In recent years, the company has focused on both transforming existing businesses and shifting toward new digital ventures. Their Digital Strategy Department drives innovation globally from bases in Tokyo, the U.S., and Israel, aiming to realize digital transformation across the entire group.
In July 2018, the "Sprint Team" was established within the Digital Strategy Department, integrating business and development. This in-house development team aims to:
While Scrum was chosen to maximize the team's output, a lack of Scrum knowledge on the business side became a hurdle. Believing that spreading Scrum expertise across the entire organization is key to accelerating DX, we spoke with Mr. Nishino, who leads the group's DX talent development.
Having attended various training sessions himself and researched many others as an organizer, Mr. Nishino held a persistent doubt.
A disconnect existed between 'learning knowledge' and 'actual practice.' Seeking a program that focused on how individuals could truly excel within the organization, he discovered Odd-e Japan.
While talking with fellow engineers, I heard that Ebata-san's training at Odd-e Japan was 'the toughest, yet most valuable.' That reputation led me to reach out to them.
Rather than adopting a pre-fixed curriculum, he chose to collaborate with Odd-e Japan to 'build training agily'—planning, designing, and refining the program through continuous hypothesis testing and feedback.
During the design process, we focused on how to make the training valuable for both digital departments and business-side professionals. Through repeated discussions with Odd-e Japan, we defined our target persona as 'Individuals capable of practicing Scrum based on fundamental understanding' and set seven core objectives.
The training launched with 97 participants, including many from business units. By combining lectures with workshops, even beginners transitioned smoothly into hands-on learning. Feedback showed high satisfaction, with participants noting that the interactive format deepened their understanding far more than self-study with books.
We received high praise even from business-side employees, who noted that despite initial anxiety, they were able to collaborate and deliver results in a short period. It's a successful start.
We actively listened to feedback, such as the difficulty for Scrum novices in workshops. Odd-e Japan immediately adapted by increasing lecture time and providing focused support. Even now, we continue to refine the curriculum through post-training reviews—embodying the truly 'agile' training model Mr. Nishino envisioned.
We have now launched the Scrum Developer Fundamentals course. Even beginners aim to master the basics of web application building and Scrum development, learning specific practices to deliver value in small increments. In the final phase, participants form Scrum teams to experience the real-world development process.
I believe we have created a training program that no other company can replicate. We won't settle for the status quo; we will continue to refine and polish it agily through continuous hypothesis testing.
Mr. Nishino's passion extends beyond accelerating DX within his own group—it reaches toward the future of all enterprises in Japan.
Many enterprises, including those in the insurance industry, are lagging in DX. I envision a future where the expertise we've gained isn't kept within our company walls, but shared across organizations to uplift the entire business sector.
By embodying 'Agile Training,' SOMPO Holdings continues to accelerate talent development across the group, pushing forward to deliver new value to society.
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While acquiring knowledge makes you feel like you are leveling up, I felt we weren't thinking deeply enough about how to apply that knowledge to actual operations or how to provide real value to the company.