It used to be that a good career meant 40 years of showing up to the same job, day after day, before collecting your gold watch and retiring. Those days are no more. Consider the incredible trajectory of Rika Nakazawa – a leader who has made constant growth her mantra, and evolution her MO. After growing up in Japan, and graduating from Princeton, she spent time with a roll-call of the most impactful corporations of the budding 21st Century (Accenture, Nvidia, Sony) before taking on her current role as Chief of Commercial Innovation at the Japanese telecom giant, NTT. 

In Rika’s case, that title is more than just a buzzword: innovation is the central pillar of her world, and it runs through everything she does. Rika is also an author – her best-selling book, Dear Chairwoman, collects the testimonies of some of the most powerful women working at board level today – and an influential seed investor. For all that striving, she was rewarded last year with a spot on Forbes’ 50<50 Innovation List.

In this far-ranging conversation, Rika brings us step by step through her remarkable journey. We see how a childhood spent moving between two distinct cultures prepared her for a lifetime of adaptation at the heart of an always-shifting industry. Somewhere along the way, she arrived at the inspiring ethos that still guides her today. Who cares about a gold watch anyway?

Rewire is a Cup & Nuzzle production for the GSMA

Series Producers: Abby Hollick & Frank Palmer

Producer: Louise Sinnerton

Executive Producers: Graham Hodge & Matt Everitt

Production Manager: Maxim Taylor

GSMA:

Head of Brand & Content Strategy: Julie Mahoney

Global Creative Director: Andy Robinson 

Project Manager: Osaze Obazuaye 

Senior Video Creative: Christopher Waggott 

Copywriter: Rachel Holmes 

Video and Production Design: We Love Martha