Akira Shimada

Akira Shimada leads NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone), Japan's largest telecommunications and IT services conglomerate with annual revenue exceeding ¥13 trillion. The NTT Group encompasses NTT DoCoMo (Japan's largest mobile operator with over 87 million subscribers), NTT Data (one of the world's largest IT services companies), NTT Communications, and regional telephone operating companies. Together, they operate the backbone of Japan's telecommunications infrastructure. NTT's most visionary initiative is the IOWN (Innovative Optical and Wireless Network) concept — a next-generation communications infrastructure based on photonics (light-based) processing rather than electronics. IOWN aims to reduce power consumption by 100x while increasing transmission capacity by 125x compared to current networks. This technology could be transformative for data center interconnects, AI computing infrastructure, and beyond-5G communications. NTT has invested trillions of yen and partnered with Intel, Sony, and others to develop IOWN. Shimada's execution on NTT DoCoMo's ARPU growth, NTT Data's global expansion, IOWN technology development, and the group's shareholder return trajectory are the primary drivers of the stock.