Channel Corporation, provider of the customer-understanding AI agent service “Channel Talk” (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Japan CEO: Choi Jae-yong; hereinafter “the Company”), announced that it established a new CCO, or Chief Customer Officer, role in Japan as of May 1, 2026, with Ei Utsunomiya appointed to the position. The appointment is intended to further support business growth for client companies by strengthening customer success strategy and fully advancing customer experience, or CX, initiatives that utilize VOC, Voice of Customer, as a management resource. Background: With the spread of generative AI, the nature of corporate customer support and customer communication is changing significantly. At the same time, many companies face challenges such as not knowing how to connect AI adoption to customer experience and business outcomes, or being unable to use customer feedback across the organization. As a result, important customer voices, including requests and complaints that should lead to product improvements, better services, and new business opportunities, are often buried within daily support operations. “Channel Talk,” provided by the Company, is an AI business messenger adopted by more than 230,000 companies globally to solve communication challenges between businesses and customers. Centered on the AI agent “ALF,” it continues to evolve beyond customer support automation into a solution that simultaneously improves customer understanding, response quality, and productivity. Against this backdrop, the Company has established the new CCO role in its Japanese entity to further strengthen customer success support for client companies, advance customer experience strategy, and promote the use of VOC as a management resource. Utsunomiya’s priorities as CCO: Upon taking office, Utsunomiya has set three key themes. First, redefining customer success: transforming CS from a mere support and success department into a growth driver that leads business gro