#AI Innovation #Data Cloud #Snowflake World Tour

Exploring AI Innovations at Snowflake World Tour Tokyo 2025

The Snowflake World Tour Tokyo took place on September 11 and 12, 2025, at the Grand Prince Hotel Shin Takanawa. Stronger than ever, this year's event featured over 90 sessions, doubling last year's scale and showcasing customer stories and insights from partner companies. Notably, AI-focused sessions drew significant attention from attendees, reflecting the growing impact of AI in business today.

Day 1 Highlights

AI Agents at the Forefront

One of the standout sessions on Day 1 was presented by Masato Takada, Senior Applied Field Engineer at Snowflake, focusing on AI agent services built using Snowpark container services. AI agents and the Model Context Protocol (MCP) are predicted to be hot topics as we move towards 2025. Takada demonstrated how to implement and operate various MCP servers within Snowflake using its container services, showcasing a new era of AI service delivery.

He emphasized several key advantages of the Snowpark container service, such as operational simplicity, proximity to data, and a unified approach to governance and security. Takada highlighted Snowflake’s robust security features, saying, “The ability to centrally manage who accesses which data and what actions are permitted on the Snowpark container service is the greatest appeal.”

During his demonstration, Takada illustrated how workflow tools equipped with AI agent features can automate processes seamlessly, from data analysis to visualization. He provided real-world examples, including extracting text from handwritten images and executing analyses instantly using AI agents.

Additionally, Takada revealed the latest updates on the Snowpark container service, including significant enhancements to monitoring features and the introduction of new capabilities for data processing workflows. He disclosed plans for upcoming features like native support for OpenFlow and integration with external repositories.

Creating Value through AI Cloud

Another compelling discussion centered on overcoming barriers to AI adoption in business. Led by Alyona Richardson, Head of Value Engineering APJ at Snowflake, and Toh Ko, Value Engineering Lead for Japan and South Korea, the session addressed how organizations can turn AI's potential into measurable gains despite security and complexity challenges.

Richardson emphasized the importance of beginning AI projects with concrete business issues rather than technology itself, stating, “Successful companies start with clear, measurable business outcomes.” She explained that this approach allows businesses to utilize AI meaningfully and prioritize projects effectively.

Toh showcased the case of a tech startup in Japan struggling to increase paid membership for its communication tool. By leveraging Snowflake’s container services, the company was able to reduce maintenance costs and improve development efficiency, thereby validating Snowflake’s effectiveness as an AI enabler.

Day 2 Insights

Advancing Data and AI Governance

On Day 2, Masaya Yanase, Principal Security Architect at Snowflake, discussed the latest governance and security functionalities of the Horizon Catalog. The session revolved around how this innovative tool offers new features for managing and protecting data and AI assets, with a strong focus on security and governance.

The Horizon Catalog is designed around five essential functions: governance, security, privacy, interoperability, and collaboration. Yanase introduced the new