"This is just our view as the Business Innovation Division, but we believe that our strength lies in integration."
Many user companies have already introduced multiple AI tools, but simply introducing AI will not bring the company to a stage where it can produce results as a whole. "How do we make AIs work together and how do we use them differently to get the best results? The premise of this is how we make each AI learn data. We believe that our strength lies in the ability to strongly integrate these areas and promote the use of AI." (Mr. Nakamura)
Approximately 20 years have passed since the two companies merged in 2008, and one of the reasons behind the merger between the two independent system integrators was that under the traditional group structure, management resources such as AI investment tended to be dispersed, making it difficult to keep up with changes in the business environment. By unifying management, the company aims to allocate investments and resources appropriately through selection and concentration. In addition, synergies are expected by combining the strengths of TIS, which is strong in urban areas, and INTEC, which has many customers across the country.
In addition, the Business Innovation Division, led by Mr. Nakamura, is a department that aims to co-create with customers and solve social issues, centering on consulting and AI and data analysis using "IntegriA", which was launched in May 2026. The origins of the Business Innovation Division date back 10 years. In 2016, TIS (at the time) established the AI Division, the company's first division to bear the AI name. The company has positioned this division as a division responsible for solving customer problems rather than system development.
Mr. Nakamura explains that the AI Division's mission is not to provide AI itself, but rather to bring about transformation and results in customers' businesses. This AI Division and the Business Innovation Division, which was responsible for consulting functions, were combined to form the current Business Innovation Division. "We also aim to make it easier to link the latest AI with our strengths, such as system integration service business, service development business centered on payment systems, and outsourcing/cloud service business," said Nakamura.
What are the benefits of “not betting on one AI”?
After the merger, TISI is working on the following four businesses.
Mr. Nakamura explains that the conventional system integration service business aims to qualitatively transform its earnings by increasing the project turnover rate through AI-driven development. In addition, he emphasizes that rather than providing AI alone, ``we aim to increase stock revenue through Vertical AI, which we can only provide because we have the business knowledge we have cultivated in the system integration service business and consulting service business.''
By shortening the development period through AI-driven development, the company's order capacity will increase. By using AI, engineers will be able to propose solutions to problems that were previously abandoned due to manpower and construction time constraints. “I think the added value per person will increase.” (Mr. Nakamura)
What do you think of the entry of foreign AI vendors?
How do you view foreign AI vendors entering the Japanese market? Kazuaki Abe (Manager of AI Business Strategy Office, Business Innovation Division) says:
"We have not yet fully figured out which vendors will offer what services. Rather than viewing foreign AI vendors as competitors, I think we will need to form a cooperative relationship as partners to combine multiple AIs and provide them to our customers." (Mr. Abe)
One of the advantages of using multiple LLMs that Mr. Abe talks about is cost. With the full-scale introduction of AI agents, the rise in usage fees is rapidly emerging as an issue. "Use expensive models for use cases that require autonomy and high thinking ability, and use cheap or free models for other use cases. In the future, this distinction will become even more important."
The importance of reducing sovereign risk is also increasing. It is still fresh in our minds that in June 2026, in response to the U.S. government's export control directive, access to Anthropic's AI model "Claude Fable 5" was suspended for users with non-U.S. nationalities. Access restrictions were lifted at the end of the same month, but it cannot be ruled out that restrictions may be imposed again due to security concerns.
As the need to rearrange AI models in response to costs, required autonomy, and access restrictions based on government requests increases, design ability becomes important. Mr. Abe calls this "AI architect." “I think it is the role of an AI architect that allows an SIer to demonstrate their capabilities.” (Mr. Abe)
Based on the knowledge we have cultivated over many years of supporting mission-critical core systems and operating them in our customers' operations, we will lead to results through business processes based on AI - this is how the Business Innovation Division envisions how to fight in the age of AI.
Rapidly rising cost challenges, sovereign risk...difficulties in choosing an AI model
Integria provides this integration power as a service. The name reminded me of AI infrastructure, but Mr. Nakamura says that the scope of IntegrA's services is much broader. "IntegriA provides total AI-related services, including not only basic functions such as integrated management and collaboration with external services, but also support for governance development and human resource development." (Mr. Nakamura)
The image of a company in the AI era presented by IntegriA is one in which management infrastructure such as corporate strategy, IT infrastructure, data, business processes, and human resources have been renovated with the premise of utilizing AI. However, as mentioned above, many companies are still at the preliminary stage. Therefore, the first realistic step is to start small, starting with small projects and expanding the scale of application step by step. Mr. Abe explains that when supporting small-start businesses, they expand while examining not only whether they have been able to systemize them, but also whether they are compatible with governance, human resources, and corporate culture.
As mentioned at the beginning, the client companies that the new TISI has are diverse in size, industry, and location. Are the visions of companies that they should aim for in the AI era and the things that they need to do to achieve them the same? Mr. Takayuki Homma (Second General Manager, Strategy & Digital Consulting, Business Innovation Division) says, ``I don't think there's been much change in the ultimate goal of ``a state in which AI and corporate management are integrated.''On the other hand, the steps to get there will differ depending on what you prioritize.''
Mr. Honma talks about two ways to proceed, depending on your priorities:
A case for prioritizing the penetration of AI: Prioritize building the “basic strength” of AI and proceed by disseminating AI throughout the company.
Cases where pursuing ROI is prioritized: Decide on a target from among various business processes and work on it while continuously measuring whether you can generate ROI (return on cost).
Are the “selling phrases” of SIers similar or similar? Where is the point of differentiation?
So far, we have introduced three people from the Business Innovation Division about how the new TISI will demonstrate its strengths through new branded services that utilize AI. On the other hand, user companies point out that the "selling pitches" of the services provided by SIers are so similar that it is difficult to understand where the differences are. There are also voices calling for a shift from the "wait and see" attitude of "responding to customer requests."
To this, Mr. Nakamura responded as follows. "We solve our customers' problems. To achieve this, we have been strengthening the upstream process of consulting for many years. We have the ability to not only make proposals, but also realize them." (Mr. Nakamura)
Homma adds, ``One of our strengths is our ability to provide optimal solutions.'' In his opinion, there are many options for AI models, and it is difficult for user companies to choose the optimal solution on their own. ``I think one of our strengths is that we can propose the optimal solution for each customer, rather than just providing what is requested.'' (Mr. Honma)
The ``smartness'' of each AI model is evolving rapidly. Now that the number of AI use cases is increasing day by day, it is becoming more difficult to find the answer to which AI model is best to apply to which business in your company, while taking into account cost and governance aspects. At the request of the government of the provider country, it has become necessary to consider the situation where the AI model has to be changed.
For companies working on organizational and business transformation based on AI, this is not just a matter of selecting an AI model. What is needed is how to configure IT systems that function without problems when forced to switch AI models. In this sense, the tendency of user companies to seek integration capabilities from system integrators is likely to become stronger than ever.
It will be interesting to see how Japanese system integrators, including TISI's on-site business, will actually compete against the FDEs launched by foreign companies. For user companies, the choice of partner companies will increase, and at the same time, it will be an opportunity for them to reconsider their ``measure'' for selecting partner companies based on multiple criteria, such as AI and understanding of their own business.
