NTT Data and OpenAI forge a landmark alliance to bring enterprise-grade Gen AI to Japan and beyond, marking a pivotal moment for Asia’s AI market. The collaboration establishes NTT Data as the first official distributor of OpenAI services in Japan and sets the stage for a broad rollout of ChatGPT Enterprise tools and industry-focused Gen AI agents. The agreement arrives at a time when enterprises across the region are keen to adopt generative AI but confront practical hurdles, including data security, integration complexity, and a shortage of skilled talent. By combining NTT Data’s system integration prowess with OpenAI’s leading AI technology, the partnership aims to translate theoretical AI potential into real, scalable business value across multiple sectors.
Strategic alliance marks a turning point for AI in Asia
The alliance between NTT Data and OpenAI represents more than a commercial distribution agreement; it represents a strategic fusion of capabilities designed to accelerate the deployment of Gen AI within complex enterprise environments. In Asia, where interest in Gen AI is intense but execution has lagged, the collaboration seeks to close the gap between AI theory and practical, value-generating deployment. NTT Data will leverage its extensive experience in systems integration, change management, and enterprise IT governance to ensure that OpenAI’s technologies are integrated in ways that align with corporate objectives, regulatory requirements, and risk management frameworks. The partnership acknowledges that the most significant value from Gen AI is unlocked not merely by accessing powerful models, but by embedding them into business processes in a controlled, scalable, and secure manner.
This partnership also signals a broader expansion strategy aimed at maximizing the impact of OpenAI’s capabilities inside organizations while addressing the unique needs of the Japanese market first and then extending to broader regions. In Japan, the collaboration positions NTT Data as the conduit through which enterprises access ChatGPT Enterprise and related Gen AI tools, ensuring that deployments meet the highest standards for security, governance, and interoperability with existing IT landscapes. By placing a heavy emphasis on enterprise-grade adoption, the alliance seeks to create repeatable, vendor-agnostic methodologies for scaling AI across large, multi-site organizations, while maintaining a strong emphasis on risk mitigation and regulatory alignment. The ultimate objective is to foster a sustainable, long-term AI-enabled transformation that improves productivity, innovates product and service delivery, and enhances customer experiences.
OpenAI provides the underlying generative capabilities, including large language models and related AI services, while NTT Data supplies the implementation discipline, advisory support, and sector-specific expertise necessary to translate AI potential into measurable outcomes. The collaboration seeks to deliver a full spectrum of services—from strategic consulting and workload assessment to deployment, stabilization, and ongoing optimization—so that organizations can realize rapid time-to-value without compromising security or governance. In short, the partnership is designed to move beyond pilots and proofs of concept toward durable, enterprise-scale AI programs that deliver clear business benefits.
NTT Data becomes the first official distributor of OpenAI in Japan
Under the arrangement, NTT Data assumes a pioneering role as the first official distributor of OpenAI services in Japan, a position that carries both strategic significance and practical responsibilities. The objective is to scale OpenAI’s acceleration program to an initial cohort of 100 major companies, with a focus on accelerating the creation of AI-enabled use cases and tailoring implementation strategies to each organization’s unique workflows. This structured approach is designed to convert AI capabilities into business value by guiding enterprises through the complexities of integration, data governance, and change management.
The program will emphasize use-case development, enabling organizations to identify concrete opportunities where AI can automate routine tasks, augment decision-making, or create new, differentiating experiences for customers. By providing specialist staff who can assist with design, prototyping, testing, and deployment, the program aims to reduce the time and risk associated with AI adoption. The emphasis on use-case creation reflects a practical understanding that AI’s real impact emerges when technology is aligned with business goals, rather than when it sits in isolation as a technological novelty.
As the first OpenAI distributor in Japan, NTT Data will be responsible for building and delivering implementation frameworks for ChatGPT Enterprise, a version of OpenAI’s Gen AI services tailored for corporate contexts. This enterprise-grade offering includes enhanced security features, governance controls, and customization options that enable organizations to train AI systems on internal data and knowledge bases. By enabling bespoke AI assistants that understand company-specific information, processes, and policies, ChatGPT Enterprise becomes a core tool for operational efficiency, strategic decision-making, and customer engagement.
