Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

- und daher habe ich mir nach dem Einstieg bei Alibaba, die inzwischem mehr als 20% gut gemacht haben, auch einige Rakutens gekauft.

Look Out Amazon, Here Comes...Rakuten?
Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten announced on Tuesday it is acquiring Ebates for $1 billion.

The acquisition, which Rakuten hinted at last week, is part of the Japanese company’s push to grow its base beyond its domestic market and hopefully, become a global player. Having made some $1.2 billion acquisitions to date along these lines, this is Rakuten’s most ambitious move to date.

However, investors are dubious that the company can absorb yet another foreign acquisition, much less one the size of Ebates, despite Rakuten’s strong cash position.
Then there is the ever-present Amazon, which dominates the e-commerce market in the U.S. Few believe it will falter in the face of Chinese giant Alibaba, much less a Rakuten-Ebates combo.

Rakuten Goes Forth

Not surprisingly, Rakuten says it is undaunted. For starters, it has assembled a very interesting mix of acquisitions. There is messaging app Viber, which it purchased for $900 million in February, the Canadian ebook offering Kobo, Spanish video service Wuaki.tv, Viki, a digital content platform and Buy.com.
Now it has picked up Ebates.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikamorphy/2014/09/...ere-comes-rakuten/  

Up Close with New Grad Training 2024, from Business Basics to Mobile | RNN

July 18, 2024

Rakuten’s unique new grad training helps new grads who recently joined Rakuten learn about Rakuten's culture, basic business knowledge, and information on the mobile business. On-the-job training at Rakuten Mobile shops across Japan has begun, but this video gives a peek at what they learned during their training at Rakuten Crimson House. Stay on the lookout for the new grads as they learn and grow through their training period!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYg5a8xwQwg

 

AI is coming, ready or not: Mickey Mikitani at Harvard Business School

9 hours ago

If you don’t use AI, whether you’re a small company or a big one, it is going to be very difficult to survive. Your competition is going to be 20-30% more efficient. Sooner or later, you will be in a very difficult position.”

Rakuten CEO Mickey Mikitani recently returned to Harvard Business School to chat with HBS professor and Rakuten Group board member Dr. Tsedal Neeley for the Leading with AI conference. The conversation delved into Rakuten’s transformation into an AI company, Mikitani’s advice for business leaders getting into the AI space, and his own thoughts on the AI revolution.

Data, talent and empowerment: Rakuten’s AI strategy

In front of a packed audience hosted by Harvard Business School and Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard, Mikitani outlined Rakuten’s pioneering strategy of connecting data streams across its diverse portfolio of businesses spanning e-commerce, finance, travel, telecommunications and more. Now, Rakuten is putting its powerful data to use in another ambitious initiative: AI-nization.

Neeley has written extensively about Rakuten’s bold undertaking to globalize the company through another initiative called Englishnization, which began in 2010. Being an English-speaking organization has allowed Rakuten to attract AI talent from around the world, and Mikitani argued that Rakuten can offer a very hands-on experience.

“Some people want to come to us and use AI to build a better shopping experience,” he said. “They can have more tangible results. This is like their playground, and making a playground to attract talent is very important.”

On the business side, AI-nization has a core Triple 20 objective: achieve 20% greater operational efficiency internally within Rakuten; 20% better marketing efficiency; and empower hundreds of thousands of business clients with tools that boost their productivity by 20%.

“It’s very important to allow these smaller players to utilize AI tools,” Mikitani stressed. “Many small mom-and-pop shops don’t know how to use it.”

This synergizes with Rakuten’s founding philosophy: “I designed the Rakuten marketplace so that I could help small- to medium-sized merchants, not destroy them. So we would like to use AI to empower them.”

Don’t forget the human

While AI excels at common tasks, Mikitani highlighted how it can struggle with the creativity required for truly disruptive innovation.

“Of course it’s a prediction model based on the data. So if no one has ever done it [then the data isn’t there],” he pointed out. “If you asked AI 27 years ago, Should I start an internet marketplace? It would probably say no. Should I start this crazy new mobile company in Japan? It would probably say no.”
This is a major limitation of AI: “It will give you the most likely right answer based on massively available data,” Mikitani argued. “Generative AI will give you a good batting average, but it won’t give you a totally different idea.”

