Channel Corporation Establishes New CCO Role in Japan, Appoints Ei Utsunomiya

Channel Corporation, provider of the customer-understanding AI agent service “Channel Talk” (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Japan CEO: Choi Jae-yong; hereinafter “the Company”), announced that it established a new CCO, or Chief Customer Officer, role in Japan as of May 1, 2026, with Ei Utsunomiya appointed to the position. The appointment is intended to further support business growth for client companies by strengthening customer success strategy and fully advancing customer experience, or CX, initiatives that utilize VOC, Voice of Customer, as a management resource. Background: With the spread of generative AI, the nature of corporate customer support and customer communication is changing significantly. At the same time, many companies face challenges such as not knowing how to connect AI adoption to customer experience and business outcomes, or being unable to use customer feedback across the organization. As a result, important customer voices, including requests and complaints that should lead to product improvements, better services, and new business opportunities, are often buried within daily support operations. “Channel Talk,” provided by the Company, is an AI business messenger adopted by more than 230,000 companies globally to solve communication challenges between businesses and customers. Centered on the AI agent “ALF,” it continues to evolve beyond customer support automation into a solution that simultaneously improves customer understanding, response quality, and productivity. Against this backdrop, the Company has established the new CCO role in its Japanese entity to further strengthen customer success support for client companies, advance customer experience strategy, and promote the use of VOC as a management resource. Utsunomiya’s priorities as CCO: Upon taking office, Utsunomiya has set three key themes. First, redefining customer success: transforming CS from a mere support and success department into a growth driver that leads business growth, while establishing a next-generation model for global CS organizations. Second, designing collaboration between AI and humans: building an operational framework that connects AI capabilities such as ALF with the creativity and judgment of frontline teams, designing what comes after automation for client companies, and supporting the shift of CS toward AI-native operations. Third, promoting VOC-driven management: working with client companies to build and operate mechanisms that allow customer voices to be used as primary information in management meetings, realizing the vision of placing CS at the very center of the company. Comment from CCO Ei Utsunomiya: “My career began as a salesperson facing customers on the shop floor. At my previous company, and ST HD, I used that frontline perspective as a starting point and repeatedly experimented at the forefront of sales, CS, and customer touchpoints, achieving a 92% unmanned resolution rate through the use of technology centered on AI agents and receiving the Zendesk User Champion award. What I became convinced of through that experience is that DX and AX are ultimately only means, and that redefining and creating new value from them is an area only humans can handle. In the next stage, as someone who co-creates with customers, I will commit deeply to the success of each customer in the Japanese market toward the Company’s mission of solving communication challenges between businesses and customers. In the age of AI, because I understand both the pain of the frontline and the potential of CS, I intend to help create a customer-driven future in which everyone working on the frontline can maximize their value and careers, through close support and the creation of user community experiences.” Profile of Ei Utsunomiya: Utsunomiya previously served as head of CS and senior manager for DX promotion in the Customer Success Department of the Corporate Division at and ST HD. Starting from a career in sales and frontline operations, and later gaining experience in physical stores and web marketing, Utsunomiya designed and promoted next-generation CS strategies rooted in customer touchpoints. Utsunomiya has led CX and AX transformation in large-scale B2C organizations, including achieving a 92% unmanned resolution rate through the introduction of the AI agent ALF, receiving the Zendesk User Champion award, and producing a VOC Portal that turns customer voices into a management resource. Utsunomiya’s guiding belief is balancing technology with human creativity. About Channel Corporation: Channel Corporation provides the AI communication tool “Channel Talk” under its mission to solve communication problems between businesses and customers. The company currently has offices in Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; and Chicago, United States, and operates globally. The number of companies using its service has surpassed 230,000 worldwide. Company name: Channel Corporation Address: Hanzomon PREX North 13F, 2-3-2 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Representative Director and CEO: Choi Jae-yong Established: January 10, 2016 URL: https://channel.io/ja/team Contact: Public Relations, Channel Corporation Email: info-jp@channel.io