Shiseido and Hanamaruki accelerate AI integration in Japanese businesses

Shiseido Japan has deployed about 130 internal "AI ambassadors" across its divisions to embed generative AI tools in daily work. The initiative follows a reorganization that moved digital functions from a former joint venture with Accenture back into the core company, aiming to speed decision‑making and improve data use. While the ambassadors have helped raise awareness, the firm still faces bottlenecks as AI‑related requests concentrate on a central specialist team.

Food‑producer Hanamaruki, a century‑old miso maker, built its own AI‑driven recipe‑search system using Google Gemini Notebook. By indexing roughly 400 internal recipe documents, the tool lets staff retrieve specific formulations in seconds, cutting search time from five seconds to three. The company reports an 86 % adoption rate of Gemini among employees and attributes the project to its long‑standing culture of continuous improvement.

Both companies highlighted the need to secure frontline buy‑in before technology rollout and to adapt organizational structures so AI can become a routine part of operations.