NTT DATA and Cisco Partner to Power Networking for the AI Era
New Study Sponsored by NTT DATA and Cisco Guides Network Modernization for AI Transformation
NTT DATA, a global leader in digital business and technology services, and Cisco today unveiled a new co-sponsored IDC InfoBrief, Wired for Intelligence: A CIO Guide to Enterprise Networking for AI. The study provides strategic guidance for organizations seeking to accelerate transformation by modernizing their network infrastructure.
As organizations integrate AI into more applications—from manufacturing and healthcare to financial services—the demand for high-speed, low-latency, and secure networks is surging. Legacy infrastructure is no longer sufficient to support the scale and complexity of AI workloads. NTT DATA and Cisco are addressing this shift by helping clients evolve from outdated architectures to intelligent, adaptive infrastructure capable of powering AI-driven innovation.
“As two market leaders, NTT DATA and Cisco are well positioned to help clients modernize their digital infrastructure foundations for the AI era. The network exists as a catalyst for growth and organizations can unlock powerful new capabilities and achieve AI-driven business transformation at scale,” said Dilip Kumar, Global Head, Technology Solutions, NTT DATA, Inc.
Commenting on the relevance of the announcement, Hani Nofal, SVP Technology Solution in Middle East and Africa, said: “Across the Middle East, governments and enterprises are embracing AI to drive national visions and digital transformation agendas. But without modern, secure, and intelligent networks, these ambitions risk being constrained. Our collaboration with Cisco ensures that clients in the region have the infrastructure foundation needed to scale AI responsibly and effectively unlocking new possibilities for innovation, efficiency, and economic growth.”
The Critical Foundation Empowering AI-Driven Growth
The study emphasizes that network modernization is central to AI success. More than 78% of companies say networking capabilities are either important or very important when selecting providers for GenAI infrastructure—highlighting the need for networks that can handle and secure growing AI workloads while supporting complex AI training, inference, and storage clusters.
Modernization also integrates AI into network operations through AI-driven configuration, anomaly detection, self-healing, and intelligent monitoring, accelerating issue resolution and improving user experience. Industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, and financial services are already leveraging AI in networking to enhance operational efficiency, secure connectivity, and reduce costs.
“Network modernization is about more than replacing old hardware—it’s about allowing enterprises to lead in an AI-driven world,” said Brink Sanders, Senior Vice President of Global Networking Sales, Cisco. “Our partnership with NTT DATA equips clients with the technology and expertise needed to build secure and connected networks.”
“Your network will make or break your AI transformation. Overcoming the challenges of legacy networking technologies is essential. This IDC InfoBrief gives organizations the steps to transform enterprise networking from a bottleneck into a business advantage,” said Chris Barnard, Vice President, European Telecoms and Infrastructure, IDC.
NTT DATA is Enabling Network Modernization Through Intelligent Services
NTT DATA’s comprehensive suite of intelligent services helps clients modernize their digital infrastructure and build secure networks. Services cover the full lifecycle—from advisory to sourcing, professional services, support, and managed services—enabling organizations to modernize and fully leverage AI.
With many companies undergoing hardware refresh cycles due to AI, NTT DATA’s services are designed to address this critical moment:
* Advisory: Strategic guidance to align network modernization with AI goals.
* Strategic Technology Sourcing: Recommending and procuring the right technology to transform networks to be AI-ready.
* Professional Services: Architecting and deploying scalable, secure, high-performance networks.
* Software-Defined Infrastructure Services: Driving business outcomes through automation and AI integration in infrastructure operations and license optimization.
* Adoption Services: Maximizing infrastructure value through software adoption, continuous improvement, and change management.
* Managed Network Services: End-to-end network management to ensure seamless data flow from edge to cloud, minimizing latency and enhancing application responsiveness.
NTT DATA recently launched AI-powered Software Defined Infrastructure (SDI) services for Cisco products, delivering intelligent automation and real-time insights to optimize infrastructure, reduce costs, and drive business outcomes.
IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by NTT DATA and Cisco, Wired for Intelligence: A CIO Guide to Enterprise Networking for AI, doc #EUR253592825, July 2025. https://services.global.ntt/en-us/campaigns/cio-guide-to-enterprise-networking-and-ai
