The Sophia Future Design Platform Office at Sophia University (hereinafter called Sophia) held a four-day “Innovation Boot Camp,” a short-term business course, with UC Berkeley Executive Education (hereinafter called Berkeley Exec Ed) and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business (hereinafter called Berkeley Haas) from November 17 to 20, 2025.
UC Berkeley is the top public university in the United States, leading the world in a wide range of fields including business, science, and technology. The university has produced over 100 Nobel laureates and produces the most venture-backed startups among all U.S. universities.
Berkeley Haas, founded in 1898 as the university’s business school, ranked third in the U.S. MBA rankings published by Bloomberg Businessweek in September 2025. The school is well known for world-class faculty with extensive Silicon Valley expertise and their cutting-edge innovation and business research. Notably, the late Ms. Sadako Ogata, Professor Emeritus at Sophia (former President of JICA), earned her Ph.D. at UC Berkeley.
In response to the high demand for programs on creating innovation in established global firms, as expressed in the feedback from member companies of the Sophia University Professional Studies (hereinafter called PS), a program designed for joint study in collaboration between industry and academia, Sophia launched this new course in the 2024 academic year with Berkeley Exec Ed and Berkeley Haas, a world leading institution in innovation and entrepreneurship education, to deliver a new type of executive education.
From Berkeley Haas, Dr. Homa Bahrami, specializing in organizational flexibility and dynamic global leadership, and Dr. Saikat Chaudhuri, specializing in corporate growth and innovation, and strategic deployment of technological disruption (such as AI), delivered the hands-on lectures. From Sophia, Mr. Naohiro Nishiguchi, the Special Appointment Professor, who is a serial entrepreneur and has held executive and leadership positions in several organizations, including the World Bank Group, supported the participants in implementing what they learned in the Berkeley Haas sessions in their own organizations.
The participants were primarily executives, general managers, and emerging leaders from PS member companies and Sophia’s partner companies. The 58 participants were a diverse group of business leaders from 28 companies representing a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, finance, aviation, transportation, construction, and consulting.
Dr. Chaudhuri’s first session focused on the mindset and conditions of successful startup founders by watching the video of a founder, followed by case studies on the challenges of managing innovation in established global companies and how to address innovation from both inside and outside the company. He passionately called upon the participants to realize that Japan already boasts cultural strengths and competitive advantages in areas such as robotics and deep tech, where it has the potential to lead the world. He also emphasized that Japan need not follow Silicon Valley’s example, stressing the importance of building a tailored ecosystem that fosters innovation within Japan instead.
Additionally, based on case studies from over 30 multinational corporations, he outlined the challenges and seven pitfalls that companies face in the strategic deployment of AI, provided clear metrics for measuring readiness, and led a group discussion on where the company is now and what actions should be taken next. In this session, he explained that successful leaders excel in organizational development and strategy by understanding their goals and how to build the appropriate team and approach to achieve them.
In Dr. Bahrami’s session, based on the challenges of innovation in the VUCA era, she introduced five Adaptive DNA, key characteristics of successful innovators, which she identified based on her field survey of approximately 12,000 innovation leaders. The results of the assessment test taken by the Innovation Boot Camp participants were distributed to each individual, shared with the group, and compared with the results of successful innovators of the past to determine what adaptive DNA could be used and practiced in order to improve their teams’ innovation.
She also provided practical steps and checklists, as well as case studies on driving innovation and influencing stakeholders and supervisors. The participants reflected on their best and worst experiences in driving innovation and shared practical lessons learned with the entire group. In this session, she explained that “we believe that in creating innovation, the goal is not to aim for a perfect, major success from the very beginning. By accumulating small successes—baby steps—we can build confidence and credibility, ultimately enabling us to achieve transformative change.”
On the last day of the session, led by Mr. Nishiguchi, each company was divided into groups to discuss and analyze the insights from the Berkeley Haas sessions in order to implement them in their own companies. To wrap up the course, each company gave a presentation on the topic of their own outstanding press release in the year 2030 from the perspective of creating the future through a journey of transformation.
The program concluded with a ceremony where participants received certificates of completion jointly issued by our university and Berkeley Exec Ed.
In this course, group members were rotated from session to session throughout the program, creating an environment in which discussions could be held with different members each time. This approach aligns with the concept of “cross-pollination”—learning from people in different industries and with different values rather than staying within one’s comfort zone.
After each day’s program, networking opportunities were arranged to give participants the chance to interact with people from a variety of industries and professions and almost all participants attended.
The participant experience, based on faculty and staff observation, and based on the participant satisfaction evaluations, was incredible, including systematic and practical learning of strategies and organizational theory for creating innovation, based on the world’s cutting-edge insights.
Both Sophia and Berkeley are proud of the Innovation Boot Camp and the impact it delivered to the participants, their companies and the innovation ecosystem in Japan.
Results of the Participant Satisfaction Questionnaire (Response rate 76%):
The results from the participant satisfaction survey were extraordinarily positive, with the Innovation Boot Camp qualifying for “Club 6” status, a designation reserved for Berkeley programs that score 6 or greater in all categories, for two consecutive years. The average score also increased compared to last year.
| Evaluation Item | Score | % |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Average Confidence in application of material score | 6.11 / 7 | 87% |
| 2. ROI score | 6.45 / 7 | 92% |
| 3. Average Faculty teaching effectiveness score | 6.48 / 7 | 93% |
| 4. Average Program experience score | 6.61 / 7 | 94% |
| 5. Average Customer service satisfaction score | 6.61 / 7 | 94% |
Comments from participants (excerpts):
Overall:
“The course systematically and practically covered strategies and organizational theory for driving innovation. It was highly valuable, offering new insights, rediscoveries, and substantial learning.”
“I gained an understanding of how to solve challenges I have encountered personally and within organizations, and I learned from world-leading knowledge.”
“The group discussions and interactive lectures were passionate and excellent.”
“It was extremely intensive and stimulating. The knowledge and network gained here are invaluable assets, and I am deeply honored to have had this opportunity.”
“There is no other opportunity that allows for such thorough discussions among representatives from different companies.”
“It is desirable for participation by more than one member to be planned for. For instance, next year, we could elect one department head-level and one section chief/division manager-level representative. This would enable us to explore innovation from the perspectives of both management and frontline supervisors.”
Each session:
“The emphasis on leveraging Japan’s strengths while learning about Silicon Valley’s ecosystem resonated deeply.”
“The Adaptive DNA assessment was fascinating. When I assume a management role, I want to experiment with organizational structures that leverage my strengths and weaknesses, as well as those of my team members.”
“The program structure, which included a thorough review on the final day, was brilliant. Reflecting on the lecture content and considering future actions through discussions with our own team members was extremely valuable.”
Innovation Boot Camp 2026:
Innovation Boot Camp 2026 is scheduled to be held from Monday, November 16th to Thursday, November 19th in collaboration with UC Berkeley Exec Ed and Berkeley Haas. Specific details will be announced on the Sophia Future Design Platform Office official website.