Mikitani cited the creativity of TikTok content as something AI alone couldn’t replicate. “If TikTok was all generated by AI, people may not get so intrigued or interested. There’s a human factor in it.”
n the end, AI must be used to empower humans to be human. “My approach is to utilize AI to become more unique, not to create a robot that can replace humans. It’s always the co-pilot,” he told the HBS crowd. “People who produce a product – we need to respect them, empower them, rather than basically abusing data to destroy their business. That’s the concept driving Rakuten.”

AI is coming, ready or not

Under AI-nization, Mikitani has made AI education a top priority for Rakuten employees. “60-70% of the content we’re sharing in our Monday morning all-hands meeting is about AI.”

Mikitani advocates Neeley’s 30% rule, where employees don’t need to be experts, but should understand the fundamentals of a technology in order to apply it.

“They don’t need to become engineers, but they do need to think about how to use it. For most employees this is much more important,” he remarked. “It’s better to understand how it works. It’s not a magic box, it’s an algorithm. Of course, you can use a calculator to figure out 9×9, but you should really know how to solve that problem. So, I think this basic education for your entire staff is very important.”

For leaders looking to accelerate their own AI strategies, Mikitani offered some words of advice.
“Whether it is good or bad, whether you like it or not, AI is coming and progressing… You have to do it,” he urged. “Get buy-in from your employees of all levels. This will be as fundamental as calculators, Excel or PowerPoint.”

https://rakuten.today/blog/...ikitani-at-harvard-business-school.html
 

Leading AI-nization: Fueling Growth with Data and AI | Mickey Mikitani | Leading with AI Session

June 03, 2024 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

Join us for an insightful discussion as Mickey Mikitani, Chairman and CEO of Rakuten, and Tsedal Neeley, Professor at Harvard Business School, explore how Rakuten continues to lead as a global innovation powerhouse. Discover how Rakuten builds an ecosystem and operating model that leverages an extraordinary level of data to drive strategic AI adoption. In this session, we dive into: Strategic initiatives driving AI adoption at Rakuten Building a data-driven ecosystem and operating model Personal journeys fostering continuous learning Challenges and triumphs of AI integration on a grand scale Learn from the leaders on how Rakuten harnesses data to redefine the future of technology. This discussion covers both the operational and personal aspects of leading a global innovation giant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B-HW7FEHrw
 

https://japan-job-en.rakuten.careers/...ientist%22%7D]&l-id=B-005


 

https://jetstream.blog/archives/187682
 

By Vaibhav Dongre Vice President Marketing Rakuten Symphony

Generative AI (GenAI) brings groundbreaking opportunities to telecommunications. It was one of the pivotal topics of discussion at Digital Transformation World (DTW) 2024, as Dr. Sudhir Kumar Mittal, EVP & Chief Architect of Jio Platforms and Anshul Bhatt, Chief Product Officer, OSS Business Unit of Rakuten Symphony, shared their insights on the unique challenges faced by telecom companies in its development and deployment. The conversation, moderated by Abe Nejad, Publisher of the Network Media Group, explored the intricacies of implementing GenAI in a highly regulated and data-intensive industry.

Telcos’ journey to GenAI adoption requires surmounting numerous challenges around AI models. The discussion underlined the need for a closed-loop system where data is not only analyzed for insights but also used to enhance and refine the AI models continuously. Various other factors, such as the financial implications of using GenAI, need to be considered, and cost-effective workarounds, such as balancing between predictive AI and GenAI or large language models (LLMs) should be onboarded to manage massive cost overruns. In the case of a large telecom operator with an extensive customer base generating vast amounts of data daily, the challenge lies in defining and executing the right use cases for GenAI.

"AI-assisted coding and automation are areas that will change the way the telecom industry works.”
- Anshul Bhatt, Chief Product Officer, OSS Business Unit, Rakuten Symphony

Similarly, while GenAI can revolutionize customer network use cases, it must do so within the bounds of regulatory compliance and data governance. Security and scalability are critical themes in a sector where data protection is paramount. Telcos must ensure that AI implementations adhere to stringent security standards.

