Creating New Value Through Digital: Insight Edge, the Specialist Team Accelerating DX Across the Sumitomo Corporation Group

To begin, could you tell us the background of how Insight Edge was established?

Kusunoki As an integrated trading and business investment company, Sumitomo Corporation operates across an extremely wide range of business domains, and the challenges faced "on the front lines" are also very diverse. Some businesses are closely related to retail, while others are positioned in infrastructure or energy, and in many cases, we are deeply embedded in highly specialized trading company domains. In such environments, external IT vendors often struggle to develop a sufficient understanding of on-site operations. As Sumitomo Corporation advanced its digital transformation (DX) initiatives, the need grew for a structure that could engage more deeply with front-line operations and address challenges directly.

Kajiwara There were also issues related to "speed" and "knowledge accumulation." With technologies such as AI evolving rapidly, systems that allow digital solutions to be tested quickly, refined and implemented are crucial. However, when relying on external partners, separate projects require individual contracting and coordination, which reduces agility. More importantly, knowledge and expertise do not remain within the Group. This led to the establishment of Insight Edge in 2019 as an in-house, internally driven DX specialist team, one that applies advanced technologies to real business, accumulates expertise and works alongside on-site teams with the same mindset to create profit and address social challenges.

What are the strengths and distinguishing features of Insight Edge?

Kajiwara Insight Edge provides a wide range of digital solutions, and in recent years we have demonstrated particular strength in the field of generative AI. Within Sumitomo Corporation, the SC-Ai Hub – a generative AI initiative launched in April 2023 – works in collaboration with the IT Planning & Promotion Department, which is responsible for initiatives such as the rollout of Microsoft 365 Copilot. Insight Edge and SCSK provide technical support in this context. Based on ideas generated on the front lines, we rapidly develop and implement generative AI solutions, providing hands-on project support through to validation. This approach has enabled us to deploy generative AI solutions in real business settings.

We also have a strong capability in areas that cannot be fully standardized or require customization. In a trading company, many themes involve complex, interrelated factors, and cannot be addressed through packaged SaaS solutions alone. In such cases, Insight Edge brings together its expertise and capabilities to develop tailored solutions. Another defining feature is that we do not stop at proof of concept (PoC). As of FY2025 (Q3), all 21 PoC projects progressed to commercialization, achieving a 100% production implementation rate*1.

What are the defining characteristics of the people who make up Insight Edge?

Kusunoki To address the diverse challenges of an integrated trading and business investment company, Insight Edge brings together DX talent with a wide range of skill sets. Nearly 100% of our core employees are mid-career hires, many of whom have built their careers at mega-ventures, major system integrators (SIers) and global consulting firms. Even among our data scientists, we have professionals with experience across industries such as finance, manufacturing and healthcare. Our greatest strength lies in the way diverse specialists – data scientists, agile development engineers, consultants, UI/UX designers, design strategists and business producers – work together as integrated teams. By combining expertise from the earliest stages, we are able to provide end-to-end support, from business concept development and issue identification through to PoC and the implementation and operation of scalable systems.

The project with the Jupiter Shop Channel, which operates "Shop Channel," is often mentioned as a representative case that demonstrates Insight Edge's value.

Kajiwara The project began in the second half of FY2022 as a short-term initiative to use AI for sales forecasting. After achieving a certain level of success, we were approached to support the launch of a new organization: the Data Strategy Department, and the project expanded from there. Broadly speaking, the project consisted of two phases. In Phase 1, we provided end-to-end support, from understanding on-site operations and identifying issues, to prioritization and the design of the organization's mission and talent development framework. At the time of the department's establishment, there was an urgent need to align on its ideal future state, and to build mechanisms that would enable members to drive DX beyond the scope of their existing roles. To this end, we conducted more than 20 interviews across six departments identified as having significant DX potential within Shop Channel, identifying around 70 different front-line needs and opportunities in terms of DX.

