Mercari’s mission is to circulate all forms of value to unleash the potential in all people. And since discussion is the lifeblood of any organization, to achieve our mission we must create an environment that dissolves communication barriers, empowering members of diverse backgrounds to contribute to discussions equally.

With the developments in AI technology, the way multilingual communication unfolds is dramatically changing as well. The challenge is no longer about merely converting one language to another—today, we’re examining how humans can leverage AI to achieve deep understanding and inclusive discussions. This also requires redefining how we behave. That’s why Mercari has recently established a set of Inclusive Meeting Guidelines.

We spoke with members from the Global Operations Team (GOT, handling interpretation and translation) and the Language Education Team (LET) who were involved in formulating these guidelines. We asked the three of them about the background of the initiative and why human mindset remains important even as technology evolves. 

Pressing challenges in multilingual environments: Information disparities lowering the quality of discussions 

—Mercari is known for being a multicultural and multilingual organization that uses both Japanese and English as common languages. What were the challenges within the organization before the Inclusive Meeting Guidelines and Toolkits were introduced?

@Eri: The Global Operations Team (GOT) offers interpretation and translation support for communication throughout the organization—from company-wide meetings and events to team discussions. One of the challenges we noticed was an unconscious tendency for meetings to be conducted in a way that favors a particular language.

For example, documentation tools like Notion have excellent translation features, and even if a page is written in Japanese, people can view it in their preferred language. However, in actual meetings at Mercari, materials are shared on screen and participants refer to the information and comments displayed while holding discussions at a rapid pace. If the visual information shared on screen is in only one language, it inevitably creates a disparity in the information participants ha

@sherry: Even if participants have translated versions of the materials, having to cross-reference the information on screen with the translation and quickly jump into the discussion creates a significant cognitive load for participants. As a result, people aren’t able to participate freely in meetings or perform to their full potential at work.

@Eri: When participants only have interpretation audio to rely on, they may hesitate to even make spontaneous comments.

There have been cases where we’ve had to provide consecutive interpretation (in which the interpreter speaks after the speaker pauses) instead of simultaneous interpretation due to limitations around meeting tools and interpretation resources. This can disrupt the momentum of discussions and make it hard for participants to find the right timing to speak up, especially in large meetings. It’s one of the reasons we’ve now established an environment with the tools and resources to offer bidirectional simultaneous interpretation company wide. This makes it easier for everyone to participate in discussions and helps meetings achieve their intended objectives.

@Maz: As part of the Language Education Team (LET), it’s my job to look at Mercari’s workplace environment through the lens of language education. In a multilingual environment, it’s inevitable that someone will be left behind unless an effort is made to prevent that from happening.

That’s also the issue that Yasashii (Easy & Kind) Communication aims to solve. Not everyone is either 100% fluent or completely inarticulate in English or Japanese. At Mercari, there are many English speakers for whom English isn’t their native language, and others for whom Japanese is their third language. Each individual’s linguistic background varies, and their proficiency levels also differ widely. Regardless of whether someone is a beginner or a high-intermediate speaker of a language, they likely cannot perform as well in that language as they could in their strongest language. Participating in a discussion using a language that you’re not entirely fluent in is more taxing than you’d imagine, so I was acutely aware that disparities would inevitably arise in a multicultural, multilingual environment.

How we achieve inclusion despite the challenges of holding discussions in a culturally and linguistically unique environment is critical to leveling disparities within the organization.

Why Mercari chooses Japanese and English over one official language

—Many global companies opt to use English as their official language. Tell us about why Mercari chooses to use both Japanese and English, and the background behind GOT’s interpretation and translation support as well as LET’s language education initiatives.

@Maz: First of all, Mercari operates in a business environment where both Japanese and English are essential. Depending on roles and responsibilities, some work requires Japanese, while other work requires English. But the most important reason is because using both languages aligns with Mercari’s Group mission, “Circulate all forms of value to unleash the potential in all people.”  With this in mind, declaring either English or Japanese our official language would make an extremely powerful statement and grant authority to one language. That would create a hierarchy based on language, placing those who are not proficient in the given language at a disadvantage. As a result, instead of unleashing people’s potential, we could end up limiting it. That’s why we believe picking a single official language would not align with our mission.

