At first glance, Alibaba Cloud, Red Hat, and Universal Studios Japan couldn't be more different. Yet during one of the most talked-about sessions at the Tokyo Tech Meetup × IT Career Event 2026, leaders from all three organizations revealed strikingly similar approaches to building cultures where innovation thrives.

The discussion with Tetsuya (Ted) TAKAHASHI (VP of Digital & Technology at USJ), Yuhei MIKI (Senior Director of Solution Architecture at Red Hat Japan) and Susumu NIITSUMA (Business Development Director at Alibaba Cloud Japan) was facilitated by Masae KUDO from HirePlanner.com. 

It explored how organizations foster innovation, encourage experimentation, embrace failure, and build teams capable of sustaining continuous growth in rapidly changing industries. While each company approaches innovation through its own unique lens, several common themes emerged that are relevant to leaders across every industry.

The session opened with a deceptively simple question: "What does innovation actually mean?" 

Each speaker commented and offered a different answer, shaped by their company's culture and mission.

For Susumu NITSUMA (Alibaba Cloud), innovation means creating value that didn't exist before by using technology to build solutions the world hasn't seen yet. He pointed to Alipay as a defining example: "QR code payments are now part of everyday life in Japan, but Alibaba was one of the pioneers in making this technology mainstream." Another example was Singles' Day, during which Alibaba processes more transactions in a single day than some of the world's largest retailers handle in an entire year. To support this scale, the company developed the technology infrastructure capable of managing such enormous demand. As Susumu explained, "Taking something that never existed and turning it into a new social reality through technology—that's what innovation means to us."

For Yuhei MIKI (Red Hat Japan), innovation is deeply rooted in the open source philosophy. The concept is simple but powerful: share good ideas, collaborate to improve them, contribute those improvements back to the community, and continue building on each other's work. As Yuhei explained, "It's not about one person having a brilliant idea. It's about a community continuously improving something until it becomes something great." He added that this collaborative mindset influences how the Japan team works every day. While the local team sometimes takes a different approach to address the needs of the Japanese market, the core values of openness, collaboration, and continuous improvement remain the same.

For Tetsuya (Ted) TAKAHASHI (Universal Studios Japan), innovation is all about creating unforgettable experiences that bring guests joy, excitement, and lasting memories. Rather than inventing something entirely new, Ted described innovation as "recombination"—bringing together existing ideas, technologies, and experiences in new ways to create something unique. He pointed to the Super Nintendo World™ Power-Up Band experience as a great example, where digital technology and the physical environment seamlessly work together to make guests feel as though they've stepped inside a real-life video game. As Ted explained, "Innovation happens at every level—from major attractions to the small improvements made by frontline employees every day."

Having a definition of innovation is one thing. Building an organization that produces it consistently is another.

According to Susumu NITSUMA (Alibaba Cloud), one of the company's greatest strengths is its scale. Backed by significant investment in research and development, Alibaba builds many of its own proprietary technologies, including AI solutions. What makes the company's approach especially powerful, however, is how quickly those technologies are put into practice. New innovations are immediately tested across Alibaba's own ecosystem—from e-commerce and digital payments to mapping services and entertainment platforms.

As Susumu explained, "We can run endless A/B tests in a real-world environment with real customers. Most things fail at first—but we just keep iterating." This ability to rapidly experiment, learn, and improve has become a core part of Alibaba's innovation culture.

He also emphasized that innovation is supported not only by technology but by the company's values. Alibaba's six core values, established by founder Jack Ma, are woven into the organization's culture and even incorporated into employee performance evaluations. "It's not enough to hit your KPIs," Susumu noted. "You're also assessed on whether you're actually living the values."

According to Yuhei MIKI (Red Hat Japan), innovation starts with creating an environment where people feel safe to share their ideas. He explained that Red Hat has built its innovation culture around the principle of psychological safety—the belief that employees should feel comfortable speaking up, asking questions, and proposing new ideas without fear of criticism. As an example, Yuhei described the team's weekly all-hands meeting. The first 15 minutes are dedicated to operational updates, after which three team members each share something with the group—whether it's a technical insight, an interesting customer conversation, or simply an idea they've been thinking about.

"It doesn't matter if the idea seems small or half-baked," Yuhei explained. "What matters is that people feel safe enough to put it out there."

The conversation doesn't end when the meeting finishes. Discussions continue on Slack, where ideas often spark new conversations, attract additional perspectives, and gradually evolve into something much bigger. Yuhei also stressed that diversity is essential for innovation—not only diversity of backgrounds and expertise, but also diversity of thought. As he put it, "If everyone thinks the same way, you miss things. Healthy friction is what sharpens ideas."

According to Tetsuya (Ted) TAKAHASHI (Universal Studios Japan), one of the digital team's biggest advantages is its close connection to the park itself. Unlike many technology teams, their office is just a five-minute walk from the attractions. Ted explained that he makes it a habit to walk through the park every Friday after work—not as a perk, but as an important part of the innovation process.

