Pioneering Human Capital DX Connecting Individual Growth and Business Strategy, Awarded "HR OF THE YEAR 2026" at BizReach Conference!

Kirin Holdings Company, Limited (President & COO: Takeshi Minakata) has been awarded the "HR OF THE YEAR 2026" at the BizReach Conference hosted by BizReach, Inc. (Representative Director & President: Tetsuya Sakai).

The "HR OF THE YEAR 2026" is a newly established award at the "BizReach Conference 2026," Japan's largest HR*2 event hosted by BizReach, Inc. It recognizes 10 companies that have achieved significant organizational transformation by executing HR initiatives highly aligned with management strategy, selected from companies utilizing services such as "BizReach," the "HRMOS" series, and "Internal BizReach by HRMOS." This is the first year for this award, which is a complete renewal of the "HR SUCCESS SUMMIT" held since 2019. Our company was selected following our win in the predecessor award in 2021.

*1 Two Awards Honoring Companies Pioneering the Future of HR in Japan | First-Ever Award at Japan's Largest HR Event, BizReach Conference

*2 Human Resource

The Kirin Group formulated its long-term management vision "Innovate2035!" in 2026, with the vision of "Making the world healthier as a CSV-advanced company that continues to create innovation through the power of people and technology." Concurrently with the formulation of "Innovate2035!," we established the "KIRIN WAY," a common set of values and behavioral guidelines for the group to continuously generate innovation.

As part of building an organization that embodies this, we are focusing on promoting diversity and have established a next-generation talent management model that serves as a functional axis connecting "individual growth" and "business strategy" across five domestic group companies*3.

*3 Kirin Holdings Company, Limited, Kirin Brewery Company, Limited, Kirin Beverage Company, Limited, Mercian Corporation, Kyowa Hakko Bio Co., Ltd.

Award Points (from BizReach, Inc.)

- In an organization of approximately 10,000 people across five major group companies, thousands of positions were visualized, realizing a data-driven human resource allocation foundation linked to management strategy.

- As the first company to introduce "Internal BizReach," we established a next-generation talent management model as a functional axis connecting "individual growth" and "business strategy" by engaging management.

- By shifting to "data-based human resource strategy," we have placed investment in people at the core of management decision-making, pioneering human capital DX that leads the forefront of Japanese companies.

Digital and AI Utilization in HR within the Kirin Group

The Kirin Group is engaged in the digital and AI utilization of HR to realize "Innovate2035!" Our goal is for each employee to polish their expertise and diversity as truly "autonomous individuals," thriving and actively engaged while embodying the KIRIN WAY. We aim to transform into a culture where diverse human resources and digital technology co-create, driving the execution of management strategies. The underlying concept is to "maximize the potential of people and organizations." Data, digital, and AI are means to dramatically accelerate this.

Specifically, we are developing a data infrastructure that assumes AI utilization and structuring talent information (experience, abilities, aspirations, etc.) for approximately 10,000 employees, along with unique job descriptions*4 based on our accumulated knowledge. Based on this, we visualize the personnel plan (quality and quantity of human resources) required to achieve business strategies, and promote the strengthening of organizational capabilities while enhancing the linkage between management strategy and personnel/recruitment plans. By connecting "individual growth" and "business strategy" with data and improving the quality of decision-making, we will enhance the value of human capital.

Furthermore, we are building business processes that utilize AI, comprehensively capturing the potential of all employees with AI, and evolving decision-making to be made by humans. AI serves as an aid to decision-making, with the final judgment being made by people. On this premise, we are visualizing tacit and experiential knowledge, and shifting to a "data-based human resource strategy" that unlocks the potential of human resources and organizations that cannot be captured by existing frameworks.

We will drive the realization of "Innovate2035!" by placing investment in human resources at the core of management decision-making.

*4 A document that clearly defines job duties, roles, responsibilities, and required skills.

The Kirin Group leverages its strength of a diverse and solid business portfolio in alcoholic beverages, beverages/health science, and pharmaceuticals to foster human resources who have honed their "specialty" and enhanced their "diversity" beyond business domain boundaries. Diverse human resources who resonate with CSV management will accelerate innovation by maximizing their individual potential.