Digital innovations

Executive Officer 
Chief Digital Officer
Kazuki Maeda

DX is not simply about adopting IT; it is about transforming the business by refocusing on the purpose and desired outcomes of our operations and reshaping business processes and decision-making.
To date, Idemitsu has pursued transformation by engaging directly with the front lines. Unbound by conventional approaches, we seek to question the ideal form of processes and drive change through intensive deliberation. To accomplish this, tenaciously persevering in these efforts is vital.
The source of our competitiveness lies in the thorough-going use of data and AI to achieve more sophisticated decision-making and business operations. Through co-creation with business departments and external partners, we will target more sophisticated management across the Company, making our businesses more competitive and creating new value.

As AI utilization expands to various aspects of business activities, we will leverage the data infrastructure and digital talent we have developed through our previous DX initiatives to evolve our efforts into AX, which utilizes AI to transform management and business operations. By using AI, we aim to improve decision-making and innovate business processes, thereby achieving sustainable corporate value enhancement.
In our new medium-term plan, we will promote our DX/AX strategy based on the following three priority areas.

1. Promoting data-driven management
Amidst increasing uncertainty in the business environment, it is essential to move away from decisions that rely on past experience and intuition, and instead achieve swift and highly accurate decision-making based on data.
We will integrate and utilize data from our business, customers, and markets to implement data-driven decision-making in all aspects of our management and operations. This will enable us to respond quickly to changes in the business environment, optimize our business portfolio, and create new value.

2. Promoting business process transformation
Based on the premise of a division of roles between AI and humans, we will re-evaluate our work processes and advance automation and decision-making support, thereby concentrating human resources on higher value-added tasks. We will transform into an organization that can continuously generate high added value even with limited personnel.

3. Development of DX/AX infrastructure
We will develop an integrated digital infrastructure to support the use of AI and build a safe and reliable digital environment.
We also address the advancements in data governance and cybersecurity. We aim to minimize damage from cyberattacks, facilitate rapid recovery, and strengthen the digital infrastructure that supports business continuity.
Furthermore, we will continue to focus on developing the human resources that support DX/AX. In addition to improving the digital literacy of all employees, we will promote the development of specialists who will be responsible for data analysis and AI utilization, thereby spreading autonomous transformation using digital technology throughout the entire organization.

Target results
Our company will enhance its business competitiveness and create sustainable corporate value by strengthening its management foundation through the use of data and AI.

Human resource development and culture fostering to support DX/AX
We are developing training programs aimed at improving the DX literacy of all employees, including DX Basic Training.
Approximately 5,400 people participated in that event. An internal seminar on generative AI attracted around 7,000 participants, demonstrating the growing culture of utilizing digital technologies.
In addition, we conducted workshops on AI agents for approximately 100 members of management (including executives and department heads) to deepen their understanding of the potential of AI utilization.

Field-led business improvement and the use of generational AI
The initiative began with small, everyday improvements, such as simplifying the travel approval process, and has since expanded. Field-led app development using low-code tools has progressed, resulting in approximately 900 business applications being created by employees on the ground. Furthermore, the use of generation AI is expanding, with over 10,000 employees using it in their daily work.

Advanced development through co-creation with business divisions
Through co-creation with business divisions, we are not only optimizing the scheduling of ocean-going vessels, but also advancing research and development utilizing M (Material Informatics) and AI.

Initiatives and achievements of the previous medium-term plan
During the previous medium-term plan period, we promoted the development of a group-wide data infrastructure, as well as the development of digital talent and the transformation of business processes. As a result, on-site-led business improvements and the creation of new value using digital technologies are progressing. Business improvements using data and AI are steadily spreading within our company, and the environment to support DX is being put in place. Moving forward, we will use these results as a foundation to evolve into AX (AI Transformation), which involves fully incorporating AI into management and business transformation.