@Eri: When diverse talent from around the world, regardless of background, are able to come together and maximize their performance as individuals, this also maximizes the strength of our organization as a whole. Overcoming differences in language and culture to repeatedly hold high-quality discussions and make high-quality decisions that maximize our results is how we move forward to achieve our mission. This is one of Mercari’s significant strengths, and I believe it is a very unique aspect of our organization, too.

The need for human mediation in cross-language communication amidst the spread of AI

—The development of AI and LLMs is lowering the barrier to cross-language communication. Why is it still necessary to create “guidelines” for human behavior? Tell us about the practices recommended at Mercari.

@sherry: Until now, even though we’ve recommended meetings be held inclusively, there were no specific actions or standards defined for what an inclusive meeting should look like. As a result, it was left up to each individual’s awareness and judgment, and there was no way to ensure that meetings across the entire company would live up to a certain standard of inclusivity. That’s why we introduced the Inclusive Meeting Guidelines to serve as the common standard.

@Eri: Establishing this standard was one of the major goals of this initiative. Another thing we focused on when creating these guidelines was to not simply present a list of best practices, but to give each person the opportunity to discover how it applies to them. In doing so, we hope to establish a solid foundation for discussion for the organization. That’s why we also included a set of toolkits that allow people to experience what it’s like to be left behind in a discussion.

@sherry: Not everyone at Mercari experiences difficulties around language. Some people are bilingual in English and Japanese, and some people’s regular meetings are held in their preferred language. We especially need the cooperation of these people to help ensure meetings are inclusive for everyone, but it can be difficult for them to imagine the challenges that exist for others who are joining discussions in a language they’re not proficient in. That’s why we prepared a set of toolkits along with the guidelines. The toolkits consist of simulation videos that allow viewers to experience firsthand the difficulties and challenges of participating in meetings held in an unfamiliar language, and to foster an understanding of why it’s important to create an environment where everyone can participate effortlessly. From there, we hope people will use the toolkits and guidelines in their own teams to consider and discuss how to make meetings more inclusive for their members and situations.

@Maz: Until now, running multilingual meetings tended to rely on the efforts and support of a few members, and it was necessary to clearly articulate the mindsets for doing so. There are many factors that can complicate communication, and I believe one of them will be the significant change in how people work and behave as we move toward becoming an AI-Native organization. These guidelines are also extremely significant in denoting how people should adjust their behavior in such an environment.

@sherry: Technology is evolving very quickly, and best practices also differ by team. That’s why, in formulating the guidelines, we didn’t create specific instructions but rather focused on general points that can be applied to any meeting. They’re designed so that everyone can find the best practice for their own teams and situations.

@Eri: In the past, GOT has also implemented various initiatives to promote an inclusive environment, such as introducing a dedicated simultaneous interpretation tool and developing an automatic translation feature at an AI hackathon. The tool that GOT members created for translating documents and creating bilingual meeting minutes is currently used widely throughout the company.

As the company leverages AI more, our team has also established a translation policy that defines which texts can be machine translated with AI and which should be handled by a human translator. By clarifying translations that should be handled by GOT translators and areas that members can handle efficiently by leveraging AI, we’re ensuring that people can make the optimal choice.

@sherry: In the future as technology continues to evolve, we plan to not only continue revising those definitions, but also update the prompts and tips that we offer to help members generate higher-accuracy AI translations.

How Mercari’s foundation of Yasashii Communication coexists with AI

ーCould you tell us more about Yasashii Communication, which is so foundational to Mercari?

@Maz: As we all know, mastering English or Japanese takes time, no matter how hard we try—but given the speed of our business, it’s also not realistic to wait until everyone can communicate perfectly. In such an environment, it’s not just language learners who are expected to make an effort; native speakers also have to adjust their way of speaking to make it easier for others to understand them. We call this “meeting halfway.” Imagine there’s a discussion being held in English, but someone who is more comfortable in Japanese feels limited by their ability to convey what they want to say in English. They can supplement their explanation with Yasashii Nihongo, and others can offer support by conveying the point in English. Those fluent in English can also help by using words that are easier for English learners to understand. Both the speaker and the listener have a responsibility to establish communication using all the skills at their disposal.

—Does meeting halfway become unnecessary if we have AI?

@Maz: I believe it’s just the opposite. I don’t believe in the slightest that AI will solve all of our problems. In fact, I think Yasashii Communication is going to become even more important. It’s true that AI has made cross-language communication easier, but will we really be able to understand each other simply because we have AI to interpret and translate for us?

