STANDARD Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Kai Ito; hereinafter "the Company"), which supports the promotion and in-house development of digital transformation (hereinafter "DX") for over 1,500 companies, primarily large enterprises, has released a white paper that analyzes the changes in evaluation criteria that occurred in the 2026 DX survey and explains what "AI-First DX Promotion" entails. Background Currently, many companies working on DX promotion aim to be selected for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's "DX Stock Selection." However, not a few companies proceed with preparations based on extensions of conventional measures without realizing the fundamental changes in evaluation criteria. This document analyzes the changes in evaluation criteria that occurred in the 2026 DX survey, analyzes the dividing points between selected and non-selected companies, and explains "AI-First DX Promotion," which integrates AI into strategy at the management level, in an era where "merely utilizing AI in individual measures" is insufficient. Based on our track record of supporting selected companies for fiscal year 2026, we propose a practical approach to achieving stock selection. White Paper Overview Structural changes in evaluation criteria for DX Survey 2026 Four hypotheses that differentiated selected and non-selected companies Organization of the 5 domains required by the Digital Governance Code 3.0 Annual roadmap for stock selection from July to December View White Paper ■ About STANDARD Inc. With the mission to "Make human-centric digital transformation the standard," our company leads the in-house development of DX for Japanese companies. Leveraging the knowledge gained from our extensive support experience with over 1,500 companies, we provide one-stop services from human resource development to strategy planning and AI implementation. We advocate for a "human"-centered transformation that changes employee mindsets. Through our unique