NTT DATA and Palo Alto Networks have announced a multi-year global strategic alliance aimed at helping organisations adopt artificial intelligence securely while modernising cybersecurity and strengthening cyber resilience. The partnership brings together Palo Alto Networks’ AI-powered cybersecurity platforms with NTT DATA’s consulting, engineering and managed services capabilities to help businesses navigate increasingly complex technology and threat environments.

The alliance marks Palo Alto Networks’ first strategic partnership of this nature with a global systems integrator and targets US$1 billion in joint business by the end of 2029. Through joint engineering, co-innovation and coordinated global delivery, the two companies will work with clients to assess cyber risks, deploy AI securely and continuously optimise their security environments.

The collaboration builds on the companies’ existing Frontier AI work and combines Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 threat intelligence with NTT DATA’s cybersecurity expertise, AI governance capabilities and managed services. Supported by joint investments, more than 2,000 certified experts and dedicated Forward Deployed Engineers, the alliance aims to simplify technology deployments and accelerate outcomes for clients. NTT DATA will also receive early access to new platform capabilities through direct engineering collaboration, enabling the company to further develop and deliver AI security services.

The initial solutions will focus on critical cybersecurity challenges faced by organisations operating in highly regulated and essential industries, including financial services, healthcare, manufacturing and the public sector. The companies will concentrate their efforts across six strategic transformation areas: autonomous security operations centres, AI governance, identity security, Zero Trust and SASE, resilient cloud environments and firewall modernisation.

Under the Autonomous Security Operations Centre focus, organisations will be able to modernise security operations through Agentic AI and managed services designed to detect, investigate and respond to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats at machine speed. The approach is also intended to reduce operational complexity while enabling security teams to respond more efficiently to emerging risks.

The AI governance solution will help organisations incorporate security, governance and risk management throughout the AI lifecycle. This is designed to provide greater accountability, transparency and control as companies scale their use of AI, while addressing the emerging risks associated with rapidly evolving AI technologies.

Meanwhile, the alliance’s identity security capabilities will focus on protecting human, machine and AI agent identities, as well as workloads and devices. Through an Identity Security Framework, organisations will be able to discover, manage, secure and govern identities across increasingly interconnected enterprise environments.

The partnership will also address Zero Trust and SASE, helping organisations protect users, applications and data across expanding digital attack surfaces through a unified security architecture. In cloud environments, the resilient cloud offering will provide greater visibility, compliance and autonomous risk reduction across multi-cloud infrastructures, while firewall modernisation will help organisations simplify legacy environments, improve visibility and strengthen overall security.

Palo Alto Networks Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Nikesh Arora said the rapid development of AI is reshaping both business operations and the cybersecurity landscape, making collaboration across technology ecosystems increasingly important. NTT DATA CEO and Chief AI Officer Abhijit Dubey similarly highlighted the need for organisations to combine AI-driven security with industry expertise and global scale to build stronger cyber resilience as threats continue to evolve.

NTT DATA brings more than 7,500 cybersecurity professionals, over 70 delivery centres and more than 20 Cyber Defense Centers to the collaboration. Combined with Palo Alto Networks’ AI-powered security platforms and Unit 42 threat intelligence, the alliance aims to provide enterprises with the technology, expertise and global capabilities needed to adopt AI securely across increasingly complex environments.

As organisations accelerate their AI transformation, the partnership between NTT DATA and Palo Alto Networks highlights the growing importance of embedding cybersecurity into AI strategies from the outset. By combining advanced security technologies, specialised expertise and global delivery capabilities, the alliance seeks to help enterprises move faster with AI while maintaining the protection, governance and resilience needed in an increasingly sophisticated digital landscape.