Ayako Kurasawa is Chief Strategy Officer at Hitachi Digital, responsible for directing and advising senior leadership on strategic initiatives and market positioning as well as corporate development/open innovation initiatives. In this role, which she assumed in April 2023, Ayako leads the development of sustainable short-term and long-term growth plans for the company that enable it to identify and seize upon transformational innovations and trends, as well as overcome market disruptions. Prior to becoming CSO, Ayako was a Deputy head of strategy for Digital Services Sector at Hitachi, Ltd. In this capacity, she also directly led a team to provide M&A planning and execution functions contributing to growth and portfolio optimization of digital business within Hitachi.