NTT Data’s immediate plan is to roll out ChatGPT Enterprise across its own global operations as a proof of concept and to develop internal capabilities that staff can leverage when supporting clients. This internal deployment strategy serves two purposes: it builds hands-on expertise in enterprise deployment methods and demonstrates the value of the technology by applying it to the company’s own processes, thus driving efficiency and innovation within NTT Data itself. The dual purpose underscores a pragmatic approach to AI adoption, where internal learnings feed client implementations while contributing to the broader capability framework the company offers to customers.
The leadership at NTT Data and OpenAI has underscored the strategic nature of this move, emphasizing that the collaboration is designed to accelerate customers’ digital transformation and contribute to sustainable societal outcomes. Yutaka Sasaki, NTT Data’s President and CEO, highlighted the transformative potential of Gen AI as a fundamental reinvention of corporate activities. He noted that by marrying NTT Data’s global system integration capabilities with OpenAI’s leading AI technology, the group can accelerate business transformation for its clients and support broader societal objectives. This framing places AI adoption within a broader context of responsible corporate governance, efficiency gains, and long-term value creation.
The Japanese market is thus positioned as a launchpad for a broader, multi-regional expansion strategy. While the initial emphasis concentrates on building robust capabilities within Japan, the partners intend to extend their collaboration into Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region, including Spain and other European markets. The cross-regional plan reflects a belief that a well-governed, industry-informed, enterprise-grade AI deployment model can be replicated across diverse regulatory and market contexts, with necessary localization and governance adaptations. The intent is to create scalable, repeatable AI deployment frameworks that can be adapted to different industries and geographies while preserving the highest standards for security, data protection, and control.
ChatGPT Enterprise and the acceleration program: turning capability into business value
A central pillar of the alliance is the introduction and expansion of ChatGPT Enterprise as a core engine for enterprise-grade AI acceleration. ChatGPT Enterprise provides a secure, customizable environment where organizations can train AI models on their internal data, leveraging proprietary knowledge bases and domain-specific content to create specialized AI assistants. The emphasis on internal data training ensures that the AI’s outputs align with company-specific contexts, policies, and procedures, reducing the risk of misalignment or inappropriate responses and enabling more reliable, governance-compliant outcomes.
NTT Data will implement acceleration programs designed to operationalize AI capabilities in real business settings. By focusing on implementing strategies that translate AI potential into tangible business value, the program addresses one of the central challenges of AI adoption: moving from pilots to fully integrated, production-ready solutions. The tailored approach is intended to help companies embed AI into their workflows in a way that improves efficiency, accelerates decision-making, enhances accuracy, and supports growth initiatives.
Beyond the technology, the acceleration program serves as a capability-building initiative. It is designed to cultivate internal expertise within client organizations by providing access to specialist staff who understand AI deployment in complex enterprise environments. This knowledge transfer is critical to sustaining AI-driven transformations over time, particularly in the face of ongoing change and evolving business needs. The program thus acts as a catalyst for organizational learning, enabling clients to develop a workforce capable of maintaining, optimizing, and expanding their AI capabilities without continual external dependence.
The partnership also signals a broader commitment to governance and risk management in AI deployments. As companies train ChatGPT Enterprise on internal data, they must implement robust governance structures to monitor usage, manage access controls, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. NTT Data’s governance-focused approach, combined with OpenAI’s secure platform, is designed to help organizations manage risk while maximizing the benefits of AI-enabled transformation. This alignment with governance best practices is a key differentiator in markets where data protection and regulatory compliance are critical factors in enterprise technology decisions.
In addition to the acceleration program, the collaboration includes a concerted effort to develop industry-specific AI agents. These agents will be built by integrating OpenAI’s base models with NTT Data’s deep domain knowledge in targeted sectors. The goal is to create AI agents that can operate within the unique workflows, terminology, and regulatory constraints of specific industries, providing actionable insights and automation that meaningfully reduce manual workloads and free humans to focus on higher-value work. This industry-oriented approach reflects a recognition that generic AI solutions are unlikely to meet every enterprise’s needs and that tailored agents can deliver more immediate, measurable benefits.
