Rakuten uses data as an asset to support global growth.

Known as “Japan’s Amazon,” Rakuten is a conglomerate of 200 companies across 30 countries. “It’s a very diverse and complex organization, with diverse and complex data,” says Head of Global HRIS Regina Krug.

When Krug joined the business, Rakuten was operating at  localized and regionalized levels—sometimes using manual HR processes that made it challenging for HR to see the employee base and manage talent globally. Krug oversaw the rollout of Workday Human Capital Management (HCM), closely followed by Workday Recruiting to support skills-based talent management.

Then, armed with integrated, globalized data, Krug began looking at how other Workday products could support Rakuten’s HR strategy and vision.

Streamlining the integration of new acquisitions.

Rakuten’s global growth has been accelerated by its fast-paced acquisition strategy, resulting in what Krug calls “a pretty extensive M&A process.” Krug says Workday has been essential in helping to navigate the challenges of rapidly integrating each new entity, including setting up legal controls. “Whether we’re creating a new company, or buying or divesting a company, those controls feed directly into Workday, helping to create a solid structure,” says Krug.

Using data insights to move at speed.

To help the business extract insights from its diverse data sources, Krug introduced Workday Prism Analytics to the team. The analytics platform has helped Rakuten to organize, integrate, and discover information. “It’s allowed us to normalize and standardize data from very unique, localized situations,” says Krug, noting that executives are now getting real-time insights from analytics and visualization tools, helping to improve the company’s speed to market. “From a technology standpoint, Workday Prism Analytics has helped us move our whole organization forward.”

Making AI part of HR strategy.

Next on Krug’s list is Workday Illuminate™ to help accelerate routine tasks using Gen AI, orchestrate end-to-end business processes, and introduce an AI-powered assistant to guide people through complex processes so teams can focus on more strategic work. “We have an organizational mandate to leverage AI in whatever capacity we can,” Krug explains. “It’s a big part of our HR strategy.”

At the forefront of that strategy is the intentional, ethical, and secure use of employee data and AI. Krug appreciates the high degree of integrity and focus on ethics in the Workday approach to AI. “They are helping us manage risk as we embed AI in people processes,” Krug says.

Multiplying return on investment.

Krug is also leaning into the expertise, support, and education that come with Workday Success Plans, commenting on the“high value” of working with technology experts to optimize platform performance. “The services are amazing,” Krug says. “Getting that big picture view of utilization and configuration—that’s given us a new depth of understanding of the platform and how we are operating inside it.”