Kirin Holdings Company, Limited is accelerating its digital transformation strategy by expanding the deployment of its AI executive assistant, CoreMate, across major Group operating companies. The initiative marks an important milestone in the company’s broader effort to integrate artificial intelligence into executive decision-making and strengthen value creation throughout the organization.
Developed under the company’s long-term digital transformation roadmap, KIRIN Digital Vision 2035 (KDV2035), CoreMate was first introduced to the Kirin Group Executive Committee in July 2025 as an AI-powered partner designed to support management discussions, strategic planning, and decision-making processes. Following a successful pilot phase and measurable improvements in executive discussions, Kirin Holdings has now begun rolling out the technology to operating companies including Kirin Brewery Company, Limited and Kirin Beverage Company, Limited.
The expansion reflects Kirin’s belief that artificial intelligence can play a meaningful role in improving the quality of corporate governance, enhancing strategic thinking, and fostering innovation by introducing diverse perspectives into executive-level conversations.
AI as a Strategic Partner in Executive Management
Unlike conventional AI tools focused primarily on automation or operational efficiency, CoreMate was designed specifically to support executive leadership and management decision-making. The platform functions as a virtual strategic advisor, providing alternative viewpoints, highlighting potential risks and opportunities, and encouraging broader consideration of long-term business impacts.
Kirin developed CoreMate as part of its vision to create a more data-driven and agile management structure capable of responding effectively to rapid market changes, evolving consumer expectations, and emerging business opportunities.
The company views artificial intelligence not as a replacement for human judgment but as a tool that complements executive expertise by expanding the range of perspectives considered during strategic discussions.
Since its introduction at the Group Executive Committee level, CoreMate has become an integral component of management meetings, helping executives evaluate complex business issues through multiple lenses while encouraging more forward-looking conversations.
Measurable Improvements in Decision-Making Quality
According to Kirin Holdings, the first year of CoreMate’s implementation produced significant improvements in both the quality and depth of executive discussions.
The company conducted an analysis comparing meeting data from the period before CoreMate’s introduction, spanning August 2024 through March 2025, with data collected after implementation between August 2025 and March 2026.
The findings suggest that AI-assisted discussions have become more dynamic, strategic, and future-oriented.
Broader Perspectives and More Multifaceted Discussions
One of the most notable outcomes was an increase in the diversity of viewpoints introduced during executive meetings.
Kirin reported that the proportion of comments and contributions that added new perspectives or shifted the direction of discussions increased by approximately 1.2 times compared with the period before CoreMate was introduced.
This shift has transformed the nature of management meetings. Rather than focusing primarily on operational updates, factual confirmations, or status reporting, discussions now explore a wider range of strategic considerations and implications.
Executives have increasingly engaged in deeper conversations that examine issues from multiple angles, helping to identify opportunities and risks that might otherwise go unnoticed.
By encouraging broader thinking and challenging assumptions, CoreMate has helped create a more robust decision-making environment across the organization.
Stronger Focus on Long-Term Growth
Another significant impact has been the increase in future-oriented discussions.
Kirin reported that conversations conducted from a medium- to long-term perspective increased by approximately 1.4 times following the implementation of CoreMate.
Traditionally, executive meetings often devote substantial attention to addressing immediate operational challenges and short-term business priorities. While these issues remain important, CoreMate has encouraged management teams to dedicate more time to discussing long-term growth opportunities, sustainability objectives, and strategic transformation initiatives.
This shift aligns closely with Kirin’s commitment to Creating Shared Value (CSV), a management philosophy focused on generating value for both society and the business simultaneously.
By expanding the focus of executive discussions beyond short-term concerns, the company believes it is creating stronger foundations for sustainable growth and long-term competitiveness.
Enhancing Preparation Through AI-Powered Idea Development
Kirin further expanded CoreMate’s capabilities in September 2025 with the introduction of a pre-meeting “idea sparring” function.
This feature was specifically designed to assist proposal owners and managers responsible for preparing agenda items for Executive Committee meetings.
Before presenting proposals to senior leadership, users can engage with CoreMate to test ideas, identify potential weaknesses, explore alternative approaches, and refine their thinking from multiple management perspectives.
The AI-powered brainstorming process helps proposal owners structure issues more effectively and prepare higher-quality materials before meetings take place.
As a result, discussions can begin at a more advanced stage, reducing the amount of time required for clarification and enabling executives to focus on strategic evaluation and decision-making.
According to Kirin, this capability has contributed to shorter meeting durations while simultaneously improving the quality of discussions.
The time saved through more efficient preparation and streamlined meetings has created additional capacity for executives to focus on higher-value activities, including strategic planning, innovation initiatives, and leadership development.
This has produced what the company describes as a positive virtuous cycle, where productivity gains generated through AI support are reinvested into activities that create additional business value.
Expansion Across Group Operating Companies
Encouraged by the success achieved at the Group Executive Committee level, Kirin Holdings has begun deploying CoreMate across its operating companies.
The first phase of expansion includes major subsidiaries such as Kirin Brewery Company and Kirin Beverage Company, both of which play critical roles in the Group’s overall business operations.
By extending CoreMate to executive committees throughout the organization, Kirin aims to create greater alignment between Group-level strategy and individual business unit decision-making.
The company expects that important perspectives, priorities, and discussion themes emphasized at the corporate level will naturally become embedded within operating company meetings.
This alignment is intended to strengthen strategic consistency across the organization while ensuring that business units remain connected to broader corporate objectives.
At the same time, operating companies will contribute more detailed operational insights and market information back to the Group Executive Committee through enhanced data-sharing mechanisms.
This two-way flow of information is expected to improve transparency, strengthen collaboration, and support more informed decision-making throughout the organization.
Building an Integrated AI Management Platform
To support deployment across multiple businesses, Kirin undertook a significant redevelopment effort to transform CoreMate into a standardized enterprise application.
Rather than maintaining separate systems for different operating companies, the organization created a unified platform capable of serving multiple business units while maintaining consistency in functionality and user experience.
The redevelopment process itself reflects Kirin’s commitment to leveraging advanced technologies in innovative ways.
The company utilized generative AI extensively throughout the development cycle, applying AI-driven methodologies to accelerate activities ranging from requirements definition and system design to implementation and deployment.
By incorporating generative AI into the software development process, Kirin was able to streamline workflows, improve efficiency, and shorten development timelines.
This approach not only reduced the resources required for deployment but also demonstrated how AI can support innovation across multiple areas of the business.
Supporting KIRIN Digital Vision 2035
The expansion of CoreMate represents an important step toward achieving the goals outlined in KIRIN Digital Vision 2035.
The long-term strategy seeks to transform Kirin into a highly agile, data-driven organization capable of continuously creating value through digital innovation.
Artificial intelligence plays a central role in this vision, enabling better decision-making, stronger collaboration, and more effective utilization of organizational knowledge.
By embedding AI into executive leadership processes, Kirin is moving beyond traditional digital transformation initiatives and exploring how technology can directly enhance corporate governance and strategic management.
As CoreMate becomes integrated across additional operating companies, Kirin expects further improvements in decision-making quality, organizational alignment, and innovation capabilities. The company believes that combining human expertise with AI-powered insights will strengthen its ability to navigate future challenges, identify new growth opportunities, and create sustainable value for customers, shareholders, employees, and society as a whole.
Source Link:https://www.kirinholdings.com/
