Kazuo Hirai was born on December 22, 1960, in Tokyo, where he attended the American School in Japan.

He eventually became head of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan's international business affairs office in New York.

On July 3, 2006, Sony Computer Entertainment announced that Hirai had been made a vice president of its corporate executive group.

[12] On November 30, 2006, just under two weeks after the launch of PlayStation 3, Hirai replaced Ken Kutaragi as president of Sony Computer Entertainment.

[13] On April 26, 2007, it was announced that Hirai will be promoted to president and group CEO of SCEI, replacing Ken Kutaragi who would retire and instead take up the role of honorary chairman.

[18][19] Hirai became chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment on September 1, 2011, and was replaced by Andrew House as president and group CEO.

[22][23] Hirai was speculated to become the successor to Howard Stringer, the current sitting president and CEO of Sony Corporation, who was then expected to step down in 2013.

[24] On February 1, 2012, Sony announced that Hirai has been appointed as president and chief executive officer, effective April 1, 2012.

[26] On February 2, 2018, Sony announced that Hirai will be stepping down as president and CEO, effective April 1, 2018, to be replaced by CFO Kenichiro Yoshida.