Introduction
From an era of "scolding employees who make mistakes" to an "organization that shares failures"—
Nowadays, the keyword "performance-based evaluation" is indispensable in personnel evaluations at Japanese companies. However, on the other hand,Making one big mistake can lead to losing your place in the company, and in the worst case, being laid off.This old culture still remained.
A movement to rewrite such common sense has begun at the general trading company Marubeni. The company has developed and implemented a system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to share "case studies of failures within the company" with all employees. This chatbot, which was made publicly available in the fall of 2025,Learned from over 1,000 failure data points.It has already been done, and has been used approximately 400 times in the past month alone.
This article will explain in detail what we can learn from Marubeni's use of AI, how organizations are changing, and provide actual implementation examples.
The "Sharing Losing Strategies" System: How Failure Becomes a Treasure Trove for the Company
"Marubeni has historically had a culture of fearing major defeats."
Kounosuke Okura of the Digital Innovation Department previously said the following:
"There was a culture of continuing to invest time and money in things that had no chance of winning, or of burying them in secrecy."
The Japanese corporate characteristic of celebrating success while concealing failure is actually a major obstacle to organizational growth.The opportunity to learn from one person's mistake is lost, and repeating the same mistake becomes commonplace. That was Marubeni's challenge.
AI-powered "losing pattern sharing" system
So the solution adopted was,AI chatbot trained on failure dataThe implementation process is as follows:
- Step 1: Select a failure case study
We filtered past data from the risk management department based on whether it could be used to teach lessons and its scale. - Step 2: Structural Analysis
This is not just a simple announcement of results,We will organize the structural factors such as whether it is an "investment decision" or an "exit (sale) timing." - Step 3: Concealing confidential information
Company names and personal information are kept confidential, and only "insights derived from the data" are shared through AI. We strike a balance between security and learning.
How is it actually being used?
“When you consult an AI about "considering a new investment in Africa but wanting to know the risks," the results are...
The screen displays vivid examples of failures, such as "Underestimating exchange rate fluctuations in Brazil led to poor profitability" and "Delays in responding to environmental regulations in Indonesia caused business plans to fall through."
“This allows us to "learn from the 'failures' of other companies."
This system, initially developed by the VCO (Value Creation Office), also saw the launch of a "Losing Strategy Session" in May 2026, led by the Corporate Planning Department. Even President Akimasa Omoto participated.Public discussion on misjudgments in withdrawal decisions and overconfidence in supply forecasts.I am doing it.
What was the employees' reaction?
“"The response has been overwhelmingly greater than that of success stories," says Minako Wakayama, Executive Officer and General Manager of Corporate Planning.
“"Failures don't usually come to light, so employees are very interested in them. During the trial run, there was a constant stream of questions."”
The company says that if they adhere to the rule of "not pursuing individual responsibility," employees will be more likely to offer their opinions.
Specific success factors: Three key points of Marubeni's "organizational transformation"
Simply implementing AI is not enough. What's more important is,Cultural reform and system buildingThat's it.
- ◆Point 1: Thoroughly implement the stance that "individual failures are the company's responsibility."
Wakayama explained, "The company made the final decision, so it's also my personal responsibility, and I want to learn from this experience for the future."You'll almost never get rejected.He says this "psychological safety" is important. - ◆Point 2: Creating a system that makes sharing failures 'mandatory'
During the VCO era, a rule was established to announce the results of support projects to all employees. Regardless of the outcome,The condition is that "everything will be revealed in the end."I did. - ◆Point 3: Use AI to 'visualize and structure' failure information
It's not just a "report of failure,"Database-based analysis results are provided in a chat format.
Difficulties due to organizational size
“Marubeni is a massive corporation with approximately 4,300 employees on its own and around 50,000 across the entire group.
"It's not natural for the practices of one department to spread to other departments. We need to create some kind of system.
A new organization called VCO, the "Digital-Related Department," has become a platform for knowledge sharing.
Half of the 20 events were held as live streams, and they promoted ambitious themes such as "A must-see for those considering platform businesses or localizing overseas websites." It wasn't uncommon for 300 people, from executives to new graduates, to gather.
Supplementary information: The "culture of failure" in Japanese companies and changes in human resource strategies
“"In the past, many employees who failed at Marubeni lost their place in the company and ended up changing jobs"—this is the background to Marubeni.
