Most enterprise AI projects stall somewhere between proof of concept and production. NTT DATA and Google Cloud are expanding their partnership specifically to address that gap, combining Google’s Gemini Enterprise platform with NTT DATA’s consulting, implementation, and managed services to help organizations get AI working in real business environments rather than controlled demonstrations.
The scale of the commitment reflects how seriously both companies are treating the problem. NTT DATA plans to certify 5,000 Gemini Enterprise experts globally through a dedicated practice built around joint training, technical enablement, and engineering support. Alongside that, the two companies plan to co-develop up to 500 AI agents covering sectors including banking, insurance, manufacturing, and retail, as well as horizontal functions like procurement, marketing, cloud migration, and software development.
The agent development program uses what NTT DATA describes as a global factory model, combining reusable designs, engineering teams, and co-innovation pipelines. Joint engineering teams made up of NTT DATA specialists and Google Cloud engineers will work directly with clients on prototyping, deployment, and scaling. Forward-deployed engineers will also work alongside client teams during implementation, supported by industry domain experts to work through technical issues as they arise in real deployments rather than in theory.
The research NTT DATA cited alongside the announcement adds context to why the push matters. Only 14% of organizations describe themselves as cloud-evolved, yet 99% say AI is increasing their need for cloud investment. At the same time, 88% said their current cloud investment levels put AI and modernization initiatives at genuine risk. That combination of urgency and underinvestment is the environment both companies are walking into.
Abhijit Dubey, CEO and Chief AI Officer of NTT DATA, framed the partnership around practical scaling rather than ambition. Enterprises need a way to move AI adoption forward while maintaining governance and building measurable outcomes, he said. Matt Renner, President and Chief Revenue Officer at Google Cloud, pointed to growing demand for AI agents embedded in core business workflows as the driver behind the joint resourcing commitment.
The collaboration also covers sovereign and regulated deployments, addressing data residency, compliance, security, and responsible AI requirements for organizations that cannot treat governance as an afterthought.
