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Will advancement and adoption of AI reduce demand for SI (IT system architecture and operations)?
The Group expects AI to improve efficiency in certain stages of SI development processes. At the same time, the importance of modernizing systems designed around AI, as well as designing IT systems that integrate data and business operations, is increasing.
Demand for services related to cloud, data, and AI is increasing. Although the nature of SI demand may change, it is not expected to decline—it is likely to grow.
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Will internal developments of SI by user companies reduce the need for the Group’s services?
The Group expects its role to continue, in areas such as overall system design, multi-cloud integration, operations, and security, for large-scale, complex IT systems that support client businesses.
While corporate internal development is expected to progress, there is a shortage in both quality and quantity of talent capable of driving DX initiatives*. The Group’s business model works directly with end users and engages from IT strategies, focusing on high-value areas where human expertise is still critical in the AI era.
*58.5% of companies reported a “significant shortage” in the quantity of DX talent, and 58.9% reported a “significant shortage” in its quality.
(Source: Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA), Survey on Skill Transformation in the Digital Era (FY2024))
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Could AI-driven efficiency in SI operations lead to lower pricing and intensified competition?
While downward pressure on unit prices may emerge in the short term, the Group continues to shift toward a profit structure in which declining unit prices do not result in lower profit.
Specifically, we are working to expand into high-value-added areas, enhance provided value, and improve productivity through the use of AI, as well as to grow recurring revenue streams such as cloud resales.
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If AI improves the efficiency of SI operations, is increasing personnel necessary?
While expanding our workforce remains necessary, our policy is to shift the foundation of our growth from a headcount-driven approach to a two-pronged strategy that combines workforce expansion with improvement in profit per employee.
While AI is driving greater efficiency in routine development and testing processes, the importance of areas where people can add value, such as design based on an understanding of customer operations, data utilization, and the operation, adoption, and governance of AI systems after implementation, is increasing. Under this plan, while revising the pace of organic workforce growth from the previous annual rate of approximately 10% to approximately 5–6%, we aim to achieve sustainable profit growth by shifting human resources toward the AI, data, and cloud sectors, improving productivity through the use of AI, and expanding recurring revenue.
