Empowering creativity with AI.

Expanding the concept of "images" to enable widespread usage.

In February 2024, Seibu Railway introduced Adobe Express internally with an initial 100 licenses. Paid training sessions were held, led by Adobe and coordinated primarily by the Information Systems Department. However, during discussions and interviews with various departments, a major misconception about AI-generated images became evident. Employees associated "images" strictly with creative tasks, prompting responses like, "Our department doesn't handle creative work, so this technology isn't relevant to us."

"The term 'image' itself seemed to cause confusion," explains Uchida. "To address this, we started highlighting practical, relatable examples such as virtual backgrounds for online meetings, to help employees visualize how generative AI could integrate into their everyday tasks. Additionally, we emphasized the Structure Reference feature in Adobe Express — something other generative AI tools don't offer — which greatly simplifies the image creation process."

Training sessions were held face-to-face. "We deliberately chose in-person training to encourage engagement and hands-on practice," Uchida explains. "Our goal was to deepen everyone's understanding of the possibilities with Adobe Express through direct experience." The training sessions included employees from diverse departments — from frontline workers in the Engineering Department responsible for railway maintenance, to staff based at the corporate headquarters.

Erina Iriguchi from the Marketing Department reflects positively on the experience: "The extensive template library offered in Adobe Express made it much easier to establish clear design directions. Also, we've had some interesting conversations about the personalized virtual backgrounds with employee portraits we created during training, which have been quite popular."

Currently, Seibu Group holds 300 Adobe Express licenses, with various departments actively using the skills and knowledge gained through the training sessions. The Marketing Department successfully brought in-house the creation of promotional materials for the "SEIBU Smile Link" campaign, including video advertisements displayed within trains, produced by Iriguchi. "We used Adobe Express templates to produce a 15-second video advertisement shown on the Smile Vision screens positioned above train doors. Previously, this type of task would have been outsourced, but we managed to complete it internally in roughly a week," explains Iriguchi.

Saho Maezawa, who manages the "Seibu Railway Kids Club," a membership service for children up to sixth grade, also regularly uses Adobe Express features for creating event posters. "I frequently use features such as background removal, image resizing, and generative AI-based image extensions," says Maezawa. "By customizing Adobe Express templates, I can produce event posters in about half a day."

The Engineering Department uses Adobe Express to create explanatory videos that clearly communicate construction details to local residents. These videos illustrate vehicle movements and work procedures using animations and graphics. Uchida rates Adobe Express highly in this area: "Even employees without video-editing experience can produce high-quality videos with the tools available."

Introducing Adobe Express also opened up possibilities for teams who had abandoned attempts to master professional-grade tools. Sato explains: "Departments have been able to master Adobe Express, even after having struggled with complicated video-editing software. Employees who once thought professional video production was beyond their skill level are now eager to give it another try, thanks to Express."