[6] Nakanishi joined Hitachi's Omika Works Computer Control Design Department in 1970 immediately after graduating from college.

He started the Smart Transformation Project which restructured the company following the global financial crisis, including the sale of HGST (Hitachi storage business) to Western Digital.

This was welcomed by local and international investors, who saw the election of the reformist Nakanishi to the conservative business lobby as recognition by the Keidanren that it needed to make improvements to corporate governance.

As chairman, he advocated for the government to invest in digital technology, a drive supported by Yoshihide Suga upon becoming prime minister in 2020.

[10] He was also instrumental in prompting the Federation to support the country's promise to become carbon neutral by 2050, in spite of its traditional opposition to climate change initiatives.