"When you're the person who built the digital experience and you're standing in the park watching guests interact with it in real time, ideas just start flowing," he said. Seeing how guests use the technology firsthand provides valuable insights that simply can't be gained from behind a desk.

Ted also highlighted another key advantage: Universal Studios Japan's 25 years of operational experience. Over the years, the company has built a strong network of people with deep knowledge of the business. New ideas are constantly shared across that network, and there's a well-defined process for turning them into reality. Smaller improvements can often be implemented quickly, while larger initiatives follow a structured approval process to secure the budget and resources needed for execution.

No conversation about innovation culture is complete without talking about failure. Each company had a distinct perspective.

According to Tetsuya (Ted) TAKAHASHI (Universal Studios Japan), when it comes to innovation, there is one non-negotiable: guest safety always comes first. As he explained, "We're in the business of creating experiences for guests, and we have an absolute obligation to keep them safe." Within those boundaries, however, the team takes a practical approach to experimentation. Smaller digital initiatives are encouraged to move quickly, test new ideas, and learn from the results. Larger projects that could impact day-to-day park operations require a more careful approach—not because failure isn't accepted, but because protecting the guest experience is the highest priority. As Ted put it, "If there's a learning, that's enough justification," when referring to smaller-scale experiments.

For Susumu NITSUMA (Alibaba Cloud), embracing challenges—and the possibility of failure—is an essential part of the company's culture, reflecting founder Jack Ma's entrepreneurial mindset. As Susumu explained, "There's no negative mark for trying something and failing. The only things that get you in trouble are ethical violations." To encourage rapid experimentation, Alibaba relies heavily on its internal collaboration platform, DingTalk, which integrates messaging, scheduling, approvals, and video calls into a single mobile application. Managers even receive an audible notification if they're delaying an approval. As Susumu noted, "The culture says challenge is welcome, and the tools are built to make sure speed is never an obstacle."

According to Yuhei MIKI (Red Hat Japan), ideas naturally succeed or fade based on the value they create and the enthusiasm they generate within the team. In a culture deeply rooted in open source principles, innovation isn't driven by hierarchy but by collaboration. As Yuhei explained, "If only one person thinks something is a good idea, it doesn't go anywhere. But when someone brings up a proposal and three different people say, 'My customer is asking for this too,' that idea starts moving on its own." This kind of peer validation isn't a formal process—it's simply how the culture works. As a result, the ideas that move forward have usually already been challenged, refined, and strengthened through a variety of different perspectives.

Each company was asked to describe the type of person who tends to do well on their team.

According to Susumu NITSUMA (Alibaba Cloud), the people who thrive at Alibaba are those who take initiative and create opportunities for themselves. As he explained, "We don't want people waiting to be told what to do. We want people who see a gap, build something to fill it, and move." He also shared one of Alibaba's core philosophies, which can be roughly translated as "Live life seriously, take work joyfully." For Susumu, it's a reminder that work is just one part of a meaningful life, and that the best results come from people who are genuinely engaged, motivated, and willing to make things happen.

For Yuhei MIKI (Red Hat Japan), technical expertise alone isn't what defines success. The people who make the biggest impact are those who can bring others along with them. As Yuhei put it, "The people who really succeed here are the ones who can involve other people." He shared the example of a highly respected colleague who had written technical books and spoken at industry conferences. While his expertise was impressive, what truly set him apart was his ability to inspire others and build collaboration. "If he asks you for help, no one says no," Yuhei said. "That's the kind of person who makes innovation actually happen."

According to Tetsuya (Ted) TAKAHASHI (Universal Studios Japan), succeeding at USJ requires the ability to work effectively in a highly diverse environment. Around 35% of the digital team is made up of international employees, and approximately 60% of everyday conversations take place in English. As Ted explained, "We have people from completely different backgrounds, with completely different perspectives, all in the same room." The people who thrive, he said, are those who can communicate with a wide range of stakeholders, adapt to different working styles, and confidently navigate the complexity that comes with such a diverse organization.

Despite operating in completely different industries, the discussion revealed several striking similarities in how these organizations approach innovation.

Creating space for ideas. All three companies have intentionally created environments where ideas are encouraged to emerge and evolve—whether through weekly knowledge-sharing sessions, regular walks through the park to observe guests, or rapid experimentation across their own business ecosystem. Innovation doesn't happen by chance; it's built into their daily routines..

Staying close to the real world. Each speaker emphasized the importance of staying connected to the end user—whether that's a customer, a guest, or a business partner. Rather than innovating in isolation, all three organizations continuously gather real-world feedback to test assumptions, refine ideas, and improve the overall experience.

Making culture structural. A strong culture isn't built on slogans alone. Alibaba Cloud, Red Hat, and Universal Studios Japan have all found practical ways to embed their values into everyday work—through performance evaluations, team rituals, collaborative practices, or tools that help employees move quickly and make better decisions.

Ultimately, the discussion showed that innovation isn't something an organization simply declares. It's something leaders intentionally design, nurture, and continuously refine as their teams, technologies, and businesses evolve.

📺 To Watch the full session on YouTube, please click below 👇:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-osIKoXJZxw&t=1s