[Event Report] CEO Jumpei Watanabe Speaks at Niigata University Faculty of Law's 'Kenjin Kaigi' Lecture

Arsaga Partners Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Chairman & CTO: Yasuaki Omata; CEO: Jumpei Watanabe), a company that promotes corporate DX, announced that CEO Jumpei Watanabe spoke at the 'Kenjin Kaigi' lecture at Niigata University's Faculty of Law on Tuesday, April 28, 2026.

Under the theme 'Taking Control of Your Career,' the lecture explained the experiences students should gain during their university years and career development after graduation in the age of AI. Reflecting on his own career path, he provided concrete advice and stressed the importance of making proactive decisions.

◾ Speaker Introduction
Jumpei Watanabe, CEO, Arsaga Partners Inc.
After graduating from the University of Tsukuba, he worked at a major Japanese manufacturer, where he was in charge of quality for domestic and international clients, from new product launches to post-mass production follow-up. He also participated in overseas plant (mainly in Europe) start-up projects.
After moving to a major foreign consulting firm, he provided end-to-end consulting support, from planning and conception to the execution phase of DX projects for a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, government agencies, retail, and trading companies.
In 2022, he joined Arsaga Partners as a Division Manager in the Consulting Division and was appointed Senior Executive Officer in October of the same year.
He became a Director in September 2023, Executive Vice President in February 2025, and was appointed CEO in September of the same year.

◾ Job Hunting Strategy to Survive the AI Era and the 'Real Experience' to Gain as a Student
First, Watanabe pointed out that the structure of job hunting is changing significantly due to the spread of AI. In the past, new graduate recruitment was based on the premise of post-employment training and mass hiring. However, as companies now promote operational efficiency with AI, new graduates are increasingly expected to have the qualities of being 'immediately effective.'
As a result, a clear gap is emerging in the selection process between students who can master and apply AI to specific activities and those who cannot. It is important to explore 'what can be done' with AI as a starting point and to accumulate various experiences while in university.
A common use of AI is to streamline the creation of entry sheets and corporate research during job hunting. However, Watanabe encourages students to go one step further and 'achieve results using AI.'
For example, we are now in an era where even non-engineering students in liberal arts can create things like a circle's attendance confirmation app using AI. He stated that being able to present 'experience in solving problems independently with AI' rather than just knowledge in an interview would be a very powerful appeal.
On the other hand, he also emphasized that in the age of AI, 'abilities that cannot be replaced by AI,' namely interpersonal communication skills or 'EQ,' become even more important. The value of gaining real experience by interacting with diverse people through internships, club activities, and travel is immeasurable. He told the students that these experiences 'will become a great weapon for success in society.'

◾ 'Proactive Decision-Making' is Key to Taking Control of Your Career
Next, Watanabe passionately told the students, 'I want you to take the initiative and make choices you won't regret' in career development. He said that although his own career turned out well, it wasn't because he had a specific axis, but because the decisions he made happened to lead to good outcomes.
Therefore, he advised today's students, for whom information gathering has become easier, to 'make proactive decisions.' He then offered three important perspectives on career development, gained from his own decision-making experiences, for students who are unsure about their future careers.
These perspectives are: 'acquiring language skills and a business sense to be active globally,' 'choosing to advance into high-growth industries or participating in strategic projects within a company,' and 'becoming a person who can launch their own business.' He recommended making decisions at each stage by considering which environment would allow them to acquire these.
Regarding the choice of a 'high-growth industry,' he explained by sharing an episode of his transition from an auto parts manufacturer to a foreign consulting firm. He pointed out that being in an environment where the entire industry is growing increases an individual's job variety and market value in tandem.
This choice is also effective for students who are not yet clear about what they want to do in the future. For example, he advised that choosing a growth industry like IT or DX now can greatly expand future career paths.
Few people have a perfect career plan from the start, and it's not uncommon for careers to change along the way. That's why it's important not to be constrained by frameworks like public servant or private sector, but to regularly face one's career, take action to gather information, and make decisions each time. This, he said, is the key to building a better career.
In this era of rapid change, 'doing nothing' is the biggest risk, and flexibly continuing to try new things becomes a career defense strategy. Watanabe himself said that honing his skills at a young age has become his asset. While agreeing with respecting work-life balance, he stated, 'life should be considered in total,' emphasizing the significance of having a long-term perspective by reflecting on his own career.

◾ Q&A
Towards the end of the lecture, many questions were received from the students.
Q: If I'm torn between a private company and being a civil servant, how should I think about it?
A: If you have even the slightest hesitation, I strongly recommend participating in an internship, even for just one day. By directly interacting with people working in society and hearing their live voices from the field, your career resolution will increase dramatically. I myself once aimed to be a physical education teacher, but I changed my path after being invited to talk with people from private companies. Even in a society where you can easily get information with AI, it's important to take action yourself and get primary information. In this era where you can easily meet people through SNS, I recommend using the privilege of being a student to go and meet various professionals.

Q: What is the most important thing you value in your work?
A: The most important thing is creating an impact on society through the realization of our vision and mission. Our company's vision, 'Bringing competitiveness to companies, a sense of fulfillment to our colleagues, and a new story,' and our mission, 'Delivering value with free-thinking and solid logic,' serve as our guiding principles. When I was an employee, I focused on the work in front of me and the salary I received in return. However, now I place the most importance on how much of a significant impact I can have on society as a whole.

Q: When you were lost in your career choices, what criteria did you use to make decisions?
A: I believe that being lost is simply a state of lacking information. If you have all the information, decision-making becomes easy, so I prioritize 'gathering the necessary materials for judgment.' If it's still difficult to choose, I recommend eliminating only the 'critically bad options' based on the information gathered. For example, even if you receive offers from multiple companies and are undecided, as long as you remove the options that you 'absolutely should not take,' I believe that any of the remaining choices will not be a decisive negative for your life.

◾ In Conclusion
Through this lecture, we conveyed the importance of utilizing AI in various situations and the necessity of taking action to gather information and make decisions. The Q&A session at the end was flooded with questions, providing an opportunity for students to take concrete actions in their future job hunting.
Arsaga Partners will continue to support the younger generation in forging their own careers through lectures like this. We believe that the autonomous growth and brilliant work of the younger generation will lead to the growth of Japan as a whole. By creating opportunities for career development and providing a platform to foster talent that can flexibly respond to social changes, we hope to help expand the future possibilities for everyone.