Experts offer inspiring vision for the future at Rakuten AI Optimism 2026
Between what is and what could be, there’s a feeling Rakuten has built an entire event around: Optimism. From August 5 to 7, Rakuten Group welcomed business leaders, entrepreneurs, tech experts and AI-curious attendees of all stripes to PACIFICO Yokohama for the company’s largest annual business conference and exhibition, Rakuten AI Optimism. Now in its seventh year, the three-day event showcased what artificial intelligence looks like when it’s built into the fabric of everyday life, with plenty of discussion of where the transformative technology might go next.
Across keynotes, fireside chats and panel discussions, the event made the case that AI in 2026 isn’t a feature bolted onto a service; it has become a fundamental part of our daily infrastructure.
Mikitani unveils next era of “AI-nization”
The event opened with a headlining keynote from Rakuten Group Chairman and CEO Mickey Mikitani. Building on the full-scale launch of Rakuten AI a year earlier, Mikitani’s keynote framed 2026 as the next chapter in Rakuten’s “AI-nization” strategy — the company-wide push to weave AI through every corner of the Rakuten Ecosystem, from shopping and fintech to travel and mobile connectivity — with the explicit goal of making AI available to everyone. Mikitani pointed to three advantages the company has in this critical push: the company’s extensive base of real-world consumer data, its proprietary Japanese LLMs, and the integrated ecosystem that ties dozens of services together under a single ID.
The next frontier: Super Agent
Mikitani’s keynote set the stage for what he called the next frontier of AI: the new Rakuten Super Agent. Rather than simply describing what an agentic ecosystem looks like, the session showed it in practice through a live demonstration from Yupeng Zhang, Mobile Product Group Manager at Rakuten. Zhang explained how Rakuten AI has evolved from a single web app into a connective layer spanning the Group’s businesses, decoding intent, unifying fragmented data, and taking action on a user’s behalf across services like Rakuten Ichiba, Rakuten Travel and Rakuten Mobile.
The session built on the company’s recent momentum in the AI space, including the rollout of Rakuten AI for Desktop with HP Japan, which brings on-device AI capability to PCs across Japan, and continued expansion of AI agents throughout the ecosystem. Rakuten’s vision, noted Mikitani, is not to add chatbots to existing services, but to build a genuinely intelligent entry point into everything the company offers.
A stage built for cross-industry dialogue
What has long set Rakuten’s flagship event apart is its refusal to stay in a single lane, and 2026 was no different. The business conference lineup brought together an impressive list of industry experts, each bringing a unique angle on where AI is heading. Rakuten leaders including Naho Kono, Director and Group Executive Vice President, Group CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), Rakuten Group, Managing Executive Officer and CMO, Rakuten Mobile; Masatada Kobayashi, Group Managing Executive Officer, Group CCuO (Chief Culture Officer), Rakuten Group; Ryo Matsumura, Group Executive Vice President, President of Commerce & Marketing Company, Vice President of Marketplace Business, Rakuten Group and other Rakuten leaders took to stage to share insights on AI adoption across various sectors and the organizational capabilities required to achieve sustainable growth in an AI-driven landscape.
An immersive look at AI
Beyond the conference stage, the event’s exhibition hall gave attendees a hands-on look where Rakuten’s AI ambitions are headed. At the center sat the Rakuten AI Booth. Designed around the strength of Rakuten ID, the connective thread that ties a user’s activity across the entire ecosystem, the AI Booth offered visitors a personalized, immersive experience adapted to their individual lifestyles.
Under the banner “Sports × AI,” the Rakuten Sports booth pulled data from conditioning checks and baseball and soccer training drills, to generate a personalized athlete avatar for each visitor, complete with a customized stadium entrance and cheer song. Rakuten Travel also brought AI digital avatars to their booth, providing attendees with a unique concierge experience that gave personalized travel recommendations through natural voice interaction.
The various unique AI-powered experiences served as a reminder that Rakuten’s AI ambitions extend well beyond spreadsheets and shopping carts into sports, entertainment and fan experiences.
An optimistic outlook for what’s next
After three days of visionary thought leadership, insightful discussions, and cutting-edge demos, the core message of Rakuten AI Optimism remains clear: “AI-nization” is not a project with a fixed end date. It is an ongoing commitment to empowering customers, partners, and society at large through the transformative potential of intelligent technology. For Rakuten, AI is no longer a destination; it is the connective tissue that will define the next era of its ecosystem.
