Can AI go beyond optimization? — The key lies in the “network of people”

In March 2026, we held the “dentsu AI Meet-up,” an internal event that brought together AI experts from across the Dentsu Group, including our global offices, in Tokyo. Approximately 50 AI professionals from 15 countries and regions, including Japan, participated, representing various fields such as media, creative, CXM (Customer Experience Management), and BX. They exchanged views on their respective initiatives, challenges, and business opportunities.

In this article, Nagao—who is working to promote the utilization of AI across the Dentsu Group—summarizes his thoughts on the value and roles expected of us in the AI era, based on his insights from this event.

With the proliferation of generative AI, AI is rapidly permeating the business world. In many companies, AI adoption is progressing within the context of “optimization,” such as improving operational efficiency and automation. However, the true potential of AI does not stop there. Rather, the question we must now ask is: How can we use AI to create new value that goes beyond mere optimization?

The key to this lies in “human networks.”

Why “human networks” are becoming a competitive advantage now

AI tools are evolving daily, and we have entered an era where everyone can utilize them to a certain extent—or is expected to do so. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate oneself based solely on the performance of the tools themselves.

So, what creates the difference?

Primarily, proprietary data and competitive solutions come to mind. In fact, many companies are working to strengthen these areas. Additionally, at the individual level, people are exploring how to apply AI to their work to improve efficiency. However, these are areas that both companies and individuals are tackling in similar ways, and when taken to their logical conclusion, the outcomes tend to converge.

Through this event, another crucial element has come to light: the “expansion of ideas and the resulting creation of value” that arises when people with different expertise and perspectives connect and share their insights and challenges.

For example, when people with similar knowledge—such as those from the same country, department, or field of expertise—discuss issues, the conversation inevitably tends to stay within the topics they are most familiar with. However, by including members from diverse backgrounds—such as those from different countries or regions, with different areas of expertise, or those who work directly with clients or understand on-site challenges—discussions can incorporate new perspectives and ideas.

As a result, the discussion on the use of AI expanded from “a tool for streamlining operations” to “a means of discovering new opportunities” and “a way to provide greater value to clients.”

“Mutual Understanding” Expands the Possibilities of AI Utilization

"Mutual understanding" is key to making these multifaceted connections work.

AI experts from various fields—including media, creative, CXM, and BX—as well as from different countries, shared their respective initiatives, challenges, and interests, gaining exposure to information, knowledge, and perspectives they had never encountered before.

How are other markets addressing the challenges I face? What kinds of AI solutions are they developing? What proposals are they making to clients? What are some best practices? This sharing of concrete, practical, and real-world information went beyond a simple exchange of information; it sparked new ideas.

Through actual dialogue, sharing each other’s initiatives revealed that similar AI solutions were being developed independently in various markets. At the same time, it became clear that other markets had a need to utilize these solutions.

Following these discussions, ideas were proposed to visualize the solutions being developed globally to prevent duplicate development, enable collaboration between teams with similar solutions to enhance the solutions themselves, and establish mechanisms to rapidly deploy them in markets where they are needed.

The exchange of insights from a wide range of perspectives and positions has created an opportunity to deliver high value to clients in each country while strengthening the organization as a whole.

External Perspectives Elevate the Potential of AI

For this event, we invited experts from outside the company—including venture capitalists and representatives from cutting-edge technology firms—who are at the forefront of AI-related business and technological development. This external expertise highlights trends and possibilities that are difficult to identify through our day-to-day marketing operations alone. By engaging with perspectives and opinions that extend beyond our routine work, we can update the very foundations of our thinking.

Additionally, since the group included members who rarely have the opportunity to engage in creative work, we also visited “Dentsu Lab Tokyo,” dentsu Japan’s creative R&D organization.

Direct exposure to the latest technologies and use cases emerging from research, development, and pilot projects provided an opportunity to discover new ways to apply technology and generate business ideas that had previously gone unnoticed. We truly felt that in the AI era, such new insights will become a source of competitive advantage.

"Common Challenges" for Organizations Revealed Through Discussion

Bringing together AI experts with diverse perspectives for discussion revealed common challenges in the AI era that transcend individual initiatives. These include data strategy, collaboration models for solving client challenges, and talent development. For example, there was a discussion on balancing the speed of decision-making with governance in AI implementation.

Specialized functions, including Legal, play the role of enablers—people, organizations, and means that make things possible—supporting both risk management and value creation. Rather than simply acting as a brake to solve client challenges, we gained insights into the ideal form of governance where everyone works together as one team to make decisions more quickly while maintaining appropriate governance.

These are challenges that cannot be resolved by a single department or market alone, and they were recognized as important themes that should be addressed across the group moving forward.

In the AI era, “people” are the true source of value

As organizations grow and challenges become more complex, the power of individuals alone is no longer sufficient to solve them. Knowing each other’s faces, having met in person, and understanding each other’s expertise, perspectives, and positions—it is precisely these “human relationships” that transcend national borders, regions, organizations, expertise, and positions that are becoming increasingly important in this complex and rapidly changing era.

In the AI era, the source of competitiveness may well be the “people” who utilize AI based on proprietary technology, and the “networks of people” that connect insights. I truly felt that this network of people will serve as the starting point for value creation in realizing the Dentsu Group’s vision of “Innovating to Impact.”

Organized by: Dentsu Group Inc. Global AI Strategy Team (Takuya Kodama, Asako Yamamoto, Yuji Nagao)