Why We Started Our Own Companies: Interview with Keita Suzuki, a Former Japanese National Football Team Member, and SMBC Intrapreneurs

I joined Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation as a new graduate and was engaged in relationship management for major clients at the head office’s corporate banking department. The workplace was much like what you see in "Naoki Hanzawa" (the famous Japanese TV drama about the competitive, hierarchical world of banking).

I was primarily responsible for serving clients to help them expand their businesses and find business opportunities. I built my career as a banker through this experience.

After that, I was seconded to the president’s office of Fast Retailing. Throughout these career experiences, I always felt the importance of creating a good organizational foundation.

However good a company’s business or product may be, things will not go well if there are problems in its workplace organization or culture. So I came to harbor the desire to help companies make their organization and business work as two drivers of growth. When I came back to the SMBC Group in 2023 after finishing the secondment, I set up SMBC Wevox, a joint venture with Atrae, Inc., to operate a digital platform for strengthening organizational capabilities.

I joined a branch office of SMBC as a new graduate, where I provided individual customers with support and assistance with their challenges and concerns.

As I provided consultation on various issues of household finance, ranging from managing assets to inheritance to financing education, I had many opportunities to listen to their worries over their family members’ health and money, for example, about whether a family member living far away is leading a healthy lifestyle, or whether a family member might become a victim of “special fraud” (A scam in Japan where imposters trick people, often elderly persons, over the phone or by mail to steal their money or valuables.).

Later, I was reassigned to a product development department and participated in the era of 100-year lifetimes project. In the project, we considered products that go beyond the boundaries of finance so that the SMBC Group can address social issues arising in the era of 100-year lifetimes.

I had a long career as an athlete because I was able to stay healthy. I was especially mindful of maintaining gut health, and I thought I could use the knowledge I gained through my efforts to contribute to society.

Originally, I hadn’t intended to become a company president after retirement. I could have done something by being directly involved in football. But I thought it would be a shame not to venture into a new industry, and I wanted to be of help to local communities.

If I could succeed in enriching people’s lives through the widespread use of athlete health data, ultimately, I think I could also give something back to the world of football. This is my thought behind running my business.

Our businesses have the same goal of helping people live more fruitful lives.

Healthy living is the foundation of our daily lives. We take it for granted when we are doing all right. Some people come to realize the importance of maintaining good health only after ill health has forced them to change their lifestyles.

In that sense, I’m fascinated by Mr. Sugimoto’s business, which measures organizational capabilities to make improvements, and Ms. Yokokawa’s business, which visualizes risks in life and makes suggestions accordingly.

Japan has many professionals who create businesses, but not so many who work on organization.

I thought that bankers could contribute more to the growth of clients’ businesses if they could make proposals on organizational development in addition to business development.

Many companies up until now seem to have left the organizational aspects of their business largely to their HR departments.

With a conviction that this is a business essential for current and future Japan, I started my business six months after internally proposing the plan. This is close to the fastest launch of a joint venture between companies listed on the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and I’m proud of that.

That’s really fast. I’m surprised because I imagined that it would take time to obtain internal approval at banks. I thought banks were more inflexible.

I know. That’s a comment I often get (laughs). Our efforts to enter non-financial business exist because our previous CEO Jun Ohta widely promoted the message of “Break the mold.”

People often tell me that they see banking as an old, rigid, and unchangeable industry. But the SMBC Group has a fledgling bottom-up culture that encourages junior employees to bring in ideas. This led to an increase in cases of internal corporate ventures like ours.

To “produce new CEOs,” our top management instantly gives a green light to interesting ideas that could develop into new business pillars. In fact, SMBC has already launched around 10 internal corporate ventures.

It seems that there is growing momentum in the SMBC Group for nurturing intrapreneurs.

I think the Mitsui and Sumitomo families that started their banks more than 100 years ago were groups of intrapreneurs in the first place. In that sense, our group surely is rooted in innovative spirit.

I agree with you. I often get a sense of our corporate culture of taking on a challenge, and of implementing ideas speedily ahead of competitors.

I think that our group has set up a series of non-financial businesses because we have the culture of not sticking to the traditional concept of banking.

It was also very reassuring that the CEO and others in top management directly gave me words of encouragement.

But didn’t you face any pushback against venturing into a new field?

I receive all sorts of opinions. I think the key is to respect the history of the bank. We can step out of our comfort zone with the utmost respect to the people, things, and experiences that have shaped the SMBC Group. I think that our company will give us as many opportunities as we need if we firmly believe that what we do will benefit our customers.

As a person in a responsible position, I’m constantly thinking how I can keep confronting issues head-on and make improvements. There are many difficult problems, but now I feel even more strongly that I must lead by example.

I became more honest with myself. SMBC Wevox has a vision of contributing to the development of the Japanese economy and making the country proud of its place in the world.

The point is to make the country “proud.” As a millennial, I’m serious about ending Japan’s so-called three lost decades.

That’s the sort of thing we tend to lose sight of in a big company. Did you come to notice that you have that passion because you were seconded outside the company?

It could be part of the reason. The secondment experience made me realize how green my company’s grass was.

People join SMBC with aspirations. The bank really has many competent and ambitious people.

I made up my mind to set up an internal corporate venture to make Japan a better place, for which I got permission from the management. The next day, I quickly made moves to ask an employee well-versed in laws, one competent in system development, and others in the bank to join my team. I’m blessed with enthusiastic and capable team members who share my passion.

I envy you! I’m now rebuilding my company’s organization, and the process has made me keenly aware that an organization cannot progress beyond the quality of its top management. That said, an organization doesn’t function solely with the leadership of a single individual.

It’s similar to football. The mere addition of one superstar doesn’t make a winning team. For the star to shine, the team must have a good foundation and tactics, as well as teammates who can make a good pass to him. Organizational capabilities matter. The most important basis for a team is whether its members share a vision. I was under the impression that bankers are businesslike and unemotional. So I was a little surprised to know that you are so passionate.

According to Gallup’s 2022 State of the Global Workplace report, only about 5% of employees in Japan are "engaged" in their work. However, this can also be seen as an opportunity to increase engagement by 95%.

I think Japan, which grew as a manufacturing superpower, has a great potential to develop as a powerhouse of organizational development.

Japan can grow further if it leverages its operational strengths and puts into practice the innovative ideas that come out of stronger organizational capabilities. I would like to support this by providing relevant services.

We will remain responsive to the evolving needs of customers, offering solutions to social issues by leveraging our financial strengths across a broad range of services, including those outside of finance.

In addition, based on my personal experiences, I would like to create services that will enable not only two generations of parents and children but also the generation of grandchildren to connect in a fun way so that they can live richer and happier lives.

AuB is in its nineth year of operation, but we still haven’t fully conveyed the importance of gut health. I would like to promote more of Japan's wonderful traditions, such as our fermented food culture, on a global scale.

Like you, I see the significance of launching businesses from Japan, a country seen as experiencing difficult problems ahead of other nations. Like you, I see the significance of launching businesses from Japan, made me think that our businesses could do something in collaboration. Let’s do our best. I’m looking forward to seeing future developments of your companies.