Takafumi Ochiai is a Senior Partner at Atsumi & Sakai, one of Japan’s leading law firms, where he also serves as Head of the Policy Research Institute. He began his legal career specializing in intellectual property and insolvency law, and has since expanded his practice to technology law, regulatory policy, AI governance, digital transformation, and cross-border data frameworks. He advises clients on data usage rights, licensing, and contractual restrictions—essential elements of supply chain management in complex technology and data transactions.

Mr. Ochiai holds several prominent government advisory positions in Japan, including Chair of the Startup Innovation Promotion Working Group of the Regulatory Reform Council under the Cabinet Office and Counselor to the Cabinet Secretariat on data policy. He is an expert member of the Study Group on New Governance Models in Society 5.0, where he contributed to Japan’s agile governance framework—an adaptive, multi-stakeholder approach enabling flexible regulatory responses and dynamic risk management in rapidly evolving technological environments. He has led its implementation across regulatory reform, digitalization, and data policy initiatives, including the AI Business Guidelines of the Japanese government.
Mr. Ochiai is Co-Founder of Smart Governance Inc., where he supports adoption of the agile governance framework for new technologies, particularly AI, in the private sector. He serves as Distinguished Visiting Professor at Keio University Graduate School of Media Design, teaching digital policy and governance frameworks. He holds a degree in mathematics from Keio University’s Faculty of Science and Technology and is admitted to practice law in Japan (Bengoshi).