Ricoh Company, Ltd. (President and CEO: Akira Ohyama, hereinafter "Ricoh") and Rise Consulting Group Co., Ltd. (President and CEO: Ryudai Matsuoka, hereinafter "Rise Consulting Group"), a consulting firm focused on AI and digital technologies, have jointly established a new venture, Ricoh AI Consulting Co., Ltd., to support the realization of AX (AI Transformation) (Note 1) aimed at solving corporate management challenges. The new joint venture will integrate Ricoh Group's customer base, customer engagement capabilities, AI foundational technologies, and AI solution delivery strengths with Rise Consulting Group's proven consulting expertise in strategy formulation, implementation, and utilization within the AI and digital domains. This combined strength will provide end-to-end support for optimal AI adoption and successful integration within client organizations. Background of Establishment In recent years, while many companies have advanced initiatives to leverage generative AI, challenges such as "uncertainty about which operations to apply it to" and "difficulty sustaining AI after implementation" have become apparent. To effectively link AI with actual business transformation and tangible results, it is increasingly important to provide continuous support from conceptualization through implementation and stabilization. Ricoh has been developing and providing AI technologies and solutions, and in 2025 announced "Hi.DEEN" (Note 2), an AI technology platform designed to utilize tacit knowledge and unstructured data accumulated within enterprises. Meanwhile, Rise Consulting Group has built strengths in providing end-to-end support—from strategic planning to implementation and operational integration—along with deep, hands-on consulting that works closely with client teams on the ground. Recognizing that combining their respective strengths would enable them to reliably translate AI value into actual business outcomes and deliver more effective AX support, the two co