If you are opening AI as a "convenient search partner," you aren't even drawing out half of its potential.
Summarizing text, generating ideas, brainstorming. These are certainly convenient. However, that is merely a way of using it that anyone else can do.
The true value lies elsewhere.
Tomoko Namba is the founder of DeNA and returned as CEO in 2024. She is a leader who has led her company with speed and logic as a former McKinsey consultant. Now, Ms. Namba is betting the entire company on AI.
In this article, I will introduce five patterns of AI utilization seen in Ms. Namba's statements and DeNA's initiatives, in a form that you can apply to your own practical work.
Why does it end up as just a "convenient tool"?
Many people use AI as a "smart search engine."
Ask a question. Get an answer. End of story. In this way, AI is just an automated information vending machine.
That is not what Ms. Namba sees in AI.
In 2024, DeNA officially announced that it would place AI as one of the pillars of business growth. In media interviews, Ms. Namba has stated that AI should not be limited to a few specialized departments, but should be used by all employees in their daily work.
In other words, AI is not a "tool to rely on occasionally," but an "existence that reconfigures the very foundation of work."
There is a world of difference between those who use AI as a substitute for search and those who use it as a device to increase the speed of decision-making.
Where is the essence of the Namba style?
Ms. Namba's AI utilization can be narrowed down to two main points.
One is "speed." Don't stop the judgment. Don't wait for a draft. Let AI handle the 0 to 1, and let humans take the role of turning 1 into 10.
The other is the "attitude of the top management getting their hands dirty." Instead of just giving orders and dumping everything on the front lines, the leader uses it thoroughly themselves first. That's why it permeates the entire company.
With these two axes in mind, let's look at five specific methods.
Method 1: Draft Generation—Zeroing out the time spent "thinking from scratch"
Creating materials. Planning documents. Email drafts.
Actually, the thing that takes the most time in this kind of work is not "thinking about the content." It is "writing the first line from a blank sheet of paper."
Let AI take over this step that quietly consumes man-hours.
The concept of speed management that Ms. Namba emphasizes is directly linked to this. You eliminate the time humans spend agonizing by having AI generate a draft.
If you're going to throw it to AI, write it like this:
"Create an outline for a new business planning document. Use four items: target, problem, solution, and revenue model, with 3 lines for each."
First, have it produce this rough outline in 30 seconds. From there, a human adds red ink, saying "this problem setting is weak" or "change the revenue model like this."
Let AI do the 0 to 1, and humans polish the 1 to 10. You must not reverse these roles.
The point is not to demand perfection from the AI's first output. 60% is fine. The hardest part is going from zero to 60%. Entrusting that to AI is why it's fast.
Method 2: High-speed Iteration—Graduating from "solo brainstorming"
When you refine ideas alone, your perspective narrows.
"Is this really okay?" You feel that way and can't move forward. It's a common story.
In such cases, use AI as a "sparring partner for counterarguments."
As a former consultant, Ms. Namba has excelled at thinking that pokes holes in logic. Imagine letting AI take on that role.
Just asking for an opinion is not enough. Specify a role.
"From now on, strictly argue against my plan from the perspective of an investor. Point out three weak assumptions."
When you give this instruction, the AI becomes a critic rather than a supporter.
Counter-argue against the returned counterargument. Just by repeating this back-and-forth five times, the holes in the plan are filled surprisingly well.
The trick is to switch perspectives. By changing roles to "from the customer's perspective," "from the competitor's perspective," or "from the accounting perspective," you can run a meeting with multiple people by yourself.
However, do not take the AI's counterarguments at face value. It is merely a device for identifying points of contention. The final judgment remains with the human.
Method 3: Top-down Introduction—Creating a "culture of use" yourself
This is less about individual skill and more about how to spread it through an organization.
Even if AI tools are introduced in a company, the front lines don't use them. This is a common sight.
The reason is clear: the people at the top aren't using them.
Ms. Namba's attitude demonstrates the principle that the top management themselves should use it thoroughly in their daily lives. If a manager says, "Let's discuss based on a draft created by AI," the front lines will move all at once.
