AKKODiS reinvents work, sparks culture shift via Microsoft Power Platform and Copilot

Japan’s aging population and shrinking workforce present a pressing challenge for businesses: how can companies maintain productivity and competitiveness with fewer people? For AKKODiS Consulting, this demographic reality wasn’t just a hurdle; it was a call to reinvent the culture of work.

As a leading technology and engineering consultancy, AKKODiS faced the same constraints as its clients: limited talent pools and the need to accomplish tasks, and also move business forward, without increasing headcount. “With Japan’s population declining, companies can no longer rely on traditional workforce growth to stay competitive,” explains Kenichiro Kawasaki, CEO at AKKODiS. “To maximize their potential and compete globally, they must raise labor productivity and empower more people to innovate. That requires efficiency, agility, and a new way of working—and the same is true for us.”

Leading from the inside out

AKKODiS responded with a bold strategy: empower every employee to solve problems of inefficiency and scale. With 6,500 consultants and engineers across Japan, the potential for meaningful, groundbreaking developments is high. By deploying Microsoft Power Platform, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Copilot Studio across the organization, AKKODiS democratized access to automation, app development, and AI-powered insights.

Instead of the usual top-down initiative, AKKODiS embraced a field-led innovation model. The company’s strongest customer relationships are through its field of engineers and consultants. In recognition of this cohort’s experience, the company trusted the people closest to the work to lead transformation. “The field understands challenges at the most practical level,” says Kawasaki. “Transformation is most sustainable when it’s driven by those who experience the work firsthand.

“The most effective way to identify where AI should be introduced is through the fusion of client insights and frontline experience, transforming tacit knowledge into explicit, actionable processes. This isn’t something a traditional IT services company can easily do,” acknowledges Kawasaki. “It’s possible because AKKODiS works directly on the ground and is embedded in our clients’ operations. That proximity allows us to see real pain points, understand the nuances of daily work, and pinpoint the processes where AI delivers the greatest impact.” 

This approach unlocked the collective intelligence of the workforce. Senior employees turn deep expertise into digital solutions, while younger talent lean on AI to automate and innovate faster. “Technology should amplify human potential,” Kawasaki emphasizes. “By democratizing innovation with Microsoft Power Platform and Copilot, we’re turning Japan’s demographic challenge into a source of sustainable growth and creativity.” 

A culture of ownership and speed

Employees who had never coded before began designing applications and automating workflows with Power Platform. “It’s not just engineers driving change anymore. Everyone, from sales to HR, is building solutions to everyday challenges. It’s changed our culture from one of ‘IT-dependent transformation’ to ‘everyone-driven innovation,’” says Risa Kawaguchi, Business Manager at AKKODiS.

This shift in mindset, from passive users to active creators, fueled a culture of ownership. “Employees are no longer waiting for transformation to happen to them,” says Kawasaki. “They are driving it themselves.”

Measurable impact, meaningful change

Consultants, engineers, and employees at AKKODiS built workflow improvements with Power Platform and Copilot Studio for a range of scenarios. Among them are enabling simple searchability for invoices, standardizing the gross profit calculation, and automating billing requests. A budgeting workflow, built with Power Apps and Power Automate, eliminates the need for workers to nudge their bosses to approve the request. “It sounds simple, but it’s a game changer. It’s very stressful to ask my boss to approve a budget, but now that step is automated. It’s more efficient, and it’s better for morale,” notes Kawaguchi.

Altogether, automated workflows are saving AKKODiS employees more than 15,800 hours annually, worth about $380,000. In addition, Copilot improved productivity across the organization by 18%, with 95% monthly active use within six months of deployment.

Externally, a client feedback app built in Power Apps standardized response processes and boosted satisfaction, evident in a 13-point increase in year-over-year client Net Promoter Score. 

The AKKODiS team sees incremental workflow improvements differently in the wake of these successes. “Now that we know what Microsoft Power Platform and Copilot can do, we’ve completely shifted how we want to transform our business,” says Sang Tae Woo, VP at AKKODiS.

Ready for what’s next

With low-code and AI tools embedded across the company, AKKODiS is now exploring agent-based AI to automate low-risk decisions and deepen its citizen-developer community. “Our goal is to create a responsible AI ecosystem where human judgment, ethical oversight, and technology work hand in hand,” explains Kawasaki.

By transforming from the field up, AKKODiS isn’t just adapting to Japan’s demographic shift; it’s showing the way forward.

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