I see great potential for both growing the business and creating social impact through Recruit Group's very human-centric matching services with high-quality and comprehensive data.
I believe that Stitch Fix, which I founded, has also contributed to bettering people's lives through the use of AI. Traditionally, stylists were only for very expensive clothes in the high-end market, but Stitch Fix’s platform created a new market for stylists to make suggestions for more affordable clothing, where more customers’ needs are. In other words, the company created totally new jobs for stylists that didn't exist before and gave users access to affordable stylists.
The same could be said of Recruit Group. For example, if the 'Simplify Hiring' strategy is further promoted in the future, the use of AI will make the hiring process more efficient, making it much easier and faster for jobseekers to find the right job and employers to hire the right people. I can see that being able to quickly find the right job improves the quality of life of workers, and I believe, looking back my own time as an employer, that employers will appreciate having more time to devote to their core business.
Entrepreneurship, which I have always valued myself, is part of Recruit Group’s corporate culture since its founding, and I believe that it is the key to its long-term growth. As an entrepreneur who started Stitch Fix at the age of 28, I have always valued the idea of betting on my passion, even if it sometimes means taking risks. I sense that same spirit in people at Recruit Group, and I believe that betting on passions and entrepreneurial individuals’ ambitions to realize bold business transformations and growth is what the history of Recruit Group is all about.
I believe the company will continue to transform and grow for many decades to come by staying true to this time-tested philosophy. I look forward to contributing to this growth by fully utilizing my experience as a CEO, entrepreneur and my knowledge of technology businesses that leverage AI and data science.
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Katrina Lake
Katrina Lake
Independent Director (Non-Executive) Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd.
Katrina Lake serves as an Independent Director of Recruit Holdings’ Board since 2023. Katrina is the Executive Chairperson of the Board of Stitch Fix, Inc., a technology platform based in the US that offers personal online styling services. Katrina brings a wealth of experience and extensive knowledge from serving as an Independent Director for companies such as Grubhub, Inc., a global food delivery service provider and Glossier, Inc., a cosmetics brand. Katrina joined EY-Parthenon (formerly The Parthenon Group) in 2005, and in 2011, after working for Leader Ventures, LLC, she founded Stitch Fix, Inc.. In 2017, Stitch Fix, Inc. was listed on NASDAQ, making her the youngest female CEO ever to be listed on the stock exchange.