IBM Japan Expands AI-Led Business Transformation Service

IBM Japan announced on August 25, 2026, the full domestic launch of IBM Enterprise Advantage, a service that helps companies transform operations on the assumption that they will use AI agents. Expert teams including Forward Deployed Engineers (engineers who work directly with clients to deploy technology) support business analysis and redesign, the development and implementation of AI agents and other systems, and the creation of an organization that can continue the transformation independently. The service uses IBM AI tools informed by its business expertise for analysis.

The service began worldwide in May 2026 and entered full-scale deployment in Japan on August 25, 2026. Work proceeds through four stages: analyzing the business as a whole to select areas where AI adoption is likely to be effective and feasible, redesigning workflows, building needed applications, and operating them. During redesign, teams decide which tasks AI agents will handle, which require human involvement, and which remain with conventional programs. They also define the company-specific knowledge AI will use and the expected return on investment. After deployment, agents are monitored and evaluated, with improvements and wider internal rollout following.

Heineken, a major beverage company and one of the service’s clients, operates more than 500 brands in over 190 countries. Because local subsidiaries had different workflows and data formats, the company first redesigned how its Digital and Technology department works so it could cycle through development, operations, and improvement in shorter periods. It also built a shared foundation to align processes and data in finance, supply chain, and retail. Four local subsidiaries are now operating the system in production.

The Forward Deployed Unit (FDU), the expert team responsible for transformation outcomes, has six roles: project lead, business design, application design, systems engineering, data preparation, and AI-driven application development. Working with Forward Deployed Engineers, the team reviews workflows and people’s roles together. It also uses dedicated AI agents for analysis and design; team members review the agents’ outputs and handle exceptions and client discussions.

The service uses six AI agents. CBM.ai divides business operations into functional areas and maps where AI adoption may be beneficial. Process Studio analyzes materials such as workflow manuals and produces human-AI workflows and implementation specifications; it is scheduled to become available in 2026. Context Studio organizes company-specific terminology, rules, and procedures into knowledge that AI can reference. Product Workbench builds applications that incorporate AI technology from design specifications and is also scheduled for release in 2026. Advantage Insights shows usage, costs, and return on investment by department, business process, and agent. AI Workspace supports internal sharing and reuse of documents, data, and agents that teams have created.

The service helps company employees work with the FDU to select tasks, redesign them, implement changes, and check results, then build the capacity to extend the approach to other operations using tools such as consulting AI agents. The transition period is adjusted to each company’s size, project difficulty, and organizational setup. Yukiko Kawakami, a senior managing executive officer at IBM Japan, said the company is providing IBM’s business transformation methods as execution steps and AI agents so client teams can keep using them. She said isolated deployments in individual operations do not produce company-wide results, and described support for sustained workflow redesign, giving AI access to company knowledge, defining how people and AI work together, and managing returns and governance across the company. The service runs in cloud or on-premises environments (computing systems hosted at an organization’s own facilities) and is offered as a managed service. Subscription fees depend on the number of power users and the volume of AI processing, measured in tokens. IBM Japan aims to start 20 FDU-supported implementations by the end of 2026.

IBM Japan announced on August 25, 2026, the full domestic launch of IBM Enterprise Advantage, a service that helps companies transform operations on the assumption that they will use AI agents. Expert teams including Forward Deployed Engineers (engineers who work directly with clients to deploy technology) support business analysis and redesign, the development and implementation of AI agents and other systems, and the creation of an organization that can continue the transformation independently. The service uses IBM AI tools informed by its business expertise for analysis.

The service began worldwide in May 2026 and entered full-scale deployment in Japan on August 25, 2026. Work proceeds through four stages: analyzing the business as a whole to select areas where AI adoption is likely to be effective and feasible, redesigning workflows, building needed applications, and operating them. During redesign, teams decide which tasks AI agents will handle, which require human involvement, and which remain with conventional programs. They also define the company-specific knowledge AI will use and the expected return on investment. After deployment, agents are monitored and evaluated, with improvements and wider internal rollout following.

Heineken, a major beverage company and one of the service’s clients, operates more than 500 brands in over 190 countries. Because local subsidiaries had different workflows and data formats, the company first redesigned how its Digital and Technology department works so it could cycle through development, operations, and improvement in shorter periods. It also built a shared foundation to align processes and data in finance, supply chain, and retail. Four local subsidiaries are now operating the system in production.

The Forward Deployed Unit (FDU), the expert team responsible for transformation outcomes, has six roles: project lead, business design, application design, systems engineering, data preparation, and AI-driven application development. Working with Forward Deployed Engineers, the team reviews workflows and people’s roles together. It also uses dedicated AI agents for analysis and design; team members review the agents’ outputs and handle exceptions and client discussions.

The service uses six AI agents. CBM.ai divides business operations into functional areas and maps where AI adoption may be beneficial. Process Studio analyzes materials such as workflow manuals and produces human-AI workflows and implementation specifications; it is scheduled to become available in 2026. Context Studio organizes company-specific terminology, rules, and procedures into knowledge that AI can reference. Product Workbench builds applications that incorporate AI technology from design specifications and is also scheduled for release in 2026. Advantage Insights shows usage, costs, and return on investment by department, business process, and agent. AI Workspace supports internal sharing and reuse of documents, data, and agents that teams have created.

The service helps company employees work with the FDU to select tasks, redesign them, implement changes, and check results, then build the capacity to extend the approach to other operations using tools such as consulting AI agents. The transition period is adjusted to each company’s size, project difficulty, and organizational setup. Yukiko Kawakami, a senior managing executive officer at IBM Japan, said the company is providing IBM’s business transformation methods as execution steps and AI agents so client teams can keep using them. She said isolated deployments in individual operations do not produce company-wide results, and described support for sustained workflow redesign, giving AI access to company knowledge, defining how people and AI work together, and managing returns and governance across the company. The service runs in cloud or on-premises environments (computing systems hosted at an organization’s own facilities) and is offered as a managed service. Subscription fees depend on the number of power users and the volume of AI processing, measured in tokens. IBM Japan aims to start 20 FDU-supported implementations by the end of 2026.