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Hitachi

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Information contained in this news release is current as of the date of the press announcement, but may be subject to change without prior notice.

December 7, 2023

Hitachi Establishes the New Position of "Chief AI Transformation Officer" to Strengthen Company-Wide Transformation through Gen AI

[image]From left to right, Kimihiro Kaimori, Katsuhiro Samizo, and Jun Yoshida were appointed as Chief AI Transformation Officers for their respective sectors.
From left to right, Kimihiro Kaimori, Katsuhiro Samizo, and Jun Yoshida were appointed as Chief AI Transformation Officers for their respective sectors.

Tokyo, December 7, 2023 – Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501, "Hitachi") is actively leveraging rapidly evolving generative AI as a growth engine for the entire Group and is promoting an initiative called "AI Transformation" both internally and externally that will significantly improve business productivity and create new business opportunities. To further strengthen our efforts, the position of "Chief AI Transformation Officer" was created on December 1 to promote transformation using AI in each business area. Kimihiro Kaimori, Katsuhiro Samizo, and Jun Yoshida have been appointed as Chief AI Transformation Officers for the Green Energy & Mobility Sector, the Connective Industries Sector, and the Digital Systems & Services Sector, respectively.

As professionals with high-level business expertise in their respective business areas, the three are responsible for the company-wide AI transformation strategy within each sector, enhancing the effectiveness of the project by leveraging their respective business expertise, and leading the way in achieving results, such as productivity improvement.

Background

Generative AI is one of the key next-technology technologies that will strongly support the creation of innovation. Hitachi is actively promoting the use of generative AI with a focus on creating value for customers and society, as well as transforming internal business processes throughout the entire Group. In May 2023, we established "Generative AI Center" which is formulating guidelines and creating use cases for safe and effective use. The center also promotes co-creation with customers in various industries by providing consulting, environment creation and operational support services tailored to customer needs.

Within the Hitachi Group, a company-wide project to reform internal processes using generative AI is being led by Toshiaki Tokunaga, Representative Executive Officer and Executive Vice President, General Manager of Digital Systems & Services Division. The project focuses on increasing productivity and refining system development and customer service. For example, we are promoting research and verification to improve productivity in software development, such as code generation, testing efficiency, and safety considerations when applying generative AI. In addition, Hitachi is focusing on advancing customer service to reduce the time required to investigate similar cases by integrating past inquiries and operational manuals with generative AI resulting in quick maintenance operations.

Hitachi will continue with generative AI trials throughout the entire Group, which has approximately 320,000 employees worldwide. Hitachi will apply its experience and technologies to co-creation activities with customers to accelerate AI transformation, in order to solve various issues and create innovations for the realization of a sustainable society.

Mission of the Chief AI Transformation Officer

The newly created "Chief AI Transformation Officer" will be responsible for coordinating and embedding the company-wide AI transformation strategy in each sector and will lead the implementation of the transformation in each sector based on their business expertise.

They will also serve as a hub between the sectors, facilitating the seamless sharing of validation results, technologies, and know-how, accumulating best practices, and promoting the creation of synergies with diverse knowledge to accelerate company-wide projects aimed at transforming internal processes through generative AI. This will accelerate the company-wide project that aims to transform internal processes through generative AI. In order to generate innovation using generative AI, they will also work to reform the organizational culture by fostering creative thinking and skills among employees, changing their mindsets, and instilling an understanding of AI transformation.

Profiles

Name Titles and Biographies (at time of publication)
Kimihio Kaimori General Manager, Strategic Planning Office, Green Energy & Mobility Strategic Planning Division
He joined Hitachi, Ltd. in 1998 and has been involved in project management from design to construction in the Nuclear Energy Division. In his current position from 2022, he is leading the establishment and implementation of governance for a global operating organization. He is also actively involved in integrating and creating synergies within and outside the sector.
Katsuhiro Samizo General Manager, Enterprise Solutions Division, Digital Solutions Division, Industrial Digital Business Unit
He joined Hitachi, Ltd. in 1993. Since then, he has consistently promoted many system development, implementation, and DX promotion projects in a wide range of industries, including government, automotive, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing. Since 2022, he has been promoting overall optimization from a management perspective using products, OT(Operational Technology) and IT in the Connective Industries sector.
Jun Yoshida General Manager, Data & Design, Digital Engineering Business Unit
Head of Generative AI Center

He joined Hitachi, Ltd. in 1998. In 2012, he established AI/Big Data Utilization Business and has promoted many AI and data utilization projects. Since 2021, he has been working to accelerate business expansion and strengthen digital talent development as a co-leader of Lumada Data Science Lab, which gathered top data scientists. Currently, as the head of Generative AI Center, he is leading projects utilizing generative AI.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi drives Social Innovation Business, creating a sustainable society through the use of data and technology. We solve customers' and society's challenges with Lumada solutions leveraging IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products. Hitachi operates under the business structure of "Digital Systems & Services" - supporting our customers' digital transformation; "Green Energy & Mobility" - contributing to a decarbonized society through energy and railway systems, and "Connective Industries" - connecting products through digital technology to provide solutions in various industries. Driven by Digital, Green, and Innovation, we aim for growth through co-creation with our customers. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2022 (ended March 31, 2023) totaled 10,881.1 billion yen, with 696 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 320,000 employees worldwide. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at https://www.hitachi.com.

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