, there is no time to lose in ensuring the United States, Japan, and our allies remain at the forefront of this technology. It is imperative that we set the pace in its continuing evolution and in establishing a fully functioning, well-regulated ecosystem that is aligned with our laws and interests. The sector is already seeing a lot of research and development cooperation and cross-border investment between the United States and Japan. Having talked to many major players in the field, I am confident that this trend will only grow.
During former Prime Minister [Fumio] Kishida’s state visit to Washington in April, we saw the launch of an initiative between US and Japanese universities and private sector partners in both countries to boost AI-focused research and workforce development.
The partnerships between Carnegie Mellon and Keio Universities, and between the Universities of Washington and Tsukuba, are supported by $110 million in investment from Microsoft and other US concerns as well as a consortium of nine Japanese companies.
Similar partnerships between Japanese and US universities and leading tech companies were launched in the fields of semiconductors and quantum computing last year. Both programs are about making groundbreaking advances that will have global benefits while educating the workforce of tomorrow.
Empowering our best and brightest in these critical fields will pay dividends both for our two nations and the world.
How can cooperation on climate change and clean energy be strengthened?
Two of the greatest challenges facing us all are climate change and energy security. Just as in so many other sectors, the United States and Japan are well placed to combine their respective scientific expertise in the development of new and cleaner energy technologies.
Earlier this year, Japan became the first international collaborator in America’s Floating Offshore Wind Shot initiative, which aims to reduce costs associated with the energy source. Having committed ¥120 billion to the development of wind technology and launching the Floating Offshore Wind Technology Research Association (FLOWRA) this year, Japan clearly recognizes the enormous potential of offshore wind.
Our two countries are also partnering on advanced small nuclear reactor technology, for which demand is only set to increase as we build more data centers to power generative AI. Meanwhile, Japan’s largely untapped geothermal energy resources hold tremendous opportunities for further collaboration between Japanese and US energy corporations.
These areas of private sector cooperation and investment not only reinforce our energy security but also offer us opportunities for growth in other markets, as we join forces to help developing countries devise their own clean energy solutions and infrastructures.
How important has the US–Japan Year of Tourism been following the border closures?
While the news in Japan is dominated by the record-breaking numbers of inbound tourists, the number of Japanese tourists visiting the United States continues to rise following the pandemic. Destinations such as Hawaii and New York City remain extremely popular, and, thanks to a certain Japanese baseball player by the name of Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles—and Dodger Stadium, in particular—welcomed thousands of fans over the course of the MLB season this year. With Shohei recently named the National League’s MVP, we can expect to see even more Japanese travelers heading to California and elsewhere in the States when the 2025 season kicks off.
There are few places in the world with the sheer diversity of natural wonders and cultural and culinary experiences. Next year’s Expo 2025 in Osaka will be a chance to truly showcase all that the United States has to offer. Our interactive pavilion is designed to inspire visitors to learn more about the United States, explore the country in person, and even consider studying there. We expect the expo to help boost visitor numbers to the United States in 2025 and in the years ahead.
The recent agreement to establish Japan as our 18th Global Entry partner country couldn’t come at a better time, and is sure to enhance the travel experience of Japanese visitors to the United States. Since Japan is our largest foreign direct investor, and Japanese companies employ nearly a million Americans, it makes good business sense to make entry as straightforward and as stress-free as possible for pre-approved visitors. This latest agreement is another reflection of the strength of our bilateral ties.
How important was the Biden–Kishida summit?
[Former] Prime Minister Kishida’s state visit in April ushered in a new era for the alliance. It cemented the work we had been doing for the previous two years to deepen our cooperation in a multitude of areas. Security might be a key pillar of our partnership, but we are leveraging our strengths to drive innovation and growth on every front, from energy and education to science and space exploration. The United States and Japan, as President Biden reiterated during the state visit, are global partners whose endeavors and achievements are being felt across the Indo–Pacific and beyond.
The alliance is now at the heart of a new latticework of multilateral partnerships across the Indo–Pacific. By replacing our “hub-and-spoke” architecture of regional bilateral relationships with multilateral cooperation and consensus, we have built an energized environment of trust and dynamism in the region.
The historic trilateral partnerships we forged with Japan and South Korea and with Japan and the Philippines—as well as the work of the Quad strategic grouping of the United States, Japan, India, and Australia—boost our deterrence in the Indo–Pacific while providing renewed momentum for greater cooperation and integration between countries and economies. One thing is for certain: There is much more to come in the years ahead.
“What we do over the next three years will determine our presence and our vision over the next 30 in the region.” That line from my confirmation hearing in 2021 turned out to be my guiding principle during my time here.
How might Japan’s new political landscape impact bilateral cooperation?
Our efforts over the past three years to strengthen the US–Japan alliance, and to reassure allies and partners that the United States is a permanent Pacific power and presence, have received universal support from across the political spectrum on both sides of the Pacific.
There is a clear understanding in Japan and in the United States that the alliance forms the bedrock of our collective deterrence in the region, and that continued cooperation with other regional partners and allies is critical to confronting a China that seems intent on dominating its neighbors and forcing the region to play by its rules.
How has Japan changed your view of America?
Distance has given me perspective on both America’s strengths and challenges. My first few weeks in Tokyo were certainly eye-opening. Seeing people leave valuables on tables or benches while they went to get coffee or jog around the Imperial Palace revealed a level of social trust I had never witnessed before.
Equally bewildering—but beautiful—was the sight of young schoolchildren walking alone to and from school each day, with cars coming to a complete stop when children raised their hands in the air before crossing the road. Those scenes highlight to me how much kids in the United States have been robbed of their innocence. We make so many compromises and concessions for our safety in America. It’s been liberating to be free of that constant and nagging concern.
What I have been repeatedly reminded of while here is the dynamism of America’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our unique and unrivaled environment of venture capital firms and angel investors is what drives innovation and invention.
Our university research programs and private-sector tie-ups are unmatched, too. It’s no surprise that so many entrepreneurs, start-ups, and scientists gravitate to the United States—a place that embraces risk, encourages expression, and champions big thinking.
What is your message to the next ambassador?
The past three years have been about shoring up alliances, building multilateral partnerships, and strengthening our security commitments. With a firm framework now in place, the years and decades ahead will be about developing those strategic relationships and initiatives further while ensuring that the stability of the Indo–Pacific is protected and its economic vibrancy preserved.