Haruka Nagamuro · Chief Data Officer · Japan
I would bring a measurement discipline to a board that relies on customer data more than it may realise. Directors often see a model's accuracy, a partner's revenue or an AI tool's time saving without the definitions behind them. I can help a board ask what a figure counts, what it leaves out and what the customer was told. My experience covers consent design, advertising measurement, churn models, partner data arrangements and AI used in customer operations, all inside a regional company whose subscribers live near our staff. It does not include serving as a director, chairing a committee or leading a company's finances, and I would not present it as if it did. A first appointment should use what I know about data and measurement in audit or risk discussions, while I learn how a board balances that view against strategy, capital and people. I would also bring the habit of reporting my own mistakes plainly, which I think a board needs from management and should expect from its directors.
Presented to the Board or a committee
Board of directors; audit and supervisory board members
April 2022–present
Presents data risk, partner arrangements and AI use to the board twice a year, and reports personal-data reviews and incidents to the audit and supervisory board members; no directorship.
Reported to a committee
Internal compliance committee
2013–2016
Reported on catch-up viewing-data handling and advertising-measurement corrections to the broadcaster's compliance committee; not a member.
| Capacity | Committees |
|---|---|
| Ready to join | Audit and supervisory committee · Voluntary risk and compliance committee |
I am seeking a first outside directorship in a company that serves households directly and is increasing its use of their data. A regional railway or retail group with a loyalty programme, a care-service operator or a subscription business outside telecommunications would suit me. I would expect to sit on an audit and supervisory committee or a voluntary risk committee under an experienced chair. Japan's Corporate Governance Code asks listed companies to appoint independent outside directors, and I understand that a board choosing one wants judgement beyond the candidate's specialism. I would not claim expertise in finance, mergers or executive pay. A smaller company would suit me as well as a large one, provided its board takes customer-data questions seriously. I would bring an informed view of how customer data is created, measured and shared, and of the conversations a company should have with its customers before it uses that data in a new way.
The viewing-log decision was not a choice between legal and illegal options. Our lawyers thought an anonymised dataset could be provided with public notice. The question for the board was whether that route matched what our subscribers would expect, and what it would cost us if it did not. On another board I would ask management to describe a data use as the customer would experience it: the notice, the choice and the way out. I would ask how much revenue depends on the less transparent route and how that figure would change under consent. I would not assume that the cautious answer is always right; sometimes a lawful use without consent is reasonable. The board should choose with the trade-off visible, and with someone accountable for explaining it to customers if challenged.
My churn model ranked customers accurately and still directed money to the wrong households. Boards often receive a model's performance figures without asking what action follows a score and whether that action works. As a director I would ask who reviewed the model's inputs, which groups of customers it scores differently, and whether management measures the effect of the intervention or only the accuracy of the prediction. I would expect frontline staff to have seen the inputs. I would also ask how a model's owner learns that it is wrong. In my case a contact-centre supervisor told me. A board should know whether such a route exists, because the people who notice first are rarely the people who present to directors.
In the first months I would read the minutes and committee papers of the previous two years to see which customer-data and technology questions the board has already discussed and how they were resolved. I would ask the company secretary to arrange time with the heads of customer operations, internal audit and information security, and with the person who handles customer complaints. Visiting a store, a depot or a call centre would teach me how the company's data is created. At meetings I would ask fewer questions than I wanted to, and make each one about a definition, an owner or a measure of effect. Before the first annual evaluation I would ask the chair and the other outside directors where my contribution had helped and where I had strayed into management's work. I expect the second answer to be useful. A data executive can easily drift into designing the solution herself, which is not a director's job.
Tamakazura has relationships that could reach a prospective board: the mobile network operator that hosts our resold service, an electricity retailer that bundles with our broadband, municipalities, advertising and technology partners, and several vendors. Before accepting any introduction I would list those relationships for the company's chair and its advisers, and I would decline a seat at a competitor, a partner or a significant supplier of ours. If a matter touching one of those organisations reached the board, I would declare it and leave the discussion. Information needs an equally firm boundary. I would not bring subscriber records, pricing or partner terms from Tamakazura into another boardroom, and I would not carry the other company's information back. My president would need to approve the appointment under our rules for outside posts. If a major change at Tamakazura, such as a platform migration, required more of my time, I would tell the chair early.
I am a full-time executive of Tamakazura Cable Networks, and its owners, partners and suppliers would be relevant to any assessment of my independence. That assessment belongs to the company and its advisers under the rules that apply to it; I would supply whatever details they request and accept their conclusion.
IICA Independent Directors’ Databank: Not yet registered
The Indian Independent Directors' Databank does not apply to my market. My board interest is in Japanese companies, and I have not registered with it.