The emphasis on industry-specific agents aligns with the broader SmartAgent concept that NTT Data has been developing. SmartAgent envisions AI systems capable of autonomously managing complex workflows once they receive high-level human guidance. The proposed agents will operate within defined governance boundaries and will be capable of handling routine, high-volume tasks with minimal human intervention while escalating more complex decisions when necessary. This approach seeks to combine automation with accountability, ensuring that AI-driven actions remain auditable and aligned with business objectives.
Industry focus and workforce implications
The plan to develop specialized AI agents across sectors such as finance, manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, and the public sector reflects a comprehensive view of where AI can drive transformation. Each industry presents unique data environments, workflows, regulatory considerations, and customer needs. The OpenAI-NTT Data collaboration intends to address these nuances by merging OpenAI’s model capabilities with NTT Data’s sector-specific expertise, regulatory knowledge, and implementation experience. This fusion aims to produce AI agents that can effectively operate on behalf of individuals in diverse business contexts, delivering productivity gains, improved decision quality, and more consistent outcomes across functions.
The approach to large-scale API deployment already underway indicates a path toward enterprise-scale adoption that can be replicated and scaled across multiple organizations. With a focus on practical deployment, the collaboration aims to convert platform capabilities into business tools used by business analysts, operations teams, customer service representatives, and executives alike. The resulting AI agents are envisioned as capable partners that can handle time-consuming tasks, assist with data-driven insights, and support nuanced decision-making—thereby redefining the way organizations allocate human effort and expertise.
OpenAI Center of Excellence and a growing Gen AI talent pool
To support the partnership and ensure sustained, highly skilled delivery, NTT Data will establish an OpenAI Center of Excellence (CoE). This dedicated organizational unit will focus on OpenAI-related services and serve as a central knowledge hub for implementing OpenAI technologies within enterprise environments. The CoE is intended to codify best practices, governance standards, and deployment playbooks that can be reused across client engagements, thereby accelerating delivery timelines and reducing risk for complex AI programs.
NTT Data claims a sizable internal base of Gen AI talent—described as tens of thousands of practical Gen AI professionals—who will anchor this CoE and contribute to its knowledge base. These specialists will be integral to guiding clients through the technical and organizational challenges of large-scale AI adoption, from data governance and model governance to change management and user adoption strategies. The CoE will provide capabilities in architecture, data engineering, security, compliance, and operational support, ensuring that AI projects are designed, built, and operated in a way that aligns with enterprise requirements and risk tolerance.
In terms of support scope, NTT Data plans to deploy a team of Gen AI consultants who will be engaged throughout the lifecycle of client engagements. These consultants will offer end-to-end assistance—from initial discovery and strategy formulation through to implementation, optimization, and ongoing operations. Their role will be to translate strategic AI visions into concrete, practical steps, ensuring alignment with client objectives, budgets, and timelines. This comprehensive support structure aims to minimize the typical friction associated with AI adoption by delivering specialized expertise at each stage of the journey.
The CoE’s knowledge hub will not only advance client projects but also serve as a learning engine for NTT Data’s broader ecosystem. By capturing lessons learned across multiple deployments, the CoE will help refine methodologies, improve tooling, and inform future offerings. The intention is to create a virtuous cycle in which internal experiences inform external client outcomes, accelerating the organization’s ability to deliver high-value AI programs while maintaining rigorous standards for quality, security, and governance.
Leadership perspectives and a forward-looking AI roadmap
The leadership voices from both organizations emphasize a forward-looking trajectory for Gen AI in enterprise settings. Tadao Nagasaki, Chief Executive Officer of OpenAI Japan, LLC, stressed OpenAI’s mission to deliver AI that is both safe and accessible to a broad audience. He framed the collaboration as a large-scale business transformation initiative with global scope, highlighting the potential for ChatGPT Enterprise and OpenAI API implementations to drive productivity improvements and operational efficiencies on a broad, systemic scale. Nagasaki’s perspective underscores the importance of balancing innovation with governance, with a clear focus on expanding the use of Gen AI to create value across organizations and regions.
