Board Members/Executive Officers

LL.B. from Kyoto University. Former Managing Director and Chairman at DeNA Co., Ltd, one of the largest mobile and e-commerce companies in Japan. Led it during IPO and M&A of multiple companies including Yokohama DeNA BayStars, a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Founded ExaIntelligence Inc. (now known as ExaWizards Inc.) in February 2016. In November 2018, he was appointed Director & Chairman, and in April 2023, he became Representative Director & President.

Graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at Kyoto University. Completed the Graduate School of Engineering at Kyoto University, specializing in Urban Planning, AI, and Data Science. Joined the Boston Consulting Group in 2013. After working on numerous projects, such as business growth strategy, business transformation, DX advancement, and new business launches, joined ExaWizards in 2018. From April 2019, served as the Executive Officer in charge of the AI business, handling hundreds of AI implementation and DX realizations annually. Has many teaching credits for DX training for corporate executives and managers. Appointed as a board member in June 2020, and as an Managing Director in June 2023. President of Exa Enterprise AI in October 2023. Also serves as a guest associate professor at the University of Hyogo and as an advisor to the Hyogo Prefecture ChatGPT and other generative AI utilization study project team. Authored “AI Strategy in the Web3 Era” (Nikkei BP, 2022) and “Next Generation AI Strategy 2025: Transformation Scenarios in 20 Rapidly Changing Fields” (Nikkei BP, 2021).

Twitter

Mr. Sakane has served as the CTO since Oct 2017 when Digital Sensation, the company he founded in 2004, merged with ExaIntelligence to form ExaWizards. At Digital Sensation, he served as CEO and Representative Director. Previously, he worked as an assistant at Shizuoka University’s School of Information Systems. Influenced by his father Mr. Sakane started programming at the age of three, and is a Humanitude instructor. He holds a master’s degree in information systems from Osaka University.

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.

Joined Sumitomo Bank, Ltd. (currently Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation) in 1988, and registered as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in 2004. In 2018, he joined Fujimak Corporation as General Manager of the Administration Headquarters and General Manager of the Accounting Department. Since 2019, he has been appointed as Partner at PwC Advisory LLC (current), and at the same year, he has served as an Outside Audit & Supervisory Board Member for ExaWizards and will serve as an Outside Director from 2025.

Graduated from Tokyo Institute of Technology (now Science Tokyo). Completed MBA at Keio Business School. Joined Japan Travel Bureau (now JTB Corporation) in 1983. Moved to Boston Consulting Group in 1994, becoming Partner & Managing Director in 2001. Served as Head of BCG Japan office from 2006, Managing Director & Senior Partner from 2007, and Chairman of BCG Japan from 2016. Appointed as Senior Advisor to BCG in 2023. Became Professor at Waseda Business School in 2021. Currently serves as an Outside Director for Unicharm Corporation and Luup, Inc.

Joined McKinsey & Company in 1997, and two years later, joined DeNA Co., Ltd. Appointed as CEO of Quipper Ltd. in the UK in 2010, where he remained until 2020. Currently serves as a Director of FOODCODE, LTD., Outside Director of Timee, Inc., and Non-Executive Director of Streamhub Ltd. in the UK. Also served as an Outside Director of Mercari, Inc. from 2022 to 2024.