"Whether or not a company can turn a major failure into an asset is starting to determine its competitiveness."
Currently, the reality is that "recruiting talent is difficult." Even if you let an employee go after one failure, there's a possibility they'll repeat the same mistake.
Through the use of AI, the perception that "failure is an opportunity for organizational learning" is changing.
Example: The story of the Gavilon acquisition
“"Marubeni previously acquired the major American grain company Gavilon, but sold it after about 10 years."”
While there are many instances of "big losses" in their history, their attitude is to "turn these into assets" rather than "waste."
The failure sharing initiative, which started with the VCO, is rapidly spreading to other departments.
Future developments
“"In May 2014, the Corporate Planning Department took the lead in organizing a 'Losing Strategy Session' where those involved in large-scale projects discussed their decisions to withdraw and misjudgments of the outlook. The company's head office president, Akimasa, also participated."
"Failures are easy to structure, and they are well-suited to AI for trend analysis," says Okura.
“"We expect to see even more failure stories in the future, which will improve the learning speed of the entire organization."”
Companies that are already "winners" don't need to fear "losing options."Rather,“Sharing defeats is what makes us strong.。
Conclusion: AI is a tool, but its true essence is 'cultural transformation'.
“"The challenge of creating an organization that shares failures: What can we learn from Marubeni's case?"”
The cultural transformation of Japanese companies is no longer limited to AI alone.
“"Marubeni used to have a culture of 'not admitting failure.' Even if we made a big investment and didn't see results, it was difficult to use the word 'withdrawal.'"
Former VCO employee Mr. Okura keenly felt the organizational challenges. "Continuing to invest time in things with no chance of winning" and "burying things in secrecy"—these were two sides of the same coin as "hiding failures." The larger the company, the more difficult knowledge sharing becomes, and "the methods of one department do not spread to other departments." A system was needed to solve this.
Therefore, the solution adopted was the introduction of an AI chatbot.“The system, which has been trained on data from over 1,000 failures, is now available to all employees.It has been used approximately 400 times in the past month alone. If you ask, "I'm considering a new investment in Africa, but I want to know the risks," it will display vivid examples of failures, such as "Underestimating exchange rate fluctuations in Brazil led to poor profitability." It's like a "library of defeats."
“This is rewriting the old Japanese corporate culture of "celebrating success while hiding failure."
This change was supported by the stance of "not pursuing individual responsibility." Executive Officer Wakayama (General Manager of Corporate Planning) says, "The company made the decision, so there is no individual blame. If you explain that you want to use this experience to improve things in the future, you will almost never be refused."“Psychological safety” is importantis.
During the VCO era, we established a rule that "the results of support projects must be announced to all employees." The condition was that "everything must be revealed in the end, regardless of whether you win or lose." Half of the 20 meetings were held in a live streaming format, and on one occasion, 300 people, from executives to new graduates, gathered.
“The perception that "failure is an opportunity for organizational learning" is changing.
Marubeni is a massive company with approximately 4,300 employees on its own, and around 50,000 across the entire group. It's not natural for the practices of one department to spread to other departments. "The VCO, our 'digital-related department,' has become a knowledge-sharing platform."
“"Currently, it's difficult to acquire talent"—even if you let someone go after one failure, they might repeat the same mistake.
There's also the example of the Gavilon acquisition. They acquired a major US grain company, but sold it after about 10 years, which was a "big loss."“"Sharing defeats is what makes us strong."”。
The failure sharing initiative, which started with the VCO, is rapidly spreading to other departments.
In May 2014, the Corporate Planning Department took the lead in organizing a "Losing Strategy Session" where those involved in large-scale projects discussed their decisions to withdraw or their misjudgments of the forecast. President Akimasa Omoto also participated. "The questions were endless: 'Why did you misjudge the demand forecast?' and 'Couldn't you have anticipated the risks of capital investment beforehand?'"
“"By utilizing AI, it becomes easier to analyze the structure of failures and identify trends."”When someone asks Mr. Okura for advice about "considering new investments in Africa," he can offer vivid examples such as "underestimating exchange rate fluctuations in Brazil, leading to poor profitability" and "delays in responding to environmental regulations in Indonesia, causing business plans to fall through."
“"In the future, we will increase the number of failure stories, which will improve the learning speed of the entire organization."”
“"Cultural reform in Japanese companies won't end with AI alone." The essential elements are "creating systems" and "ensuring psychological safety."