While the preparation and coordination required were substantial, this process greatly enhanced our understanding of actual operations. We also held workshops to articulate the "ideal state" of the organization – for example, asking questions such as, "If the Data Strategy Department were a profession, what would it be?" – and translating these insights into concrete definitions of required skills and training design. This kind of support is possible because Insight Edge brings together not only engineers, but also a diverse range of professionals, including design strategists.

Kusunoki In Phase 2, based on the roadmap developed in Phase 1, we advanced two initiatives in parallel: upskilling members of the Data Strategy Department and driving specific DX projects. On the training side, we defined required skill sets and evaluation criteria, while also delivering proprietary training programs. Insight Edge has experience providing training to clients across the Sumitomo Corporation Group and SCSK, which is one of our strengths in offering practical, hands-on learning.

On the project side, we strategically selected themes not only with high expected impact, but also those that could deliver early results and support skill development. We worked alongside members in a hands-on, OJT-style partnership. A particularly symbolic aspect of the project was the complementary relationship that emerged between Insight Edge's expertise in data analysis and Python, and Shop Channel's deep operational knowledge. Being provided with a workspace within Shop Channel's headquarters enabled a very high level of coordination through physical proximity.

What challenges did you face in actually driving DX?

Kajiwara Defining the target skill level was a major challenge. We proposed a very high standard with a view to the future, which made initial consensus-building difficult. However, we were able to persuade stakeholders with conviction that these capabilities would be essential for long-term self-sufficiency. We then supported the team closely, using customized training materials and a hands-on approach. As a result, members have now acquired the target skills and are able to operate independently on-site.

What concrete results have been achieved through this DX support?

Kajiwara To date, seven initiatives have been implemented in actual operations and are delivering results. I will highlight two representative examples. The first is the automation of program scheduling operations. Through modeling, we reduced workload time by approximately 70%. A process that previously took a full week to develop a scheduling plan can now be completed in a matter of hours, which has been described as "revolutionary." Program scheduling had long relied on tacit knowledge, built up over roughly 30 years, based on the experience and intuition of individual staff. Translating that tacit knowledge into structured models and formulas required considerable time and ingenuity, but this process was the key to creating a system that could be used on the front lines.

The second example is the use of generative AI on the e-commerce site. For certain products without existing descriptions, we used generative AI to create draft copy based on product information. By verifying that adding these descriptions led to increased sales, the solution was implemented in practice.

From the perspective of sustained profitability, Insight Edge could have pursued a contract development model. Why did you instead adopt an approach that works together with on-site trial and error?

What value does Insight Edge provide in realizing Sumitomo Corporation's vision of "Refine with Digital, Profit with Digital"?

Kajiwara Until now, we have contributed primarily to "Refine with Digital" – developing optimal digital solutions that address fundamental on-site challenges across the Group, thereby improving efficiency and productivity. More recently, we have begun to move beyond this phase, leveraging accumulated knowledge to support new business creation and "Profit with Digital." At this stage, the mindset we have maintained as an in-house organization, a commitment to ensuring that on-site operations truly benefit from DX, becomes a key strength. Rather than prioritizing short-term gains, we deliver DX that is genuinely valuable to the front lines and business. And we do not stop at implementation: we continue to work with stakeholders over the long term until tangible results are achieved. We believe this steady, committed approach is the value Insight Edge brings.

Finally, could you share your outlook for the future?

Kusunoki In line with Sumitomo Corporation's Digital & AI Strategy (DAIS), our first priority is to continue steadily delivering DX across the diverse businesses of the Sumitomo Corporation Group. At the same time, we aim to leverage the knowledge and capabilities we have built within the Group to deliver value externally as well. In particular, we are strengthening collaboration with SCSK and promoting joint proposals that combine Insight Edge's planning capabilities with SCSK's system development expertise. By integrating the strengths of both companies, we hope to further enhance synergy both within and beyond the Group.

Kajiwara Looking ahead, our goal is to create solutions developed by Insight Edge that become "industry standards." By generalizing the knowledge and experience gained through tailored, project-based work, we aim to develop solutions that contribute to transformation across entire industries. As a team, we will continue working together to embody the Group's vision of "Refine with Digital, Profit with Digital," while delivering value externally as well.