[Enthought 25th Anniversary] 2026 R&D Innovation Summit Held — From DX to Intelligence-Driven ~ The Next Era of Scientific R&D Innovation

Ensōto Inc. (Location: Minato-ku, Tokyo, hereinafter referred to as "Ensōto") will hold the "2026 R&D Innovation Summit" on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at the Akasaka Intercity Conference in Tokyo. This year, the theme is the transformation to "Intelligence-Driven" scientific R&D, which goes beyond conventional DX aimed at efficiency, enabling AI to infer independently and accelerate scientific discovery.

2026 R&D Innovation Summit: Transitioning Scientific R&D to "Intelligence-Driven" (Organizer: Ensōto Inc.)

This event has been held as a venue for R&D leaders and R&D DX managers in fields such as chemistry, materials science, and life sciences to gather and share the latest trends and practical examples, including AI utilization and Materials Informatics (MI).

2026 marks the 25th anniversary of Enthought's founding, and this event will be held as a special commemorative edition looking ahead to the next era of R&D innovation. Based on insights gained from promoting the fusion of science and digital, we will discuss the future of R&D in the AI era.

[Background] While AI evolution accelerates, a significant gap is emerging in the R&D domain between the 'true potential' brought by the latest AI and current research methodologies. Japanese companies have built competitive advantages through advanced technology and manufacturing, but many R&D organizations remain optimized for an era "before AI evolved." With challenges such as prolonged development periods, technology transfer, and labor shortages becoming apparent, there is a growing demand for a transformation of R&D processes centered on AI and data utilization.

[Event Highlights] ■ A New Concept Defining the "Future of DX": Transitioning "Scientific R&D" to Intelligence-Driven Presenting the full picture of "Intelligence-Driven" R&D, which goes beyond conventional DX (Digital Transformation) aimed at efficiency, by enabling AI to autonomously support hypothesis generation and decision-making. We will explore directions for its realization together with Japanese R&D leaders driving scientific innovation and strategically-minded executives.

From "Vessels" for Data Accumulation to "Intelligent Inference" Focusing on new research methodologies that go beyond mere "digitalization" by highly integrating experimental processes with AI, leading to strategic insights derived from data. We will present a perspective on redesigning not just tool implementation, but the research process, decision-making flow, and the very way knowledge is accumulated and utilized.

Featured Programs and Speakers This event will feature three keynote speeches by frontrunners leading R&D transformation in Japan.

Keynote Speaker: Noriaki Izumi (Dr. Eng.), Vice CTO of AIST Solutions & Senior Expert at the Digital Agency Keynote Speech 1: Noriaki Izumi (Dr. Eng.), Vice CTO of AIST Solutions & Senior Expert at the Digital Agency Mr. Izumi, who raised the "2025 Cliff" issue, will provide an overview of the digital industrial revolution over 100 years and delve into the structural contradictions faced by R&D organizations. From the perspective of how "Intelligence (the process of generating questions and recombining knowledge)," which is individualized to researchers, should be designed and operated organizationally, he will structurally discuss the conditions for transitioning to an AI-ready organization.

Keynote Speaker: Masato Fukushima, Executive Officer & CTO, Resonac Holdings Corporation Keynote Speech 2: Masato Fukushima, Executive Officer & CTO, Resonac Holdings Corporation Resonac, a leader in the material chemistry industry, will introduce its scientific R&D DX, which highly integrates data and digital technologies. They will share realistic insights for R&D transformation to accelerate value creation in material development and win in global competition.

Enthought Session Speaker: Dr. Eric Jones, Founder and CEO of Enthought Inc. Enthought Session: Dr. Eric Jones, Founder and CEO of Enthought Inc. Dr. Eric Jones, one of the founders of the "Scientific Python (SciPy)" ecosystem, which has become the de facto standard for scientific and technical computing today, is known as the "Father of SciPy" by scientists worldwide. He will present a new paradigm in materials science and chemical R&D: "Intelligence at Scale." He will explain practical approaches to fuse each company's unique organizational knowledge and corporate intelligence with LLMs and agentic AI to produce reliable results. He will provide guidance for accelerating scientific discovery and innovation...