To date, the Cosmo Energy Group has promoted digital transformation (DX) as a group-wide initiative that engages all employees and has been working to transform our business model through the effective use of data and digital technologies.
Under the Seventh Medium-Term Management Plan, we met all of our key DX-related targets, and made steady progress in enhancing refinery safety and operational reliability, optimizing demand forecasting and logistics, and improving back-office operations. These achievements are the result of self-driven efforts by each employee and an ongoing commitment to continuous, frontline-driven improvement initiatives.
At the same time, the pace of change in the business environment and technological advancement continues to accelerate, fundamentally reshaping how companies need to transform. In recent years especially, AI has evolved beyond a tool for improving operational efficiency to become a key enabler of more informed decision-making, new value creation, and even the transformation of business models themselves.
In response to these shifts, we are building on the foundation of DX 1.0 (Digital Transformation) to advance AX 2.0 (AI Transformation)—the evolution of our business through the use of AI technologies, including generative AI and AI agents. AI not only unlocks the potential of every employee, but also enhances operational efficiency, enables more informed decision-making, and creates new business value. People are the driving force behind successful transformation. Rather than making the use of AI the end goal, I believe that the key to sustainable growth lies in ensuring that all employees take ownership in AX by making the use of AI a part of their everyday work. By empowering our people to demonstrate their full potential and fostering an organizational culture of autonomous value creation, I am confident that we can achieve this end.
Under the Eighth Medium-Term Management Plan, we will promote the comprehensive use of AI and other digital technologies, with the primary goal of AX being to drive business impact through talent development and the implementation of AI in business operations. To advance these initiatives at the group-wide level, we will step up efforts to develop core talent in AI and digital technologies to drive AI and other digital technology adoption, establish an AI governance framework that addresses risks unique to AI, reinforce our AI and digital technology utilization infrastructure to facilitate the orchestration of data and know-how, enhance security measures against AI-associated risks, and advance the functions responsible for these areas through an AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE). Through these efforts, we will optimize the use of AI while maintaining strong governance.
Going forward, we will continue to accelerate our transformation toward realizing Vision 2035 by making full use of AI and other digital technologies, while contributing to a more sustainable society and enhancing enterprise value.