“It is important to make GenAI output more reliable, traceable and accurate. It should be capable of providing genuine information to the customer and doing exactly what the organization wants it to do.”
- Dr. Sudhir Kumar Mittal, EVP & Chief Architect, Jio Platforms

Bridging the enterprise-telco divide

A focal point of conversation was the differing challenges faced by enterprises and telecom companies in leveraging GenAI. While commonalities exist, enterprises place a higher emphasis on data partitioning and privacy. Ensuring that data remains secure and that AI models do not inadvertently use sensitive user data for training is a significant concern for enterprises. As enterprises increasingly rely on telco platforms beyond their connectivity needs, operators must make sure that their models learn contextually and grow into “large action models” that are capable of decision-making and execution – all within the confines of regulatory data protection norms.

Making GenAI outputs reliable, accurate, and aligned with organizational policies will be one of the priorities for enterprises and telcos in the future. This alignment is crucial to prevent AI from generating responses that could contravene company guidelines or mislead customers. An approach where AI agents and sub-agents are tasked with specific roles and grow more intelligent and effective over time will help.

The discussion also covered Rakuten Symphony's application of GenAI for critical use cases, such as AI-assisted incident management. These applications have led to substantial improvements in operating efficiency, with AI significantly reducing the time needed to resolve incidents.

https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/the-promises-and-challenges-of-genai
 

https://x.com/RobinWuzz  

Behind the scenes of innovation: The bold moves igniting the AI revolution

21 hours ago

Bjorn Laukli, Head of Technology, Rakuten International

The ongoing fascination with artificial intelligence (AI) is driven by its potential to revolutionize businesses and daily life, yet the most transformative advancements being made today often go unnoticed. These advancements are fueled by the diligent efforts of companies integrating AI solutions at an unprecedented pace and scale. Despite challenges such as data privacy laws and high costs, this foundational work is essential for maximizing AI benefits.

As Head of Technology for Rakuten International, Bjorn Laukli details Rakuten’s commitment to the complex and time-consuming process of standardizing core platforms and enhancing interoperability at a global level. These crucial efforts position the company at the forefront of this transformative AI journey.

The world at large is fascinated by the ongoing buzz surrounding artificial intelligence, and it’s easy to see why. Every day brings a new story about how this transformative technology is set to revolutionize businesses, shake up our economies and reshape the world. Generative AI is, in fact, already embedded into our daily lives. It influences the recommendations for the shows we watch and the news we read, and it plays a crucial role in designing new medicines and medical technologies. These are just a few examples of how AI is both ubiquitous and critical.

Less noticed – but arguably more important – are the myriad ways in which virtually every company and organization the world over is working to better understand, integrate and harness AI, not just technically, but procedurally and administratively as well. Developing and scaling training and education programs and establishing procedural guardrails that ensure data privacy and effective collaboration – these are the monumental and foundational efforts that are now underway at an unprecedented pace and scale. They are precisely the kinds of initiatives that my teams and I are focused on.

AI presents companies, particularly those like Rakuten which operate globally, with a series of challenges. Policies and systems need to satisfy a matrix of regional laws related to data privacy and AI safety. The costs and infrastructure required to manage and transfer massive amounts of data, both globally and within Rakuten’s various businesses, are key considerations. While these challenges preceded the AI era, the emergence of AI has intensified these issues and added urgency to our pursuit of solutions.

Over the past year, my teams and I have worked alongside colleagues in virtually every business and department in the Rakuten Group to ensure that cutting-edge AI tools and training are widely available and accessible and that users can leverage their jaw-dropping potential in safe, sound and secure ways.

We are also working to provide visibility into the AI-related efforts of each business. Our collective success largely depends on our ability to learn from the experiences, advances and failures we encounter as we strive to optimally leverage AI. For instance, every business, and the Rakuten Group as a whole, will benefit from understanding how Rakuten’s messaging app, Viber, is now able to summarize unread messages, or how Kobo’s AI solution helps flag and manage inappropriate content on its website. While teams are understandably laser-focused on ensuring the success and profitability of their individual businesses, establishing and maintaining the administrative infrastructure for visibility, transparency and collaboration is crucial. It’s why we’ve created the AI Management Office within Rakuten International and why other companies are also creating high-level AI centers.

