Kobelco Systems Supports Kobe Steel's Generative AI CoE Activities, Contributing to PoC Advancement and Utilization Infrastructure for Production Development
Kobelco Systems Corporation announced its participation as a partner in Kobe Steel's Generative AI CoE activities. By executing agile PoCs using RAG technology for technical documents, they helped clarify requirements and lay the groundwork for production development and accelerated productivity improvements.
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- 📰 Published: April 15, 2026 at 20:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 15, 2026 at 11:31
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Kobelco Systems Corporation (Headquarters: Nada-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture; President & CEO: Fumihiro Segawa; hereinafter "Our Company") has participated as a generative AI utilization partner in the Generative AI CoE (Center of Excellence) activities of Kobe Steel, Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture; President & CEO: Yoshihiko Katsukawa; hereinafter "Kobe Steel"). In this initiative, we promoted iterative PoC (Proof of Concept) implementations in a short period to organize requirements and examine business applications, contributing to faster production development and the establishment of an infrastructure for accelerating productivity improvements.
As part of its DX promotion, Kobe Steel began utilizing generative AI in August 2023 and launched Generative AI CoE activities as a framework to accelerate its adoption across the entire company. Positioning the use of generative AI in specific operations as a priority measure, the company has been continuously working on functional development and operational efficiency utilizing technologies such as RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation).
Since November 2024, our company has participated in multiple projects related to Kobe Steel's generative AI utilization, supporting requirement organization and technical verification through PoCs. Highly evaluated for these efforts, we have officially participated as a partner for the Generative AI CoE activities starting in fiscal 2025.
■ Details of Our Support
Leveraging our business understanding and system construction expertise cultivated over many years as Kobe Steel's partner, we promoted initiatives starting from PoCs with an eye toward production development, rather than merely stopping at technical verification for generative AI.
We built generative AI applications based on actual business challenges and conducted verifications using RAG targeting technical documents and past trouble information. Through data cleansing and prompt optimization, we aimed to improve response quality. Simultaneously, by adopting an agile approach to conduct verifications in short cycles, we quickly determined whether the AI was "practically usable in business" through repeated PoCs. These efforts materialized the requirements for production development and led to the realization of effective PoCs.
■ Results of the Initiative
Through this initiative, requirements anticipating production development were organized, and the prerequisites for considering generative AI utilization became clear. Particularly in areas such as investigation work and initial response, the direction for improving operational efficiency through generative AI application has been concretely outlined.
At the same time, a common understanding regarding the procedure for utilizing generative AI, consideration perspectives, and PoCs was formed, laying the foundation for future planning and deployment within Kobe Steel's IT department. These results will serve as the basis for gradually expanding the use of generative AI in the future, establishing a foothold to proceed with discussions for the next phase.
■ Comments from Mr. Tsubasa Sato, Manager, DX Strategy Project Group, IT Planning Department, Kobe Steel, Ltd.
"By adopting agile development in this initiative, the speed from idea generation to PoC has improved dramatically, enabling us to shape prototypes in a matter of days at the earliest. Through repeated dialogue with users, the realization that generative AI is a 'usable' tool is spreading in the field, while awareness of the importance of data quality and the desire to transform operations starting from AI is also being fostered. We highly evaluate not only Kobelco Systems' high technical capabilities but also their proactive attitude in making proposals that exceed our expectations, making them a partner that truly runs alongside us as 'One Team'."
■ Future Outlook
Building on the utilization of generative AI to date, Kobe Steel plans to advance more sophisticated and full-scale utilization, including AI agents, in the future. As a partner, our company will continue to provide support from the consideration stage of generative AI utilization to its application in business. Additionally, by leveraging our expertise in procedures for utilizing generative AI, we will support business transformation in the manufacturing industry and contribute to raising the baseline of the entire industry.
■ About Kobelco Systems
1. Trade Name: Kobelco Systems Corporation
2. Business Details: Design, development, and maintenance of business systems / Design, construction, and operation of network systems / Outsourcing services / Consulting services / Sales and maintenance of system equipment / Development and sales of package software
3. Head Office Location: Shimabun Building, 4-2-7 Iwayanakamachi, Nada-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
4. Representative: President and CEO Fumihiro Segawa
5. Capital: 400 million yen
6. Established: July 1, 1987 (Changed trade name to Kobelco Systems Corporation)
As part of its DX promotion, Kobe Steel began utilizing generative AI in August 2023 and launched Generative AI CoE activities as a framework to accelerate its adoption across the entire company. Positioning the use of generative AI in specific operations as a priority measure, the company has been continuously working on functional development and operational efficiency utilizing technologies such as RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation).
Since November 2024, our company has participated in multiple projects related to Kobe Steel's generative AI utilization, supporting requirement organization and technical verification through PoCs. Highly evaluated for these efforts, we have officially participated as a partner for the Generative AI CoE activities starting in fiscal 2025.
■ Details of Our Support
Leveraging our business understanding and system construction expertise cultivated over many years as Kobe Steel's partner, we promoted initiatives starting from PoCs with an eye toward production development, rather than merely stopping at technical verification for generative AI.
We built generative AI applications based on actual business challenges and conducted verifications using RAG targeting technical documents and past trouble information. Through data cleansing and prompt optimization, we aimed to improve response quality. Simultaneously, by adopting an agile approach to conduct verifications in short cycles, we quickly determined whether the AI was "practically usable in business" through repeated PoCs. These efforts materialized the requirements for production development and led to the realization of effective PoCs.
■ Results of the Initiative
Through this initiative, requirements anticipating production development were organized, and the prerequisites for considering generative AI utilization became clear. Particularly in areas such as investigation work and initial response, the direction for improving operational efficiency through generative AI application has been concretely outlined.
At the same time, a common understanding regarding the procedure for utilizing generative AI, consideration perspectives, and PoCs was formed, laying the foundation for future planning and deployment within Kobe Steel's IT department. These results will serve as the basis for gradually expanding the use of generative AI in the future, establishing a foothold to proceed with discussions for the next phase.
■ Comments from Mr. Tsubasa Sato, Manager, DX Strategy Project Group, IT Planning Department, Kobe Steel, Ltd.
"By adopting agile development in this initiative, the speed from idea generation to PoC has improved dramatically, enabling us to shape prototypes in a matter of days at the earliest. Through repeated dialogue with users, the realization that generative AI is a 'usable' tool is spreading in the field, while awareness of the importance of data quality and the desire to transform operations starting from AI is also being fostered. We highly evaluate not only Kobelco Systems' high technical capabilities but also their proactive attitude in making proposals that exceed our expectations, making them a partner that truly runs alongside us as 'One Team'."
■ Future Outlook
Building on the utilization of generative AI to date, Kobe Steel plans to advance more sophisticated and full-scale utilization, including AI agents, in the future. As a partner, our company will continue to provide support from the consideration stage of generative AI utilization to its application in business. Additionally, by leveraging our expertise in procedures for utilizing generative AI, we will support business transformation in the manufacturing industry and contribute to raising the baseline of the entire industry.
■ About Kobelco Systems
1. Trade Name: Kobelco Systems Corporation
2. Business Details: Design, development, and maintenance of business systems / Design, construction, and operation of network systems / Outsourcing services / Consulting services / Sales and maintenance of system equipment / Development and sales of package software
3. Head Office Location: Shimabun Building, 4-2-7 Iwayanakamachi, Nada-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
4. Representative: President and CEO Fumihiro Segawa
5. Capital: 400 million yen
6. Established: July 1, 1987 (Changed trade name to Kobelco Systems Corporation)