From NTT Data’s leadership, the emphasis is on leveraging global system integration capabilities in tandem with OpenAI’s technology to accelerate customer transformations while contributing to sustainable societal outcomes. Sasaki’s remarks highlight a belief that the alliance will enable deeper, more meaningful collaborations with clients by delivering technology that is not only powerful but also responsibly managed within established governance frameworks. The combined view is that AI will become a central engine for business modernization, enabling enterprises to reimagine workflows, optimize resource utilization, and unlock new capabilities in ways that are consistent with corporate governance and risk management policies.
The strategic roadmap outlined by the partners includes continued deepening of the SmartAgent concept, with additional AI agents designed for industry-specific tasks and processes. This roadmap envisions expanding beyond Japan into Europe, North America, and broader Asia-Pacific markets, with tailored configurations to meet local regulatory and operational requirements. The leadership teams emphasize that the expansion will be guided by governance-centric practices, ensuring that AI adoption remains secure, auditable, and aligned with organizational values and statutory obligations. They also stress the importance of governance and ongoing measurement to ensure AI deployments deliver sustained business value and do not introduce unacceptable risk.
OpenAI Japan’s leadership emphasizes a commitment to safe, user-friendly AI experiences, while NTT Data’s leadership highlights the practical benefits of integrating AI into enterprise workflows in a way that enhances productivity and reinforces strategic aims. Together, they project a future in which Gen AI becomes an integral, well-governed component of day-to-day business operations, capable of delivering measurable improvements while supporting innovation and the creation of new business models. The vision articulated by both organizations centers on a responsible, scalable, and value-driven approach to AI adoption that can withstand regulatory scrutiny and adapt to diverse market conditions.
Global expansion and market strategy for Gen AI services
The partnership’s expansion plan starts with a robust focus on Japan, leveraging NTT Data’s domestic footprint and OpenAI’s capabilities to demonstrate a reproducible, secure model for AI adoption in enterprise contexts. The Japan-first approach serves as a controlled, high-visibility launchpad, enabling the teams to refine deployment practices, governance controls, and client engagement methodologies before scaling to Europe, North America, and the broader Asia-Pacific region.
In Europe, the alliance envisions rolling out ChatGPT Enterprise and related OpenAI services in key markets, with Spain identified as a specific target for initial expansion. The expansion strategy will require careful localization of AI capabilities, alignment with European data protection regulations, and the establishment of local co-ordination and support structures that can operate within the European regulatory and business landscape. The North American market is also a major focus, given its advanced AI adoption ecosystem and mature enterprise governance standards. The plan will involve adapting OpenAI’s tools to meet North American regulatory expectations, while leveraging NTT Data’s global delivery model to ensure consistent performance across large, multi-site organizations.
The Asia-Pacific region, given its heterogeneity and rapid digital transformation, represents another critical axis of growth. The approach will emphasize industry-specific AI agents tailored to regional market needs, supported by the CoE, and delivered through a consistent, scalable delivery framework. This strategy aims to create a global, yet locally adaptable, AI services model that can meet the requirements of diverse industries and regulatory regimes. The overarching objective is to achieve sustained growth by expanding the adoption of enterprise-grade AI technologies across multiple geographies while maintaining rigorous governance and a focus on tangible business outcomes.
The collaboration’s global ambitions are anchored in a long-term perspective on AI governance and risk management. By building a robust governance framework that spans data handling, model management, and user access controls, the alliance seeks to instill trust and reliability in AI deployments. The commitment to governance is presented not as a constraint but as a competitive differentiator that enables customers to pursue ambitious AI programs with confidence. The strategic emphasis on secure, auditable, and scalable AI deployments is expected to differentiate the OpenAI-NTT Data offering in mature markets while driving adoption in markets with growing appetite for enterprise AI.
