Customer Highlight/Employee Highlight

Ricoh’s evolution into a digital services company begins with its people. We foster self-motivated individuals who pursue growth and Fulfillment through Work. Empowered to act, they create new value for customers and drive both personal and business growth. This section spotlights change-makers whose passion brings Ricoh’s transformation to life each day.

I started out at Ricoh Spain as a line manager in printing software support, and I am now leading the project management for the Hyper-Automation Digital Factory. This project supports the transformation of cross-functional business processes through automation and technology integration. My role is to streamline our company’s operations and leverage them to provide value to our customers.

While I was already doing well as a manager, I wanted to step outside my comfort zone and take on new challenges. I needed more skills and capabilities for Ricoh and for myself. That mindset led me to sign up for Ricoh Europe’s SCALA digital talent development program.

The program was as much about people as technology. I connected with colleagues from Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other European countries. I saw how their teams operate and how they communicate. I became better at designing business process automation solutions by earning Microsoft Azure* Fundamentals, DocuWare, and other certifications through the program. While I originally focused on printing solutions, the program enabled me to gain expertise in digital technology and new tools that help us improve processes and reduce repetitive tasks so customers can focus on more creative work, which they really appreciate. I learned how new skills and technologies can inspire fresh approaches to improving work processes.

Everyone still had their regular roles within Ricoh, so meeting both program expectations and departmental goals was challenging. Despite that, being part of this program was very awarding for me and the company.

Continuous learning is essential for personal growth and for Ricoh’s future. With new tools, changing customer needs, and the rapid rise of AI, the pace of change is only increasing. My role is to help customers digitalize their business processes, and to do that I must keep evolving too. I’m excited to be part of this journey.

I devoted many years to hardware development, from designing printer systems to researching 3D printers. After a decade, I felt I had experienced the full cycle of creating and delivering products. That was when I saw an internal job posting for the Process Digital Transformation Department. I raised my hand, eager to start something from scratch.

When I stepped into the new field of driving digital transformation, the Ricoh Digital Academy became an invaluable platform for my self-directed learning. The online program gave me access to a wide range of specialized knowledge. I earned certifications in data science and business analysis, and I also took part in in-house ideathons where we competed to develop applications that solve workplace challenges. Through that, I even gained experience creating business improvement apps. Since I’ve always enjoyed learning about the unknown, I felt little anxiety about taking on this new area of work. More importantly, Ricoh has a culture that respects employees’ autonomy and actively encourages us to try new things. Thanks to that environment, I now find myself working in areas I never could have imagined when I first joined the company.

Since transferring, I have been driving “process digital transformation.” One project in accounting became a successful case study and was even featured in external media. We began by visualizing the daily work of the accounting team and discovered that about 15% of their time was spent answering internal inquiries. To address this, we built a system that allowed AI to handle as many of those questions as possible. As a result, we created roughly 9,500 hours of capacity each year.

Right now, my focus is not only on solving today’s visible issues but also on sowing the seeds for tomorrow’s improvements. For example, I have been experimenting with AI agents that autonomously execute tasks based on user instructions to solve problems. I often ask myself: if AI agents were introduced into our daily work, how would our ways of working change? Based on those experiments, we are preparing to implement the findings in our own operations.

I believe the know-how gained through these internal efforts has become one of Ricoh’s strengths, and sharing it proactively with customers is what makes our digital services distinctive. I want customers to feel they can turn to us with any challenge, no matter what it is. By harnessing AI as a major technological trend, I hope to contribute to creating new value together with them.

My role is to ensure that Ricoh USA invests appropriately in business portfolio strategies and product management while balancing customer needs and profitability to achieve sustainable growth and improved profitability. By overseeing product life cycle management, market fit, and strategic prioritization, we drive growth, maximize returns on investment, and help Ricoh stay competitive in a dynamic and rapidly changing market.

I am a lifelong learner and am comfortable challenging the status quo, in line with technological advances and changes in my role. As well as gaining skills by researching markets and training, I also learn a lot from talking with customers.

Equally important is building trust and alignment across teams. When they all understand and contribute to our shared strategic direction, our services can deliver excellent long-term customer satisfaction.

