Architect of Transformation Ajinomoto's Hiroyuki Kojima, CIO × Dentsu BDS Inc. Shingo Yamahara [Part 2]

This series delves into the essence of business transformation by interviewing top executives who break all biases and personally execute internal business transformation as architects.

In Part 1, we welcomed Hiroyuki Kojima, Senior Managing Executive Officer and CIO (Chief Innovation Officer) driving business transformation at Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (hereinafter Ajinomoto), for a dialogue with Shingo Yamahara of Dentsu Business Design Square (hereinafter BDS). Continuing from Part 1, we hear about the hurdles to overcome in actual implementation and the future vision they aim for.

Part 1: The Architect of Transformation: Hiroyuki Kojima, CIO of Ajinomoto Co., Inc. × Shingo Yamahara of Dentsu Inc. BDS

Ajinomoto Co., Inc. CIO Hiroyuki Kojima (right) and Dentsu Inc. Business Design Square Shingo Yamahara

The first step is to move forward without fear of failure and create mechanisms to connect with the outside world

Yamahara: Last time, we mainly discussed the background leading to your business transformation. Now, regarding the actual transformation, what actions do you plan to take moving forward?

Kojima: We will agilely validate ideas emerging from initiatives like the Future Creation Project and the internal entrepreneur discovery program. Through trial and error, repeating failures, we aim to build successful experiences. We will run the PDCA cycle toward commercialization, even if it starts small. Our immediate priority is to establish this cycle quickly.

There's a saying that in American startups, people who've failed once or twice are actually valued. Of course, this means people who learn from their failures, connect them to the next success, and keep moving forward.

When such a culture and system exist, others will follow, thinking, "Next time, I'll give it a shot too." However, if everyone who takes on major projects over years consistently fails, no one will follow. One goal is to create a system where everyone continuously challenges themselves and moves forward.

Yamahara: So, to make this happen, we need to accelerate the cycle of both failure and success.

Kojima: Another key point is collaboration with people outside the company. Historically, when we referred to "people outside the company," we often meant "suppliers and customers." While vertical connections existed, there were very few horizontal connections—working together with people on equal footing. This slows things down and limits the generation of ideas.

By connecting with people from various industries and sectors, we hope to generate new ideas that the Ajinomoto Group alone could never have imagined. We believe it's crucial to expand both mechanisms: one that allows us to move forward while embracing failure, and another that enables us to collaborate with external partners. This will broaden possibilities in multiple directions and create the environment and systems where participants in our internal entrepreneur discovery program can truly shine.

Yamahara: The recently announced launch of our corporate venture capital (CVC) is one such initiative, right?

Kojima: Yes. To truly spark a wave of transformation, relying solely on internal resources lacks both the necessary speed and scale. By working alongside startups, we hope to shift internal mindsets—encouraging employees to broaden their horizons externally while driving progress forward.

Therefore, rather than outright acquisitions, I envision creating projects through small-scale investments, engaging in discussions on equal footing, and seeing various networks expand from there. It's not just about investing; we want to commit ourselves, advance the business together, and create new value.

Yamahara: In that sense, it's about significantly changing corporate habits, right? To create new value, we must foster a new corporate culture and mindset that makes it easier to move forward and connect horizontally. That said, many companies likely find changing their corporate culture particularly challenging.

Kojima: We are tackling that very challenge right now. Prioritizing safety and security is absolutely correct. But I also believe it's necessary to challenge without fear of failure. Take autonomous driving technology, for example. While accidents aren't entirely absent, they learn from failures and steadily move forward.

Furthermore, overseas startups actively pursue challenges without fear of failure. The development of the COVID-19 vaccine is one such example. The Pfizer vaccine, already being administered overseas, was jointly developed by Pfizer and the startup BioNTech. The vaccine developed solely by the startup Moderna has also been approved and administered.

In the past, vaccine development was said to take around 10 to 15 years. But now, we're seeing innovation where vaccines are developed within a year.

Our company was probably originally like that too. We started selling the product "Ajinomoto" in 1909, bringing it to market within just one year of development. And promoting the idea of sprinkling a powder that didn't exist before onto food – that's pretty amazing, right? Embracing that venture spirit is truly important.

However, once systems and structures become established, companies often become conservative to avoid losing trust, and their work becomes focused on listing "reasons why it can't be done." Instead, we must think about how to drive innovation now, how to make it happen, and what actions are needed to achieve it. Changing the way we work in this manner is the crucial mission of the "Business Model Transformation Task Force."

What future does the Ajinomoto Group envision beyond this transformation?

Yamahara: Finally, what do you envision as the future of the Ajinomoto Group once this transformation is achieved?

Kojima: I want us to become a company that continuously creates and delivers new value to the world.

Until now, we've pursued products that line supermarket shelves. But going forward, we might see orders placed via smartphone and delivered by drone, or products customized for each individual. In this environment, I believe the Ajinomoto Group should evolve to provide new, unprecedented value that only we can deliver.

How can we become a company that provides value so essential that food and health wouldn't function without the Ajinomoto Group's systems? I want us to be a company where every single employee can create new value that can only be realized because we are part of the Ajinomoto Group.

Yamahara: It would be wonderful if this led to fundamental changes in daily eating habits, the connection between food and people, and the relationship between health and individuals... creating foundational value that everyone uses.

It's not starting from scratch. Precisely because we have significant assets and research achievements in the food and health domain, new initiatives here begin to connect further. This synergy will create a food and health platform capable of transforming society. I sensed that this transformation is now beginning to move at an incredible speed.