The broader vision: governance, talent, and responsible AI adoption
The collaboration underscores governance as a core pillar of enterprise AI adoption, recognizing that successful implementation requires more than technical capability. Companies must manage data security, compliance, auditability, and risk in ways that integrate seamlessly with existing corporate governance structures. The OpenAI-NTT Data partnership aims to provide a governance framework that ensures consistent monitoring, evaluation, and remediation as AI deployments scale across complex environments. This governance-first approach is intended to reduce the risk of misalignment, data leakage, or unintended model behavior while enabling organizations to realize the efficiency and innovation benefits of Gen AI.
Talent development and capacity building are also central to the vision. By cultivating tens of thousands of Gen AI practitioners within the NTT Data ecosystem and disseminating knowledge through the Center of Excellence, the partnership seeks to create a sustainable talent pipeline capable of supporting ongoing AI initiatives across industries and geographies. This talent emphasis is designed to address one of the most persistent barriers to AI adoption: the shortage of skilled professionals who can design, implement, govern, and optimize AI systems in real-world settings. A strong internal capability base not only accelerates client deployments but also contributes to the long-term resilience and competitiveness of the organization’s AI portfolio.
In addition to the technical and governance dimensions, the alliance highlights the importance of organizational change management. The successful deployment of AI tools hinges on user adoption, cultural readiness, and alignment with strategic objectives. NTT Data’s experience in enterprise IT implementation, combined with OpenAI’s leadership in AI research, provides a robust foundation for guiding organizations through the changes that accompany AI-enabled transformations. The initiative recognizes that people, processes, and technology must evolve in concert to achieve durable benefits, including improved productivity, new business models, and enhanced customer experiences.
The partnership’s forward-looking outlook envisions AI as a sustainable driver of corporate transformation and societal progress. The leaders from both organizations emphasize that AI can be a force for good when deployed responsibly, with clear governance and measurable outcomes. By combining global capabilities with local insight, the collaboration aspires to deliver AI solutions that respect regional regulatory constraints while enabling cross-border collaboration and knowledge sharing. The long-term strategy is to build a resilient, globally scalable AI delivery model that remains aligned with evolving regulatory expectations and societal considerations.
Conclusion
The strategic alliance between NTT Data and OpenAI marks a watershed moment for enterprise Gen AI adoption in Japan and the broader Asia-Pacific region. As the first official distributor of OpenAI services in Japan, NTT Data takes on a critical role in scaling ChatGPT Enterprise and developing industry-specific Gen AI agents that blend OpenAI’s model capabilities with NTT Data’s domain expertise. The collaboration addresses a clear market need: practical, secure, and governance-aligned AI deployments that translate AI potential into measurable business value.
At the core of the partnership is a robust, multi-faceted strategy that combines enterprise-grade AI tools with an execution framework designed to accelerate use-case development, support organizational change, and deliver tangible outcomes. The acceleration program targeting 100 major companies, the SmartAgent concept for industry-specific automation, and the OpenAI Center of Excellence collectively form a comprehensive platform for enterprise AI adoption. This platform emphasizes not only technology but also governance, talent development, and sustainable impact, ensuring that AI implementations remain secure, compliant, and scalable as they evolve.
Leadership perspectives from Yutaka Sasaki and Tadao Nagasaki reinforce a shared conviction that AI will redefine how work gets done, across sectors and regions. Their statements highlight a balance between ambition and responsibility, recognizing that the benefits of Gen AI depend on trustworthy, well-governed deployments that deliver real business value while contributing to broader societal goals. The alliance positions Japan as a hub for enterprise AI innovation, with a model designed to be replicated across markets in Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region.
In sum, the OpenAI-NTT Data collaboration presents a comprehensive blueprint for enterprise AI that blends world-class technology with practical, industry-informed delivery capabilities. It aims to transform not only corporate operations but also the broader AI ecosystem by establishing governance standards, cultivating a robust talent pool, and delivering scalable, secure AI solutions that can adapt to diverse regulatory environments. The partnership aspires to help organizations harness Gen AI to enhance productivity, unlock new avenues for growth, and drive sustainable innovation across industries and geographies.