Masazumi (“Masa”) Ishii is the Managing Partner of AZCA, Inc., a consulting and investment banking firm with offices in Silicon Valley, Boston, and Tokyo. With 40 years of experiences in international business and high technology, Masa has guided numerous companies across North America, Japan, and Asia in corporate strategy and venture development, particularly in the Asia-Pacific markets.

Before founding AZCA in 1985, Masa was a senior management consultant at McKinsey & Company, specializing in international diversification and technology strategies. Prior to McKinsey, he contributed over a decade to the computer industry, including eight years at IBM Japan, where he co-authored two books on IBM’s database and data communications architecture.

Masa has served on the boards of multinational companies, including Logitech and Alien Technology, and was a Senior Executive Advisor to PARC ( Xerox Palo Alto Research Center). He has also held leadership roles in organizations such as the Japan Society of Northern California and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Northern California. Between 2011 and 2013, he contributed to US-Japan relations as a member of the US-Japan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Council and participated in business briefings at the White House from 2012 to 2015.

A recognized thought leader on innovation, entrepreneurship, and international corporate development, Masa has been a visiting professor at Waseda University Business School and Shizuoka University and is currently an Academic Advisor at Toyo University and a Visiting Professor at Chubu University. He collaborates with Japan's government through MEXT and METI committees.

Masa holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Science in Computer Science from Stanford University.