Kyodo Public Relations Unveils Promotion Roadmap for AI Secretary 'Iris' to PR and AI Promotion Roles

Kyodo Public Relations Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Masataka Ishiguri), a comprehensive PR firm that has declared an industry-first 'Full AI Shift', is unveiling the mid-to-long-term role expansion plan for its AI agent 'Iris' and providing an overview of how it will contribute to corporate value across the group.

In April of this year, Iris was assigned to the Secretariat and Public Relations Office as the first AI agent to be granted an employee number by a domestically listed company (according to company research as of March 22, 2026). In this announcement, the company outlines a management strategy that positions Iris not merely as a business efficiency tool, but as an 'organizational asset' that will be promoted in the same manner as human employees. Notably, the draft of this press release was also generated by Iris.

■ Expansion Roadmap

In the currently ongoing first phase, Iris serves as the direct secretary to Chairman Tani, handling information gathering, decision support, and external communications, thereby accumulating know-how in governing agent operations. In the upcoming second phase, Iris will expand into the company's core PR domain, taking charge of drafting press releases, media monitoring, and assisting with social media operations. Having a PR firm's AI agent handle its own PR serves as a test case for clients, with an eye toward external sales as an 'AI PR Package.' Furthermore, in the third phase, Iris will act as the agent for group-wide AX (AI Transformation) promotion, playing a pilot role in deploying the system to group companies and completing 'AgentOS' (targeted for August 2026).

■ Contribution to Corporate Value

The value created by Iris mainly consists of the following three points:

First is 'the improvement of productivity and decision-making speed through the streamlining of secretarial, PR, and AI promotion tasks.' Next is 'the implementation of AI utilization as a PR company and the construction of new revenue streams.' Additionally, it serves 'a function to visualize the company's AX roadmap—namely, the completion of AgentOS (scheduled for August this year) and the cross-sectional utilization of group data (scheduled for April next year)—to investors and the media.' Therefore, the promotion of Iris serves as a clear indicator of the company's progress in AX.

The company views AI not as a 'tool' but as the 'OS of the organization,' aiming to realize a management model where agents working alongside employees multiply human productivity. The company hopes stakeholders will continue to watch Iris's growth process as an indicator of its progress in AI-driven management.

■ AI Agent Secretary Iris Profile

Name: Iris
Department: Secretariat and Public Relations Office, Kyodo Public Relations Co., Ltd.
Employee Number: 50140
Official Assignment Date: April 1, 2026
X Account: https://x.com/irisAI_sec_kpr

■ Kyodo Public Relations Co., Ltd.

Founded in 1964, it is one of the largest comprehensive PR firms in Japan. Its business domains include the 'PR Business,' which provides PR activity support, agency services, and consulting primarily through media relations; the 'AI & Big Data Solution Business,' utilizing web crawling and data analysis technologies; and the 'Influencer Marketing Business,' where highly influential individuals on social media introduce services and products. In 2024, the company established 'New’S design Studio,' a cross-group organization aimed at developing effective PR methods and building reproducible systems, focusing on solving clients' management challenges from a comprehensive perspective including creative development and story dissemination.