AI has also increased the urgency and opportunity for enhancing core shared services platforms, such as Membership and Global Search. While every business within the Rakuten Group shares certain affinities and faces common challenges, each one is also unique and distinct in critical ways. Consequently, using our core platforms requires maintaining a degree of flexibility that allows us to tweak and tailor our highly standardized solutions to meet specific needs. This kind of flexibility and customization is one of the fundamental advantages that AI offers.

Realizing this advantage, however, requires us to speak a common language and manage our data consistently across all businesses. While not as easy to understand as the output from a chatbot, these “collaboration anchors” will help each business realize economies of scale and efficiency, and in turn, the company as a whole. Rakuten has set an ambitious target known internally as the Triple 20 which aims to strengthen its competitive edge through a 20% enhancement in productivity across operations, marketing, and customer experiences. Though currently challenging, these goals are well within our reach.

The fast pace of modern life has shaped expectations for how quickly massive, global changes take shape and are felt. Given the ongoing media frenzy around AI, it’s understandable that people expect an almost instant AI revolution. The reality is the AI revolution is unfolding in a slower, more deliberate, and considered manner. This is precisely why Rakuten is moving at a rapid speed to both immediately realize benefits from the AI tools and techniques already available and, at the same time, construct a rock-solid foundation upon which we will soon be able to build even faster.

https://rakuten.today/blog/...d-moves-igniting-the-ai-revolution.html

 

KIERAN THOMPSON

Tokyo is using the four-way grouping to champion its local tech companies against behemoths from Europe and China.

Published 18 Jul 2024

5G network technologies are currently dominated by four companies. From Europe, Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia, are the trusted suppliers for many Western-aligned 5G networks. The competition they face is China’s Huawei and ZTE. These four companies – a corporate “quad” if you will – along with a smaller share from South Korean firm Samsung, together control more than 95% of the global 5G network equipment market.

Through the Quad, along with other diplomatic entities, Japan is seeking to promote its own 5G national champions. Equipment manufacturers NEC and Fujitsu, plus mobile network operator Rakuten and others, are each pursuing Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) technology, which they and the Japanese government believe will enable them to compete in the highly 5G concentrated market.

https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/...-s-5g-ambitions-quad
 

By Luu Quy   July 17, 2024

Japanese messaging app Rakuten Viber is eyeing a comeback in Vietnam and has its sights set on business users, a senior executive has said.

The company sees Vietnam as a potential market and plans to strengthen its long-term presence there, Atanas Raykov, Rakuten Viber vice president of global marketing and growth, said during a visit to the country this month.

Viber was a popular app in Vietnam even 10 years ago until it was overshadowed by the likes of Messenger, Telegram and Zalo.

People use other apps for general conversation, but look to Viber when they need high security and protection, he said.

"We aim to reach professionals who trust that our technology can protect the most important contents."

These customers are mostly women in the 22-55 age group who use iOS devices.

Viber is also working to partner with banks in Vietnam to add a feature that allows users to inform each other about a successful bank transfer.

The company also hopes to reach customers in the public sector and major businesses, Raykov added.

https://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/companies/...-race-4771091.html
 

Story by Leah C. Salterio

2d

https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/money/good-vibes/...?ocid=BingNewsSerp

 

By Eden Ezion

APRIL 11, 2024

https://www.viber.com/en/blog/2024-04-11/68753/
 

https://rakuten.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/de-DE/Kobo
 

https://medium.com/tokyo-fintech/...growth-and-expansion-be5432ee4ffe
 

 Open RAN has long been described as a journey, with the first steps focused purely on disaggregating hardware and software, then reaggregating it into a functional radio system.
Now the focus is shifting to more robust implementations that go beyond disaggregation and get into open, cloud-based automation and service differentiation at scale in brownfield networks.

https://www.spirent.com/events/...o-scale-out-in-a-brownfield-network
 

https://www.thenetworkmediagroup.com/blog/...f-play-for-ai-and-telcos
 

https://blog.rakutenadvertising.com/de-de/news/...tplatz-fuer-europa/
 

Europe Open RAN Market size was valued at USD $92.64 Mn in 2023, registering a CAGR of 80.36% during the forecast period (2024-2030), and the market is projected to be worth USD $5620.88 Mn by 2030.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/...ope-open-ran-market-2024size-lb0wf/

 

The Japan Telecom Market size is estimated at USD 117.84 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 149.82 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 4.92% during the forecast period (2024-2029).

