Kirin Holdings and Mitsubishi Research Institute Develop AI Intelligence "FLYING BUTTERFLY" to Predict Business and Management Impacts by Linking External and Internal Company Information with AI

Kirin Holdings Company, Limited (President and COO: Kenshi Minakata, hereinafter referred to as Kirin) and Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc. (President and CEO: Kenji Yabuta, hereinafter referred to as MRI) have jointly developed an AI intelligence system called "FLYING BUTTERFLY" (hereinafter referred to as "FLYING BUTTERFLY"), which utilizes AI to rapidly and comprehensively grasp external environmental changes that affect corporate management. The system is scheduled to commence operations in July 2026.

By combining the collection, organization, and analysis of external information with internal company data through "FLYING BUTTERFLY," Kirin aims to enhance its intelligence capabilities to anticipate the impact of external changes on its business and management. By concretizing the impact on business operations and advancing scenario analysis, the company seeks to achieve management decisions that are responsive to a highly uncertain business environment.

*1 An initiative that links and analyzes external environmental information surrounding a company with internal company information, and grasps potential impacts on management and business at an early stage to aid management decision-making.

Image of "FLYING BUTTERFLY"

1. Background

In recent years, the uncertainty of the external environment surrounding corporate management has further increased due to factors such as geopolitical risks, supply chain fluctuations, and changes in policy and regulatory trends. In such an environment, it is not sufficient to collect and analyze information solely within individual departments. It is crucial to grasp information comprehensively from a management perspective to identify future opportunities and risks.

Kirin, in particular, has experienced a growing need for intelligence that can more accurately and dynamically grasp the impact of external environmental changes on management decisions and business operations as it expands its diverse businesses, including alcoholic beverages, beverages and healthcare science, and pharmaceuticals, globally. On the other hand, the related information is extensive and vast, making information collection difficult, and organizing and analyzing it in a format that can be utilized for group management decisions and business operations has been a challenge.

2. Overview of Initiatives

In response to these challenges, Kirin and MRI have been developing "FLYING BUTTERFLY," which links external environmental information with internal company information, considers possible scenarios, analyzes business impacts, and supports management decisions through hypothesis testing. "FLYING BUTTERFLY" aims to broadly capture external environmental changes occurring in the distant or upstream that are difficult to see from the perspective of management and business operations, and to analyze at an early stage how these changes will affect each business and function of the Kirin Group.

Conventional AI faces difficulties in linking external environmental factors such as geopolitical risks with internal company information, and in anticipating future opportunities and risks. "FLYING BUTTERFLY" utilizes AI to select, collect, and organize external environmental changes that may affect the Kirin Group's businesses, such as geopolitical risks and policy/regulatory trends, leveraging MRI's expertise as a think tank. This information is then linked with internal company information related to Kirin's businesses and functions to analyze the impact of external environmental changes on each business. Kirin's unique judgment logic is incorporated to differentiate it from conventional AI analysis.

Specifically, "FLYING BUTTERFLY" uses multiple AIs to monitor external environmental information, extract information related to Kirin, link it with businesses and functions, organize key points, and concretize multiple anticipated scenarios in a conversational format. This is regularly updated to grasp business impacts and scale. It also includes functions to structure relationships between themes, perform qualitative impact assessments, and create reports in a format that is easy to use for discussions in management and business departments.

During development, Kirin's business perspective and on-site knowledge, combined with its information gathering capabilities through external networking, were fused with MRI's expertise as a think tank and its knowledge of AI implementation and business application. This has concretized theme setting, hypothesis organization, information gathering and analysis, and documentation in a practical manner, applicable to the Kirin Group's businesses. This approach utilizes AI not merely as a means of information summarization, but as a practical foundation for deepening management decisions and business discussions.

3. Future Outlook

In the future, we aim for full automation by enhancing the collaboration between the multiple AIs within "FLYING BUTTERFLY," and to achieve more extensive and precise analysis by improving the performance and level of internal and external information gathering.

By utilizing "FLYING BUTTERFLY," Kirin will enhance its macro perspective and broaden its horizons, supplementing information gathering on external environmental changes such as geopolitics, which are becoming increasingly fluid, and conducting forward-looking scenario analysis that goes beyond current facts. This will strengthen the management foundation, including decision-making and strategy formulation by management, enable adaptation to increasingly uncertain business environmental changes, and further accelerate value creation through innovation.

As a comprehensive think tank, MRI will promote the advancement of intelligence functions in various companies and industries by combining its accumulated knowledge with AI technology, contributing to the construction and implementation of management decision-making platforms required in an era of high uncertainty.

The Kirin Group, under its long-term management vision "Innovate2035!", aims for sustainable corporate value enhancement as a "World-leading CSV Company" that creates social and economic value by continuously driving innovation through the power of people and technology. Moving forward, through manufacturing that focuses on nature and people, we will expand new joys in "food and health" and contribute to the realization of a spiritually rich society.