AI Tool "Microsoft 365 Copilot" Introduced to All Approximately 8,000 HAL Students

HAL, a vocational school that trains specialists active in the IT and digital content industries (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya), will introduce Microsoft 365 Copilot to all approximately 8,000 enrolled students from April 1, 2026. While the utilization of generative AI is rapidly advancing, a significant hurdle for Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is the shortage of personnel responsible for its implementation and establishment in practical business operations. HAL is reframing this challenge not as an "individual skill shortage" but as a "lack of a system for talent to reach society," and is working to build a new educational and talent supply model that produces immediate assets for the industry. For this initiative, HAL is receiving technical knowledge and practical insights on generative AI utilization from Microsoft Japan Co., Ltd. and Avanade Inc.

The Type of Talent HAL Aims to Cultivate (From AI Utilization → AI Implementation & Establishment)

HAL's goal is not merely to increase the number of "people who can use AI." It is to send out core personnel to society who can implement AI in the workplace, embed it within operations, and achieve a state where using AI is not special – in other words, realize "AI normal."

We will train "key persons for implementation" who can act as the "first person on the scene."

Characteristics of HAL's Education: Humanistic Education × Creativity × AI

For generative AI to function in business, the ability to "formulate questions," "make judgments," and understand "ethics and responsibility" are indispensable, even more so than prompt engineering or operational methods. HAL has long emphasized humanistic education and creativity development as pillars of its education and has incorporated them into its curriculum. Generative AI education does not conflict with these; rather, it is highly compatible. Humans think, humans decide, and humans take responsibility. AI is used as a "tool" for that purpose. With this philosophy, HAL will rapidly implement AI utilization education.

A System That Scales Through Industry-Academia Collaboration

In designing and implementing the educational content, Microsoft Japan and Avanade will provide technical knowledge and practical know-how, establishing a collaborative industry-academia system that connects educational and industrial sites. To visualize students' AI utilization levels, the development of "AI Skill Badges" and similar systems is being considered.

Voices of Expectation from Companies

Microsoft Japan Co., Ltd.

Executive Officer, Senior Vice President, General Manager of Corporate Solutions Business Division,

Jiro Kobayashi, Comment

We are greatly encouraged by HAL's initiative to introduce Microsoft 365 Copilot to all students across its three campuses in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, and to integrate generative AI into their learning and creation processes. Creating an environment where each student can utilize AI for organizing ideas, research, and refining expressions, thereby enhancing their creativity and practical skills, is a crucial step in future human resource development. Microsoft Japan will cooperate with HAL's efforts, including the safe and secure utilization in educational settings.

Principal's Comment

HAL Tokyo Principal, Masayoshi Tsurubo

The advancement of generative AI poses significant questions about the very nature of education.

What is important is not just learning new technology, but fostering the ability to utilize it effectively in society and handle it responsibly.

At HAL, we take responsibility as an educational institution for the quality of education during enrollment, and with a clear division of roles where companies bear responsibility for outcomes after graduation, we have been advancing education that enables students to master AI as a practical tool. Furthermore, to use generative AI correctly, not only technical skills but also humanistic qualities, ethical awareness, collaborative abilities, and creative power to formulate questions are indispensable. The humanistic education and creativity development that HAL has emphasized are essential educational assets for this era, and this initiative is an extension of that.

We find it highly significant to be able to implement learning where all students routinely utilize generative AI through our collaboration with Microsoft Japan and Avanade. We aim to realize education that leads to sustainable value not only for student growth but also for companies requiring AI utilization and society as a whole.

HAL Osaka / HAL Nagoya Principal, Hiroyuki Arai

HAL began by nurturing engineers, a role society strongly demanded when computers were first being widely introduced in Japan. Since then, we have consistently faced the changes in the industry and sent out to society the talent truly needed for each era through consistently advanced education.

What is required in the era of generative AI is not someone who "knows" AI. It is talent that can bring AI into the company's workplace, make it used, embed it, and realize a state where using AI is the norm – "AI normal." Even new graduates, or rather precisely because they are new graduates, can drive change as the "first person" without being bound by existing workplace customs. HAL will train the implementation personnel who will take on this role and send them to the forefront of the industry.

Learning is acquired not through theoretical knowledge, but by actually using, testing, and failing. Gaining this experience during student life becomes a great strength after entering society. This initiative is a challenge in practical education that HAL is undertaking with an eye on "the workplace of the next era."

◆HAL Vocational School

HAL Vocational School, with campuses in front of terminal stations in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, as well as in New York and Paris, trains immediate assets in fields such as game development, CG, music, car design, and IT. Pursuing "industry-academia collaboration," considered the ideal in vocational education, HAL provides direct instruction from leading professionals, case studies that students work on based on company requests, and introduces software and hardware recognized by professionals. It achieves a 100% employment rate for those seeking jobs. Its three major guarantee systems – the "Complete Employment Guarantee System," "National Qualification Pass Guarantee System," and "Salary Guarantee System" – are proof of its confidence.

From April 1, 2026, Microsoft 365 Copilot will be introduced to all approximately 8,000 enrolled students, promoting education that integrates generative AI as a "practical tool" into daily learning.

HAL Vocational School: https://www.HAL.ac.jp

*Microsoft and Microsoft 365 are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

*Microsoft 365 is the name of a service provided by Microsoft Corporation.