The same applies to individuals. First, create a habit for yourself to open AI for small daily tasks.
For example, decide this:
"For email replies, I will always have AI create a draft first."
"For meeting minutes, I will have AI summarize them before finalizing."
Fix three tasks a day that start with AI.
Not orders, but initiative. Organizations where the number of users increases are always those where the top uses it the most.
To be honest, this habit-forming is the most understated and the most effective.
Method 4: Redesigning Business Processes—Reconfiguring work with AI as a prerequisite
Many people try to replace "part" of their existing way of doing things with AI.
The effect of that is limited.
What Ms. Namba is promoting at DeNA is not the idea of "adding AI later," but reconfiguring the work itself on the premise of AI.
"Redesigning business processes sounds like an exaggeration." For those who feel that way, what you do is simple.
First, write down your work for one week. Next, ask yourself for each task, "Can I leave this to AI?"
Research, summarizing, translation, drafting, classification. Tasks that fall into these five categories can almost all be shifted to AI.
On top of that, reorder the work. Change the flow so that instead of a human moving first, the AI does the preparation and then the human finishes it.
Gmail x Voice Input x AI Formatting. With this combination, content spoken while on the move becomes a well-organized email as is.
"Thinking work" is for humans. "Organizing work" is for AI. Just by separating these, your disposable time in a day will change.
Method 5: Accelerating Learning—Don't leave "I don't know" alone
Managers face unknown areas every day.
New technologies. Industries with no experience. Materials full of technical terms.
One of Ms. Namba's strengths has been described as her overwhelming learning speed. AI is now amplifying that weapon.
If an unknown word comes up, ask the AI on the spot. However, there is a trick to how you ask.
"Explain this technology in a way that a middle school student can understand, using a familiar analogy."
First, grasp the outline easily. Then, dig deeper like this:
"Now, list three business risks of this technology."
You climb from easy understanding to practical judgment all at once.
This isn't just for managers. Technical terms flying around in meetings, industry jargon used by bosses. If you secretly ask AI on the spot, you can avoid being left behind.
Don't carry "I don't know" over to the next day. The speed of learning directly becomes the speed of work.
The caveat is not to swallow the AI's explanation as the final fact. Once you grasp the outline, verify it with primary information. Keep this one extra step.
To those who thought, "That's a story for managers"
After reading this far, some of you must have felt this way:
"It's possible because she's at the top. It's a story for people with resources."
It's the opposite.
The five methods listed here do not require a special budget or a dedicated team. Having it create drafts. Having it argue. Making it a habit. Reconfiguring processes. Learning on the spot.
All of these are actions you can start today with free AI.
Ms. Namba's usage is superior not because she has expensive tools. It is because she is thorough with principles that anyone can imitate: "speed" and the "attitude of getting one's hands dirty."
Summary
As long as you are opening AI as a "convenient search partner," you aren't even drawing out half of its potential.
What runs through the Namba style of AI utilization is speed that doesn't stop judgment and an attitude of the top management using it thoroughly themselves.
Have it create drafts, have it argue, make it a habit, reconfigure processes, and learn on the spot.
Use it not as a substitute for search, but as a device to increase the speed of judgment and learning. Here lies the essence of the Namba style.
What did you think?
The five methods introduced this time can be tried with a single smartphone starting today. First, try asking once, "If you were Tomoko Namba, what would you say about my current job?"
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Why don't we end the exhaustion of creating drafts from scratch today?
References
・Tomoko Namba, Bukakko Keiei: Team DeNA no Chosen (Nikkei Publishing, 2013)
・DeNA Co., Ltd. Official Announcements/IR Materials (2024, Policy on AI Business)
・DeNA Co., Ltd. FY2024 Full-Year Financial Results Presentation Materials (Description of Generative AI Utilization and Company-wide Promotion System)
・Various reports regarding Tomoko Namba's return as CEO (2024)
・Various media interviews with Tomoko Namba (Statements on company-wide AI utilization and speed management, 2023-2024)
・Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "AI Business Operator Guidelines" (2024, Points to note in AI utilization by companies)
・Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, "Information and Communications White Paper" (2024 edition, Trends in business utilization of generative AI)
