Reflecting on the Global Peter Drucker Forum Fujitsu's Leadership in the Age of AI

Tokita participated from Japan, appearing online in the opening session that marked the beginning of the forum. In his address, Tokita stated that old management models, prevalent in the 20th century, are no longer capable of solving the diverse challenges facing modern management, and emphasized, " Now is the time to renew management models for organizations to become more innovative and create greater value for not only customers but also societies."

Taking the rapid evolution of AI capabilities, which already surpass human performance in some knowledge-based work into consideration, he stressed that " The key point of using AI is not to automate everything, but to augment human capabilities."

Tokita then introduced how Fujitsu is actively incorporating generative AI and AI agent technologies into large-scale software development and supply chain systems.

Finally, he concluded by stating, "A big challenge that next-era leaders must deal with will be how we can develop human capabilities, and how we can make people and AI collaborate effectively to drive a better society." He shared his anticipation that excellent ideas would be discussed at the Forum, contributing to the shaping of future leadership models.

Shuda also made some remarks regarding leadership. He stated, "Understanding AI is essential for leaders, but it's impossible for AI to understand the 'emotional' aspect." He added that leaders need to articulate a clear vision and commit to its realization. For team members who have doubts, it is crucial to convince them by demonstrating that AI-first consulting actually works.

Furthermore, he stressed the importance of "Trusted AI" as a key concept in AI utilization, emphasizing its critical components:
- Data Collection: What kind of data is being used, and is it legal?
- Data Sovereignty: To which country, company, or industry does the data belong, and who manages it?
- Explainability: The ability to explain why AI made a particular decision and what knowledge graphs or data it used. (This is closely linked to AI ethics.)

He underscored the indispensability of AI's transparency and explainability in business with the question, "If you can't explain the process, how can you trust it?" He then suggested that, particularly in the context of AI agents, there is a need for an "orchestrator" to oversee diverse AI agents. This orchestrator should be tasked with testing the ethical implications of results derived by other agents and evaluating them against policies, advocating for the importance of governance and accountability in the AI era.

He also highlighted the importance of "timing for decisions" as a role of leadership. Reiner emphasized that many business professionals tend to be constrained by short-term performance, and innovative businesses require a medium to long-term perspective. Specifically, he noted that the automotive manufacturers' trial and error in transitioning to electric vehicles clearly illustrates the difficulty of timing and adaptation.

Furthermore, he touched upon the consulting market, pointing out that it is becoming commoditized. As an approach to overcome this challenge, he quoted Michelangelo, the sculptor, saying, "The sculpture is the process of removing the unnecessary parts that do not belong to it," and stated that sometimes it is necessary to consciously decide "what not to do."

For leaders driving innovation, he offered practical advice: "prioritize customers and listen sincerely to their voices" and "confidently support customers in deepening their understanding." He further suggested that by engaging partners, gathering information across networks, and promoting an ecosystem-wide approach to innovation, we can now enter a new phase where the powerful tools of AI can be maximized.