Spotlight: Takeo Inokuchi, Honorary Advisor, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Ltd. | 2004 Hall of Fame Laureate

What are you most proud of accomplishing in your career?

I’m most proud of the successful merger between Mitsui Marine & Fire Insurance and Sumitomo Marine & Fire Insurance that was conducted in response to the liberalization of Japan’s insurance market. The merger created a company that was clearly superior in financial scale and strength. Through the further efforts of management, we have since grown into a global insurance group with two life and three non-life insurers.

What is the biggest challenge facing the industry in the next decade?

Accidents and disasters will continue to occur even in advanced digital societies with AI and other technologies. Moreover, these technologies and their outcomes contain latent risks like none experienced before. We must earn the trust of consumers by utilizing the latest digital technologies for products and services that precisely address all these risks and in how they are provided.