Stockmark CEO and AWS Japan Executive Discuss Turning Generative AI into On-Site Business Capability on NewsPicks

Stockmark announced that NewsPicks, an economic news platform, has released a special discussion video featuring Toshihiko Yasuda of Amazon Web Services Japan (AWS) and Tatsu Hayashi, Representative Director and CEO of Stockmark. The theme of the discussion is “Real breakthrough points for turning generative AI into power on the front line.” While adoption of generative AI continues to advance, many companies are facing barriers such as receiving only generic answers that cannot be used in their own operations, or remaining stuck at the proof-of-concept stage. The discussion combines Stockmark’s experience supporting AI adoption at more than 350 companies with AWS’s infrastructure perspective as a global leader, and explores the essence of AI utilization needed for Japanese companies to regain global competitiveness. A key point of the discussion is that the strength of Japanese companies lies in tacit knowledge. The biggest reason AI fails to take root at operational sites is the gap between expectations and the reality that general-purpose models cannot provide answers tailored to each company’s actual business. To elevate AI into a partner that supports on-site decision-making, the discussion presents three barriers that must be overcome: digitizing tacit knowledge by enabling AI to read large volumes of internal dark data such as daily reports and technical reports and turn them into decision-making material; addressing the complexity of Japanese corporate data formats, especially manufacturing documents that combine charts and text, and converting them into forms AI can interpret accurately; and building a secure, scalable knowledge database while protecting confidential corporate information. Through the discussion video, Stockmark presents a path for maximizing Japan’s on-site industrial strengths through generative AI and challenging the global market once again. The video is titled “Japan’s Counterattack Begins: The Potential to Win the World with Manufacturing AI.” The video URL is https://youtu.be/li8xpUInhJw, and the NewsPicks URL is https://newspicks.com/live-movie/6861/. It was produced by NewsPicks Studios. The speakers are Toshihiko Yasuda, Managing Executive Officer of Amazon Web Services Japan; Tatsu Hayashi, Representative Director and CEO of Stockmark; and MC Sayaka Suguro. The video is sponsored content. Stockmark states that AI utilization has become essential for maintaining competitiveness, but many companies still face challenges such as unorganized data, poor adoption at operational sites, and failure to connect AI initiatives to concrete outcomes. To comprehensively address these issues, Stockmark provides six solutions. Using proprietary natural language processing and related technologies, the company structures not only text but also complex knowledge such as drawings, specifications, and past decision logic into formats that AI can use. This supports AI BPR, or Business Process Re-engineering, which redesigns business processes so people can go beyond mere efficiency gains and focus on value creation and the refinement of expertise. Stockmark aims to let AI autonomously handle simple tasks that create stagnation, enabling people to shift to high-value work and creating a state in which they can genuinely enjoy their jobs, thereby strengthening the competitiveness of Japanese companies. Stockmark Inc. has the mission of “reinventing the mechanism of value creation and advancing humanity.” The company supports corporate transformation using cutting-edge generative AI technologies. It operates Aconnect, an AI agent for the manufacturing industry, and SAT, a service that structures all kinds of data and turns them into corporate assets. It also supports the development of enterprise-specific generative AI and proprietary systems. Stockmark was established on November 15, 2016, and is located at LIFORK MINAMI AOYAMA S209, 1-12-3 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its Representative Director and CEO is Tatsu Hayashi. Its business is the development and operation of services that use advanced generative AI technologies to support corporate knowledge management and business application of generative AI. Website: https://stockmark.co.jp/.