Source: https://www.mordorintelligence.com/...ry-reports/japan-telecom-market
 

Published by C. Diep, Jul 17, 2024

In the first quarter of 2024, the number of member IDs registered at Rakuten amounted to over 142 million. The most recent figure constitutes an increase of over four percent compared to the first quarter of the previous year. The Japanese e-commerce company is headquartered in Tokyo, where it was founded in 1997.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/223349/rakuten-members/
 

Rakuten Card rolls out “simplified” English language app

Norbert Gehrke
Jul 18, 2024

Japan’s financial institutions are discovering the underbanked foreign residents as a potential area for growth. After Credit Saison has just launched its “SAISON JP Life Assist” portal, Rakuten Card released “Rakuten Card Lite,” the first English language app from the credit card company focused on the international community in Japan. This has come alongside players like Digital Wallet Corporation (Smile Remittances), Sony Bank, and GIG-A (had to abandon its first implementation with Kiraboshi’s UI Bank, but is working on an alternative) who have targeted this segment explicitly.

Rakuten Card developed the app, which is available on both Android and iOS platforms, as part of Rakuten Group’s commitment to provide more inclusive services and address the growing need for multilingual options in Japan. By launching a simplified version of the existing Rakuten Card app, the company aims to leverage a shorter development cycle and offer Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Korean language support in the future.

https://medium.com/tokyo-fintech/...english-language-app-c5e208867770
 

Erste Schätzungen: Rakuten mit Zahlen zum abgelaufenen Quartal

25.07.24 06:21 Uhr

2 Analysten schätzen im Schnitt, dass Rakuten für das jüngste Quartal einen Verlust je Aktie von -9,539 JPY vermelden wird. Im Vorjahr hatte das Unternehmen ein EPS von -32,270 JPY je Aktie erwirtschaftet.
Insgesamt erwarten 13 Analysten für das aktuell laufende Fiskaljahr einen durchschnittlichen Verlust von -38,039 JPY je Aktie, gegenüber -177,270 JPY je Aktie im Vorjahr. Den Jahresumsatz setzen 15 Analysten durchschnittlich auf 2.276,32 Milliarden JPY fest. Im Vorjahr waren noch 2.071,32 Milliarden JPY in den Büchern gestanden.

https://www.finanzen.net/nachricht/aktien/...aufenen-quartal-13700453
 

Rakuten Symphony is making waves in the telecommunications industry. At the 2024 Digital Transformation World (DTW) event, they showcased innovative solutions related to intelligent networks, AI, and automation. The event took place from 18th to 20th June at the Bella Center in Copenhagen.

Here are some highlights:

Sharad Sriwastawa, co-CEO of Rakuten Mobile, discussed their intent-based network and how AI-powered 5G analytics enhance operating efficiencies and customer service. They’re unlocking unmatched connectivity experiences using AI.

Rahul Atri, President of the OSS BU and Managing Director of Rakuten Symphony India, advocated for AI’s transformative role. He explored topics like Open APIs, reusable platforms, and intelligent network management.

Rakuten Symphony’s participation at DTW reflects their commitment to driving innovation in telecom. They engaged in media interviews, panel discussions, and analyst briefings, sharing insights with strategic partners like TelecomTV, NMG, and TM Forum.

In summary, Rakuten Symphony is at the forefront of AI-driven telecom solutions, shaping the future of networks worldwide!

https://www.bing.com/...sendquery=1&FORM=ASCHT2&sp=2&lq=0
 

July 19, 2024

1&1 hat mit der Inbetriebnahme des europaweit ersten Mobilfunknetzes auf Basis der neuartigen Open-RAN-Technologie ein Telekommunikationsnetz geschaffen, das das Potenzial von 5G voll ausschöpft und Deutschland bereit für Echtzeitanwendungen macht. 1&1 gestaltet als Innovationstreiber die Zukunft des Mobilfunks aktiv mit. Im Video erklären wir das 1&1 5G Mobilfunknetz.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tohptpcD7Ns  

https://japan-job-en.rakuten.careers/search-jobs