Team size: 28 (Japan) and 45 (outside Japan)

What are the most significant cases, projects or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?

Three of the larger representative cases include, first, Stargate – a joint venture with OpenAI, Oracle and other investors to build out the largest AI infrastructure project in history. Stargate will provide compute power primarily to OpenAI for its models. The estimated size of the project is around US$500bn, and was announced alongside President Trump the day after his inauguration; second, three investment transactions in OpenAI – the first two tranches (US$500m and US$1.5bn) in late 2024 were followed by an agreement invest up to US$30bn investment in OpenAI early this year. The investment will be one of the largest tech investments ever; and third, the acquisition of Ampere Computing, a leading independent silicon design company. The deal is an all-cash transaction valued at US$6.5bn. The transaction is currently going through the global regulatory approval process.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

During periods of instability or crisis, our approach is anchored in integration, foresight, and speed. Legal is consistently “in the room” for all major strategic decisions—not as an observer, but as an active participant shaping outcomes. Our Chief Legal Officer also oversees Government Affairs, ensuring that geopolitical risks and regulatory developments are identified early and escalated directly to senior management in real time. We maintain close, ongoing relationships with a network of top-tier external advisors – across law, policy, and strategy – so that we are never reacting in isolation. This structure allows us to translate uncertainty into actionable risk mitigation, preserving resilience across the organisation.

Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on that you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful of?

The rapid introduction of AI into daily workflows is a key factor for legal. As “knowledge” becomes a commodity, it will become increasingly important for law firms and in-house legal teams to demonstrate how they are adding value. This will put serious pressure on the billable hour model and is likely to lead to increased work product being managed in-house.

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about? Why is this?

We are at a pivotal moment for senior lawyers operating in AI and technology. As businesses increasingly deploy agentic AI to perform complex tasks and decision-making functions, a fundamental legal challenge is emerging accountability. When autonomous AI agents act, it is often unclear who is legally responsible. Existing legal frameworks do not adequately address this, creating a serious jurisprudential gap.

Closing that gap will require coordinated effort from senior legal professionals, regulators, and policymakers. I’m passionate about contributing to this effort. I’ve recently co-authored an article with a partner at a leading global law firm that explores this issue in depth and proposes a path forward.