SMBC Group to Acquire 10% Stake in AI Specialist ExaWizards to Drive Financial DX and Product Innovation

Norbert Gehrke

02 Apr 2026 — 2 min read

SMBC Group has entered into a strategic capital and business alliance with ExaWizards, a prominent AI solution provider. Under the terms of the agreement, SMFG will acquire a 10% voting stake in ExaWizards through a third-party allotment of shares.

The deal, valued at approximately 5.395 billion yen (approx. $35.6 million USD), underscores a deepening trend of "mega-banks" integrating advanced artificial intelligence into their core operations to combat labor shortages and modernize customer services.

SMFG will purchase 9,550,000 common shares of ExaWizards at a price of 565 yen per share. The transaction is scheduled for completion with a payment deadline of April 16, 2026. Following the issuance, SMFG will become a significant shareholder in the AI firm.

Strategic Rationale

The partnership marks a shift from using AI for simple data analysis to deploying "autonomous agents" capable of handling complex financial tasks. According to the release, SMBC Group intends to leverage ExaWizards' technical expertise to:

Accelerate DX: Implement AI across internal operations to radically improve productivity in the face of a shrinking labor pool.
Product Development: Co-create AI-driven financial products for SMBC’s client base.
Talent Integration: ExaWizards will provide specialized engineers to support SMBC Group’s internal AI development and implementation.

Management Outlook

Led by SMFG CEO Toru Nakashima and ExaWizards CEO Makoto Haruta, the alliance aims to blend SMBC’s deep financial industry knowledge with ExaWizards’ implementation capabilities. The companies have signaled that, in the medium term, they plan to jointly market and sell the AI products developed through this collaboration.

This move follows a period of rapid evolution in generative AI, with SMFG positioning itself to transition from a traditional financial intermediary to a tech-integrated service provider.

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