Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will spend ¥100 billion on generative AI over three years, a bet its chief executive frames as a wager on experiments rather than on any known payoff. The group announced the plan in May 2026, expanding a ¥50 billion investment budget it disclosed in November 2024.
"We don't know what will hit, so let's just try a lot of different things," CEO Tatsu Nakashima said at a session of the AI Innovators Forum 2026, held by ExaWizards on October 14. The remarks were reported by ITmedia Business Online.
More than 100 AI projects of a certain scale are now under way across the group, and Nakashima said it is still too early to judge how far each will produce results. The group has said it aims to use AI not only to make operations more efficient but to change the lending and asset management businesses that underpin its earnings.
A five-year horizon it cannot see
Nakashima said he has little idea what AI will look like in five years. What he does expect is that the way business is done will be completely different by then.
“If that's the case, we have to move fast and start trying things first.”Tatsu Nakashima, group CEO, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
The group runs banking plus card, securities, leasing and trust businesses, and has expanded overseas. About 70,000 of its 130,000 employees work outside Japan. Nakashima describes the long-term goal as being a top player in Japan and a presence globally, with technology including AI central to getting there.
The ¥100 billion commitment follows the ¥50 billion budget announced in November 2024. The group has not said how the spending will be divided among its businesses or what return it expects from the portion set aside for open-ended experiments.