With the rise of AI, I focus on automating non-critical tasks to free up time for strategic work that streamlines operations and creates value for customers. Using AI brings with it challenges and learning, but I believe that if all employees approach it as an efficiency multiplier, we will see greater results. AI has only accelerated the speed of an already rapidly changing environment, and we’ve spent the last several years refining our approach to the market to keep up with the speed of change.

We engage customers very early in our discovery processes. We study the market, work directly with users, ask questions, and explore what matters to them. I try to understand what makes people tick, whether our solution addresses their actual problem, and what impact solving their problems would have on their business. This early input shapes our direction and helps us build with greater impact.

Empathy guides everything we do. To create offerings that resonate, we need to walk in customers’ shoes and understand their experience. That means listening more than talking and getting to the core of what they care about, what drives them, and how we can make their work more fulfilling. This approach leads to proposals that truly resonate. We aim to provide services that are easy to use in any work environment, regardless of position.

My purpose when I wake up every day and come to the office is to make a difference. I focus every action on doing good and making a positive impact through work. By leading with empathy, staying agile, and always learning, I believe we can build solutions that truly matter.

Mai: I manage the SDGs Key Persons program within the ESG Center. We kicked it off in 2018 to drive SDGs initiatives inside and outside Ricoh Japan. Back then we had about 90 members; today we’ve got around 640. While we’re embedding SDGs internally, we’re also listening to customers and communities to understand their challenges and figure out how to deliver value.

Shiro: I’m also an SDGs Key Person. At first, some members were pretty passive, but over time they’ve become more engaged, and momentum has spread across departments. As SDGs have become better understood in society, more sales reps want to use what they learn as SDGs Key Persons to help customers.

Mai: What makes it special is our internal community. SDGs Key Persons share ideas almost daily, creating a virtuous cycle of picking up and adapting each other’s good practices. We each seek ways to partner with customers in building a sustainable economy. It’s a big deal to have a space where we can easily talk through ideas or get advice anytime.

Shiro: This community’s a huge help in daily work. It’s heartening to know there are like-minded people nationwide.

Mai: I think employee awareness of SDGs and ESG is really high. That comes from steady grassroots efforts at each workplace. SDGs Key Persons have organized workshops that show how our business connects to solving social issues, and we have the My SDGs Declaration initiative. Messages from headquarters are great, but people don’t always internalize them. When ideas come from employees themselves, they spread naturally and with enthusiasm.

Shiro: I used to handle small business sales, then I moved to serving major clients. It was a different world, not least because of scheduled appointments, formal meeting rooms, and business discussions. At first, I wasn’t sure what to say. But the SDGs gave me a common language. Whether you’re new in business or a CEO, the 17 goals are the same for everyone.

Mai: Before my current role, I was a sales representative in the greater Tokyo area, one of the most competitive markets. To earn trust, I had to go beyond promoting products. I needed to share Ricoh’s commitment to the SDGs, our environmental management, and our long-term vision. That experience drove me to request this transfer, so I could expand the SDGs Key Persons program.

Shiro: These days, it’s not just about whether a proposal is technically sound. Corporate values and trust have become key decision factors. That’s why communicating Ricoh’s sustainability initiatives is so important. More clients see us as partners who share their goal of solving social issues, not just as vendors. That’s a big step forward.

Shiro: One customer asked us to run SDGs training for new employees, so we had a young sales rep lead the session. The customer later told us it hadn’t realized how deeply embedded SDGs are in our company.

Mai: Many companies want to engage with SDGs but don’t know how. One client started top-down but lacked concrete steps. An SDGs Key Person worked closely with them, building trust that also led them to choose Ricoh products. Over time, that company became recognized in its region and industry as a leader in SDGs initiatives. Seeing our efforts ripple out that far was deeply rewarding.

Shiro: Going forward, it won’t be enough to compete on price alone. We want customers to compare us as partners in building a sustainable society. That’s the direction we should move toward.

Mai: Within Ricoh Japan, we’re also sharing examples where SDGs initiatives have led to new business and performance gains.

Shiro: Ricoh Japan has about 7,800 sales reps nationwide. Many share this same mindset, working closely with customers and communities to solve challenges. We want more colleagues to join us in this.

Mai: Supporting customers’ SDGs and ESG initiatives revitalizes their companies. When companies grow, so do communities, and ultimately Japan as a whole. Through this activities, we aim to create a positive cycle that spreads from local areas to the nation, and eventually to the world.