Today, IT is spreading at an accelerating pace across industry, academia, and government, and the volume of data is growing exponentially. With AI leveraging this data, we have reached an inflection point where we must fundamentally re-examine the roles of people and how businesses operate. For example, as agentic AI—systems capable of autonomously carrying out tasks—becomes increasingly prevalent, traditional processes may become obsolete, and organizational structures and ways of decision-making could undergo significant change. Each company is therefore called upon to grasp these changes and continuously transform itself.

Since our founding in 1899, NEC has contributed to the advancement of society and industry through technology. Reflecting on our management history, we experienced four periods of net losses up to the 2010s. Each time, we responded by streamlining our business and implementing structural reforms through portfolio realignment, as well as pursuing initiatives such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In response to further market changes, we undertook cultural and HR transformations in 2018. Beginning in 2019, we launched our DX business transformation, and in 2021, we implemented organizational and process reforms. These initiatives culminated in the 2024 launch of NEC BluStellar as the new branding for our DX business, which is introduced in this special issue. This history is also the story of NEC’s transformation, built on the collective expertise and know-how of all our employees.

The name NEC BluStellar embodies our desire to be a guiding light for people and society—like Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. It also expresses our ambition to lead Japan’s digital transformation and to continually update NEC BluStellar together with our customers as co-creators.

Looking at technological progress, the advancement of AI is remarkable, permeating every aspect of business and daily life. As a technology company, NEC will continue to define its own technology roadmap, apply it within the company, and share our learnings with customers. Until now, AI has mostly been utilized for operational efficiency and optimization. More recently, industry- and business-specific AI agents are increasingly being used to support decision-making. In the future, we expect multiple AI agents to collaborate with each other, gradually substituting for human actions in a growing number of domains. This shift will not simply automate existing tasks—it will create new business processes, making it necessary for companies themselves to transform their business models. As AI continues to narrow the distances between nations and between companies, I hope this special issue will offer valuable insights for taking your next step in transformation.

At the same time, technologies such as AI raise important issues around data sovereignty, national security, and governance. NEC positions data and security as core technologies essential for both protecting Japan’s and our customers’ data and enabling proactive, globally competitive business—areas where NEC, as a technology company originating in Japan, can deliver unique value.

We have also placed great emphasis on talent development—nurturing developers and researchers who will create and deliver next-generation technologies that drive transformation. Talent development knows no borders. NEC has established a variety of talent development programs in collaboration with global partners, and we are offering these programs as services under the NEC BluStellar Academy for DX, which is now being utilized by more than 540 companies. We hope that these initiatives will help foster Japan’s future transformation leaders and digital talent.

Japan once led the world through its technological prowess. In today’s rapidly changing era, it is no longer sufficient to compete on technology alone; we must take the next step of transforming technology into customer centered value. We invite you to make full use of the value assets consolidated in NEC BluStellar and join us in realizing a new chapter of social value creation—from Japan to the world. I sincerely hope that this special issue will serve as a beam of light illuminating the path to the future, in line with the intentions behind the name “NEC BluStellar.”