FinCity.tokyo

Ryu Hirayama, Country Representative, Japan, for LSEG highlights Tokyo’s unique strengths in the development and application of AI.

As the country representative of LSEG in Japan, what are your aspirations for LSEG in the finance space in Japan?

As a global financial infrastructure and data provider, LSEG is a strategic partner supporting the digital transformation and globalization of Japan’s rapidly evolving financial markets.

LSEG delivers data and analytics, financial trading and clearing services, indices, and risk screening solutions to more than 40,000 customers across over 170 countries, supporting clients throughout the entire multi-asset trade lifecycle. As Japan’s market continues to advance in areas such as AI-driven transformation of financial services, growing interest in private assets, and further internationalization and digitalization of trading, LSEG seeks to provide our customers with strong products and services in these areas.

Japan is an important market for LSEG, with nearly 300 employees and business relationships with more than 1,000 clients. It is one of our most strategically important locations globally, and we continue to invest in the market. We will also continue our efforts to further enhance brand recognition among customers. For example, while basic, we aim to increase awareness of our name as “El-seg (LSEG)” in Japanese katakana format and to ensure a broader understanding of the full capabilities of our business.

FinCity’s mission to develop Tokyo as a leading international financial centre aligns closely with LSEG’s objectives in Japan. In addition to supporting the globalization of Japanese financial institutions, we aim to contribute by leveraging our position as a global financial infrastructure and data provider—facilitating knowledge sharing and connecting Japan with financial institutions around the world.

You have extensive experience in the software industry, including at Google. What learnings from that industry do you think you can apply to the finance world in Japan?

I spent the first half of my career in finance and the latter half in the technology sector, gaining experience across a wide range of fields including financial institution monitoring, financial market analysis, investment banking, M&A execution, venture capital, media digitalization, digital advertising, cloud and AI strategy support, and comprehensive strategic partnerships.

Over this period, both the state of financial markets and perspectives on corporate governance have evolved significantly. At the same time, the technology landscape has undergone dramatic change—from the rise of the internet and the mainstream adoption of social media, to the widespread use of cloud computing and the rapid advancement of AI.

In my opinion, the evolution of finance is inseparable from the evolution of technology, and data is fundamental to technological progress. These domains are highly complementary. Rather than consciously “applying” what I learned in the tech world to finance, it feels more natural that these experiences have blended seamlessly, reinforcing one another without friction.

There is much discussion about Japan’s digitalization. What progress do you see and what challenges still remain?

Given Japan’s demographics and its history as a technology-driven nation, Japan has achieved a good balance between innovation and regulation compared with other regions, particularly in AI, creating a solid foundation for further development.

While Silicon Valley and China may be seen as primary centres of AI and software development, Japan also has a large and capable engineering base, along with an active and growing startup ecosystem. Moreover, I believe Japan has the potential to lead the world not only in developing AI and software, but in how these technologies are applied and utilized in practice.

As cloud and AI adoption accelerates, it is also essential to consider their environmental impact, including increased energy consumption. Japan has been at the forefront of sustainability initiatives, and I believe it is well positioned to serve as a global model for sustainable digital transformation.

You moderated the session on AI and sustainability at the recent Sustainable Finance Forum in Tokyo. What opportunities do you see for AI to mobilize finance for sustainability right now and longer term?

In finance, there are many points of intersection between AI and sustainability. These include the digitalization of sustainable finance itself, efforts to curb power consumption and mitigate environmental impact associated with digitalization, the use of finance and AI to support clients’ sustainability initiatives, and the visualization of sustainability progress through AI.

In many of these areas, foundational AI capabilities are already being deployed in practice. As AI continues to evolve, however, we expect these applications to deliver even greater impact and tangible results going forward.

Going forward, how do you see Tokyo evolving as a finance hub?

For Tokyo to continue evolving as one of the world’s leading financial hubs, I believe it is essential to both align with global standards and clearly articulate its unique strengths.

With regard to the former, LSEG, as a global financial infrastructure and data provider, works closely with Japanese government ministries and public institutions. Within our Markets division, we have in recent years begun operating a range of innovative solutions, including our new private securities market on the London Stock Exchange, the development of blockchain-enabled trading infrastructure, and the establishment of cash settlement platforms for cryptocurrency transactions. We will continue to share insights gained from these initiatives with the industry.

As for Tokyo’s unique strengths, as mentioned earlier, we believe Japan is well positioned in the development and application of AI. Taking a leadership role in AI adoption can also help attract investment. Under our “LSEG Everywhere” AI strategy, LSEG is committed to providing trusted data in the AI era—delivered in the form customers need, when they need it, through innovative products and strategic partnerships. Building an open ecosystem is core to LSEG’s strategic DNA, as demonstrated by our partnerships with Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, Snowflake among others. We will continue our efforts to support and accelerate the adoption of AI across Japan.