IBM Japan held its annual Think Japan event, where President Murata Masaki (村田将輝) announced new “3+1” action guidelines. The company outlined a policy that prioritizes customer success while emphasizing leadership in industry transformation, an open orientation, trust, and responsibility.
IBM Japan held the invitation-only annual Think Japan event at The Okura Tokyo in Toranomon, Tokyo. Through a keynote address, breakout sessions, and exhibitions, the event presented a vision for bold corporate transformation centered on AI and offered practical perspectives for the AI era.
In the keynote address, President Murata Masaki (村田将輝), who became Representative Director and President on 1 August 2026, emphasized IBM’s commitment to having moved forward with society throughout its long history, while also looking back at milestones including its 90th year.
The new “3+1” action guidelines, introduced by President Murata for the first time, build on the previous framework and set out four principles: “customer success,” “leading industry transformation,” “an open orientation,” and “trust and responsibility.” The president positioned 3+1 as a behavioral standard for employees and emphasized the importance of new values, including an open orientation.
As a vision for the development of enterprise AI, the event presented paradigm shifts occurring in 30-year cycles and a five-layer model for the AI and quantum era. It explained the use of AI agents through ICA, the adoption of IBM Bob, the evolution of AI using nonverbal data, and the importance of sovereignty and openness in the middle layers of the five-layer structure. It also presented the view that the Japan-U.S. Genesis Mission is advancing AI-for-Science through bilateral cooperation, with Japan positioned as its first international partner.