Tokyo, Japan – Hakuhodo has announced the global rollout of ‘Virtual Sei-katsu-sha’, an AI-powered solution designed to create virtual personas by combining human insights with generative AI, following its initial launch in Japan.
The platform builds on Hakuhodo’s long-standing sei-katsu-sha insight approach by integrating the company’s proprietary research data, client databases, and marketing expertise from multiple markets with generative AI technology developed in collaboration with H+ Intelligence. According to the company, the solution can continuously generate a broad and evolving set of virtual personas that reflect diverse sei-katsu-sha types across more than 20 countries and over 30 languages.
These virtual personas are intended to surface opinions, needs, and emotions without the constraints typically associated with traditional user research. Hakuhodo said the platform allows for repeated interactions that can reveal deeper insights into how products and brands are perceived, supporting use cases that include marketing strategy, product development, organisational design, ideation, and workshops. The solution is also positioned as a way to reduce the time, location, and cost limitations of conventional interviews.
The user interface and experience of Virtual Sei-katsu-sha have been designed to encourage creativity, with features ranging from text-based interactions aimed at eliciting emotional responses to conversational interfaces that simulate discussions among multiple personas.
In Japan, the company said the solution has been adopted by several clients to evaluate pre-market campaign strategies and creative concepts. In some cases, insights generated through the platform were used to refine strategies and inform the development of campaign concepts that were later expanded into broader brand engagement initiatives.
Following this early adoption, Hakuhodo reported growing interest in the solution across Asia. Pilot programmes in several Asian markets have been conducted to validate strategic directions, test creative ideas, and identify local insights. The company said these pilots demonstrated the platform’s adaptability across different cultural contexts and supported its potential as a scalable regional offering.
The global rollout is intended to make the Virtual Sei-katsu-sha solution available to clients worldwide, with the aim of supporting more efficient marketing decision-making and idea development.
Shohei Kurita, chief developer of Virtual Sei-katsu-sha, creative director/technologist, and executive manager of Hakuhodo’s CX Creative Division, said, “By harnessing generative AI to ‘recreate’ real sei-katsu-sha in Virtual Sei-katsu-sha, our goal is not only to deepen and broaden understanding of sei-katsu-sha, but also to unlock new possibilities of imagination that drive innovation and meaningful connections between sei-katsu-sha and brands.”
They added, “One day, I hope to recreate the world’s eight billion people as virtual sei-katsu-sha, enabling a future where everyone can access and understand individual voices.”
Meanwhile, Yusuke Miyabe, managing director of H+ Thailand, Hakuhodo International Thailand, and deputy general manager of Hakuhodo’s Asia DX Strategy Division, said, “We regard AI not simply as a tool for efficiency, but as a partner in imagination. By evolving our Sei-katsu-sha Insight philosophy through AI, we aim to go beyond solving clients’ business challenges to also address the hidden issues of society and sei-katsu-sha’s everyday lives—creating meaningful change for sei-katsu-sha and communities alike.”
They added, “As 2025 marks the dawn of the AI agent era, we have established a framework to bring Virtual Sei-katsu-sha to the world. With a future where sei-katsu-sha and brands can co-create insight, we will continue to embed sei-katsu-sha insight into every aspect of planning, designing new forms of value, and evolving ourselves as we deliver sei-katsu-sha value design globally.”