In reality, once the original communication blocker—a difference in languages—is eliminated, more intrinsic issues such as differences in context, individual values, and ways of thinking emerge. Only then do people realize that their inability to understand each other was more than a language problem. Once that’s revealed, people will find that AI can’t produce the results they want unless they consciously organize and structure their message and use Yasashii Communication to phrase what they’d like to say in a way that everyone can easily understand. Even in a world where AI steps in to help us communicate, I believe that it is more essential than ever for humans to organize information and clarify context.

@Eri: As Mercari moves toward becoming an AI-Native organization, it was a natural and meaningful step for us to include Yasashii Communication as part of the guidelines that we released to the entire company. It’s a crucial mindset that will become increasingly important in the future.

Small actions drive positive change 

—What kinds of change and feedback have you seen in the company since implementing these guidelines and initiatives?

@Eri: We’re slowly starting to notice visible changes. For instance, we’re seeing meeting organizers start the meeting with a quick note, saying, “If you need interpretation, please set it up now.” We’re also seeing presentation languages listed in advance on slides for events with large audiences. Other examples include meeting facilitators intentionally pausing for a few seconds to account for the delay in the simultaneous interpretation. While these may seem like small actions, such actions collectively are what create an inclusive meeting environment.

@sherry: In terms of translation, as well, we’re seeing people leverage AI to translate meeting minutes in real time, allowing everyone to follow along simultaneously. As the guidelines become more ingrained in people’s behavior, I hope that our ideal of what an inclusive meeting should be will become the norm and culture at Mercari.

@Maz: I have heard from members who received Yasashii Communication training that when they stumbled over their words during an English presentation, other people in the meeting reassured them saying, “It’s okay to use Japanese,” which helped them express their opinions with more confidence. Speaking up to intentionally lower psychological barriers for others is an important action toward creating active discussions. I’ve also heard people reflecting on their own statements and realizing, “My Japanese may have been unclear just now,” and making efforts to improve.

—Are you planning to update the content of the guidelines going forward?

@Eri: GOT has been conducting a proof of concept for AI-powered meeting interpretation. With this initiative, we’re exploring the hypothesis that offering AI interpretation as an additional option alongside human interpretation can lead to more scalable support for an inclusive environment without sacrificing the speed of our business. But what do we do when AI interpretation hallucinates or misinterprets the context during discussions? How do people step in to mediate and get communication back on track? We need to update the actions required of humans to mediate communication when AI is involved. Simply bringing in AI doesn’t lead to meaningful discussions if the conversations remain high-context. GOT and LET are working together to articulate how people can leverage AI effectively while also owning the ultimate responsibility for discussions and decision-making.

@Maz: Specifically, it’s important that people proactively notice when there is a gap in understanding and explain or rephrase what they’ve said in discussions where AI is involved. Until now, those of us in the field of language education have worked to define the actions required to mediate communication between people. However, in addition to that, we are now defining the role that humans should play to mediate communication when AI is added to the mix.

The future toward achieving our mission

—Finally, how will the organization and decision-making at Mercari have evolved in a future where these initiatives have fully taken root?

@Eri: Mercari is shifting further toward an AI-Native workstyle. As collaboration accelerates between members across different domains, creating an inclusive environment will become relevant to everyone. This means each and every one of us will have to take ownership of its creation. As long as we share and possess this mindset as an organization, I’m confident that we can decrease the friction associated with cross-language communication.

@Maz: What’s most important to us is that we enhance the quality of discussions, and an inclusive meeting environment is an absolute prerequisite for that. There is the dilemma that prioritizing inclusion may slow down decision-making, but our goal is to leverage AI and make inclusive decisions without sacrificing speed. That is the ideal environment we envision.

@sherry: At Mercari, we aim to create new value and services that have never been seen before. To do that, we need diverse perspectives. Mercari’s mission to “unleash the potential in all people” encompasses not only our users, but our employees as well. I believe that when everyone is able to share their ideas and hold high-quality discussions, our innovation will unleash the potential of people around the world.

—I feel like it’s extremely rare to see a company pursuing communication to the level that Mercari is, with cross-team collaboration between experts from GOT, LET, and I&D.

@Eri: For sure. The way we bring together highly-specialized members to tackle language and communication as an organization is truly unparalleled, and I’m extremely proud of that. I want us to collaborate and drive initiatives even more effectively to support the growth of Mercari.

Photographer: Tomohiro Takeshita