Notion surveyed AI adoption among Japanese companies, finding that while AI use as a thinking partner is spreading in Japan, organization-wide adoption, ROI visibility and governance remain challenges. The Japan report covered a total of 1,010 decision-makers and knowledge workers.
Notion Labs Japan published the Japan report of the “Notion Global AI Transformation Survey 2026,” analyzing the state of generative AI adoption and organizational challenges in Japan. The survey covered a total of 1,010 people, comprising 337 decision-makers and 673 knowledge workers. While AI adoption among Japanese companies is expanding at the entry level, it is often limited to improving individual productivity. Level 1 users accounted for 66%, above the global figure of 57%, while the share at the high-maturity Levels 3–4 was 11%, with little difference from the global figure of 12%.
The share of respondents expressing “very” or “extremely” high confidence in their organization's AI capabilities was 15% among decision-makers and 6% among knowledge workers, below global levels. The shares saying they were “ready” to adopt AI agents were also lower than the global figures, at 42% among decision-makers and 28% among knowledge workers, compared with 58% and 37%, respectively. In Japan, a lack of governance and policy development stood out as a key challenge to addressing AI at the organizational level.