Chapter 11: A Roadmap and Risk Management Strategies for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Transitioning to “AI-Driven Automation”
11-1. The Reality: “60–70% of Work Activities Are Technically Automatable” According to recent analyses by McKinsey & Company, existing technologies—including generative AI—could technically automate activities that account for 60–70% of current work time . This is not a distant vision, but a potential based on technologies that already exist today .However, many organizations are still far from realizing this potential. Analyses in the same body of research suggest that the
Chapter 10: Autonomous Cross-Functional Management—AI Agents Driving Supply Chain Operations
10-1. From Functional Optimization to Supply Chains as a “Management OS” As discussed in previous chapters, AI has significantly enhanced individual functions such as sales, marketing, finance, and HR. However, what ultimately determines a company’s competitiveness is how efficiently, quickly, and reliably it can deliver value as a whole. This is why attention is shifting toward cross-functional autonomous operations —where supply chains and business functions operate in an i
Chapter 9: Automating Managerial Tasks—How “AI Advisors” and “AI Secretaries” Are Transforming the Decision-Making Process
9-1. Managers Overwhelmed by Documents, Meetings, and Emails Not only in Japan but globally, many managers struggle with the same issue: their days are consumed by document creation, email responses, and meetings. According to the Stanford AI Index 2025, 78% of organizations worldwide were using AI in some form in 2024, with productivity improvement in knowledge work being a primary objective. Microsoft’s Work Trend Index special report shows that among early Copilot users, 7
Chapter 8: Automation of HR and Talent Management—Recruitment, Onboarding, Evaluation, and Development
8-1. The Wave of AI in HR and the Transformation of “3K” (Experience, Intuition, and Know-how) Globally, the adoption of AI in HR is accelerating rapidly. By 2025, 43–51% of organizations are expected to use AI in HR and recruitment tasks, a sharp increase from 26% the previous year. Another analysis predicts that by 2025, 80% of organizations will integrate AI into at least one HR function, positioning AI as a standard infrastructure in HR. In Japan, HR has long been charact
Chapter 7: Research & Knowledge Management—How RAG and Enterprise Search Are Transforming “Research Work”
7-1. Why “Internal Search” and Knowledge Are Becoming Strategic Priorities Across organizations worldwide, a common challenge persists: employees cannot easily find the information they need. Studies suggest that knowledge workers spend roughly 20–30% of their working time searching for information, resulting in productivity losses amounting to thousands of dollars per employee annually. Japanese companies face similar issues, including “Excel files known only to specific ind
Chapter 6: Intelligent Automation in Accounting and Finance—From Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable to Forecasting and Fraud Detection
6-1. The Three Pressures Facing CFOs and the Growing Expectation for AI CFOs around the world, including in Japan, are facing three major pressures.The first is “labor shortages and increasing workload.” Requirements such as financial reporting, disclosure, taxation, and ESG compliance continue to expand, while back-office talent is difficult to scale.The second is the need to balance “speed and accuracy.” As exchange rates, interest rates, and supply chain risks fluctuate, m
Chapter 5: Customer Support & CX—The Evolution from Chatbots to Autonomous Agents
5-1. From Cost Center to Value Driver For many Japanese companies, customer support has long been treated as a “cost center.” Call centers and inquiry desks are necessary, but the goal has traditionally been to minimize cost.However, research by Salesforce shows that 84% of customers consider the experience a company provides to be as important as its products and services. Customer support is no longer just an operational function—it directly shapes brand perception and cust
Chapter 4: Creative Automation—Text, Image, and Video Generation and Brand Governance
4-1. The Wave of Generative AI Reaching Creative Work Generative AI is rapidly expanding beyond text into all areas of creative production, including images, video, audio, and 3D. According to estimates by OG Analysis, the generative AI market in the creative industries is projected to reach approximately $4.7 billion in 2025 and grow to $44.4 billion by 2034 (roughly 9x growth). Industries such as advertising, design, entertainment, and fashion are beginning to adopt AI as a
Chapter 3: Marketing on Autopilot—Running Ads, Content, and Campaigns with Generative AI Workflows
3-1. How AI Is Transforming Marketing Bottlenecks Globally, marketing is one of the functions where AI adoption has progressed most rapidly. As of 2025, 88% of marketers are reported to be using some form of AI tool, and 71% have already integrated generative AI into their daily work. The AI marketing market is projected to grow from approximately $47.3 billion in 2025 to $107.5 billion by 2028, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 36.6%. This accelerati
Chapter 2: Sales Automation—Creating a “24-Hour Sales Organization” with AI Scoring and Agents
2-1. The Three Limits Facing Sales Teams in Japan Across both B2B and B2C sectors in Japan, many sales organizations are confronting the same three limitations. The first is time . Salespeople are estimated to spend only around 25% of their day actually selling, while the rest is consumed by administrative work such as CRM entry, customer research, drafting emails, and internal coordination. The second is talent . In Japan, where population aging and labor shortages are inten
