Our Leaders -
Management

As Vice President and CTO of Hitachi, Ltd., Sameshima is responsible for research and development in the Hitachi Group to accelerate innovation, as well as leading the Research & Development Group of Hitachi, Ltd.

Sameshima joined the Systems Development Laboratory of Hitachi, Ltd.,in 1993 as a researcher ,working on the research and development of autonomous decentralized systems (ADS) for societal infrastructure encompassing sectors such as power & energy, transportation and industry, and the international standardization of technology.

As a recognized authority in symbiotic ADS, his global business acumen was honed through working in the business division to promote systems solutions in infrastructure such as railway traffic management, utility operation, water supply system, and industrial automation as well as involvement in several Smart City projects. On the research side, Sameshima has led systems engineering and production engineering research, which later extended to overall R&D strategy for the Hitachi Research & Development Group. Sameshima was appointed a corporate officer of Hitachi, Ltd. in 2020. From 2023, he was entrusted with the strategic direction of digital technology, and innovation integrating OT and Products for infrastructure systems as CTO of the Digital Systems & Services Division of Hitachi, Ltd. He assumed his current position in 2025.

Sameshima received his M.Eng. (Aeronautics) and Ph.D. (Information Science & Technology) from the University of Tokyo, and is also a member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan (IEEJ) and the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE).

Responsible for proposing research strategies, and technology management of the Research &Development Group.

Koike joined Hitachi after completing her M.Sc. at Kyoto University in 1994. At the Central Research Laboratory, she was involved in the development of biomedical knowledge processing and genome analytics before focusing on technology development and productization of medical diagnostic・therapeutic equipment. After working in the business side of Hitachi in the Government & Public Corporation Information Systems Division, in the Future Investment Division at Head Office, and as CTO of Healthcare Business Division, she assumed her current position as head of the Technology Strategy Office.

Koike received her Ph.D. from the University of Kyoto in 1999. She has also held several positions in academia including visiting associate professor from 2003-2005 at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, and more recently, a visiting professor at Tohoku University from 2014-2018. She is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Responsible for R&D for technology innovation with a special focus on digital technologies supporting social innovation business.

Shimura received his M.Eng. and Ph.D. from Waseda University, and he joined the Systems Development Laboratory of Hitachi, Ltd. in 2000. He has specialized in the research and development of autonomous decentralized systems, focusing on mobility solutions requiring high reliability, such as Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communication, in-vehicle information systems, and railway traffic management systems. Since 2015, he served as System Design Manager leading the development of railway traffic management systems for the UK market. Following his return to Japan, he served as Department Manager of the System Architecture Research Department and as Principal Strategist in the Technology Strategy Office within the R&D Group. Since 2023, he has been responsible for creating innovation by bridging advanced digital technologies and business at the Strategy Planning Division, Digital Systems & Services Division. He assumed his current position in 2026.

Shimura is also a member of the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE).

In 1996, Sugimura graduated from the University of Tokyo with a Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, and joined the Mechanical Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. While in charge of mechanical engineering research using simulation, numerical optimization, and data mining techniques for home appliances, rolling stock, and industrial compressors, he was also a visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge, UK, in 2001. After that, he worked in technology strategy development, overall management of mechanical engineering research, and Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program, and led global environmental research for 5 years at Hitachi Europe Ltd., before assuming his current position in April 2025.

Sugimura is a member of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Funaki joined Hitachi, Ltd. in 1993 after graduating with a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from Waseda University, and began his career as a researcher in industrial engineering and operations research focusing on production systems and supply chain management (SCM) where he gained experience in business process transformation and system implementation across multiple industries. Since 2015, he has served as General Manager of the Production Technology Research Center, General Manager of Corporate Management Planning Office, and General Manager of Global Center for Social Innovation. In 2019, he began serving as Head of Corporate Venturing Office, promoting co-creation with startups, and has held his current position since 2026.

Funaki is Director of Happiness Planet, Ltd., Japan Advisor of Benhamou Global Ventures LLC, President of Japan Industrial Management Association, and Visiting Professor at Dept. Business Design and Management, Waseda University.