When does the contest start and how are ideas evaluated?

The second contest begins in February 2025. Ideas are evaluated on how employees think about using AI within their role and how they design the implementation process—not on whether the idea is immediately executable. Winning ideas advance through phases, with the final certification expected in April 2026, followed by ongoing annual cycles.

What is the AI Practice Certification program?

It is a ranking system that evaluates employees on their understanding and practical application of AI. Levels are defined by increasing sophistication: from recognizing AI value at an individual level ("beginner"), to applying it within one's team ("intermediate"), to driving organization-wide adoption ("leader"), to pioneering new use cases ("innovator"). Rankings are published in October 2025 and annually thereafter.

Why does Cyber Agent reject feasibility as a requirement?

The company believes that feasibility constraints at the idea stage can suppress creative thinking. By removing that barrier, Cyber Agent wants to surface bold use cases first, then develop the implementation strategy afterward—giving employees and leaders room to imagine how AI could transform their work before asking how to build it.

ITmedia AI＋Aug 3, 2026Aug 4, 2026, 01:01 JST

Cyber Agent launches AI contest with ¥10M prize, but rejects feasibility demands

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3 Key Points

What happened
Cyber Agent announced a second AI contest starting in February 2025, with prize money of ¥10 million for selected ideas. The contest explicitly states that "feasibility is not required," departing from typical innovation competitions that demand practical implementation timelines.
Why it matters
The company is signaling that it wants raw creative ideas about AI use cases from its employees—not just polished projects ready to deploy. This reflects a shift in Cyber Agent's AI adoption strategy: rather than waiting for employees to build finished solutions, leadership is asking employees to surface ideas and then develop them into actual practice through a structured process. The contest winner advances through multiple phases, culminating in practical rollout by April 2026.
What to watch
The company has also launched an "AI Practice Certification" program that rates employees on their understanding and application of AI across a defined framework (levels span "beginner" through "innovator"). By October 2025, Cyber Agent will publish rankings; the certification repeats annually afterward. This signals the company sees AI literacy as a measurable, ongoing competency across the organization.

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Context & Analysis

Cyber Agent's AI strategy reflects a broader challenge facing large organizations: how to scale AI adoption beyond a few specialists or early adopters. The company began exploring AI applications in 2016, but ChatGPT's 2022 launch accelerated interest across all divisions. Rather than concentrate AI work in a dedicated team, Cyber Agent is now investing in organization-wide capability—which requires both structural mechanisms (the contest, the certification) and a cultural shift (permission to think speculatively about AI without immediate deliverables).

The contest and certification are designed to work together. The contest surfaces and rewards creative thinking; the certification measures how deeply AI understanding has penetrated the broader workforce. By publishing rankings and creating visible pathways to higher levels, the company signals that AI fluency is now a valued competency alongside traditional skills. This also creates accountability: leaders can see which teams and individuals are adopting AI, and employees have a clear ladder for advancement tied to AI capability.

The emphasis on "feasibility is not required" is particularly telling. It suggests that Cyber Agent views the bottleneck not as lack of ideas but as organizational reluctance to imagine beyond existing constraints. By decoupling ideation from execution, the company hopes to unlock use cases that employees might otherwise dismiss as "too risky" or "not our department's job."

FAQ

When does the contest start and how are ideas evaluated?: The second contest begins in February 2025. Ideas are evaluated on how employees think about using AI within their role and how they design the implementation process—not on whether the idea is immediately executable. Winning ideas advance through phases, with the final certification expected in April 2026, followed by ongoing annual cycles.
What is the AI Practice Certification program?: It is a ranking system that evaluates employees on their understanding and practical application of AI. Levels are defined by increasing sophistication: from recognizing AI value at an individual level ("beginner"), to applying it within one's team ("intermediate"), to driving organization-wide adoption ("leader"), to pioneering new use cases ("innovator"). Rankings are published in October 2025 and annually thereafter.
Why does Cyber Agent reject feasibility as a requirement?: The company believes that feasibility constraints at the idea stage can suppress creative thinking. By removing that barrier, Cyber Agent wants to surface bold use cases first, then develop the implementation strategy afterward—giving employees and leaders room to imagine how AI could transform their work before asking how to build it.

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