Welcoming Ms. Naoko Munakata, Former Commissioner of Japan Patent Office, As Outside Director of ExaWizards

ExaWizards Inc., a company that develops AI-enabled services to solve social issues (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & President: Ko Ishiyama; hereafter, “ExaWizards”), today announced that it has welcomed Ms. Naoko Munakata, former Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office, as Outside Director.

☑︎ Biography of Ms. Naoko Munakata
Ms. Naoko Munakata is a professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo. She graduated from the Faculty of Law, The University of Tokyo, before receiving an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Ms. Munakata joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (currently the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) and engaged in initiatives to liberalize trade, promote innovation, and revitalize the economy through a range of activities, such as launching new trade negotiations, which led to Japan’s first free-trade agreement and participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, supporting intellectual property strategies of start-ups and small- and medium-sized enterprises, strengthening the intellectual property-related litigation system, and infusing design management into government bodies (Declaration of Design Management). She studied economic integration in East Asia and the U.S. policy on Asia, among other subjects, at the Brookings Institution in the U.S. and other research centers, and authored Transforming East Asia (Brookings Institution Press). She has donned several hats, having served as Director-General, Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, Executive Secretary to the Prime Minister, and Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office until 2019. After assuming the current position in April 2021, she has taught a course on innovation governance.

☑︎ Comments
Comments of Ms. Naoko Munakata
I think ExaWizards’ advantage is its strong mechanism that can offer value-added services in a reproducible manner and invest in human resources and develop new services continuously with its ability to understand customers’ needs in detail through careful consulting and to develop and provide AI-enabled systems capable of being utilized in a cross-sectional manner. The company will attract attention globally as a Japanese start-up while revitalizing businesses of a wide range of customers and contributing to the resolution of social issues. I expect ExaWizards to become a driving force in the recovery of the Japanese economy.

Comments of Ko Ishiyama, Representative Director & President, ExaWizards
To solve various social issues in a super-aging society, universities, research institutions, AI engineers, experts in many fields, central and local governments, and major companies need to work together in my view. I feel encouraged by Ms. Munakata’s participation on the board of ExaWizards, which has attracted specialists in diverse fields. We will strengthen the unity among team members and work harder to achieve the company’s goal of solving social issues with AI-enabled solutions.

[Corporate profile of ExaWizards Inc.]
Company name: ExaWizards Inc.
Headquarters: 21F Shiodome Sumitomo Bldg., Higashi Shimbashi 1-9-2, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Founded in: February 2016
Representative: Ko Ishiyama, Representative Director & President
Description of business: Development of AI-enabled services for industrial innovation and social problems solutions
URL: https://exawizards.com/

<Inquiries about this release>
Public Relations Department, ExaWizards Inc.
Email:publicrelations@exwzd.com