NTT DATA and NVIDIA: Large-Scale Industrial AI

A Strategic Collaboration for Enterprise AI

NTT DATA recently announced a strategic partnership with NVIDIA to develop large-scale AI platforms aimed at transforming how businesses integrate artificial intelligence into their operations. These platforms, powered by NVIDIA's advanced technologies, are designed to provide a reproducible, production-ready model, thereby facilitating large-scale AI adoption.

The initiative is based on the integration of NVIDIA's GPU-accelerated computing and a high-performance network, combined with the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software. This suite includes NeMo and NIM Microservices, which enable the deployment of a comprehensive, agent-based AI platform adaptable to cloud and edge environments. The proposed architecture covers the entire AI lifecycle, from model training to enterprise application development, while ensuring a governed framework.

Abhijit Dubey, CEO of NTT DATA, emphasized that there is a shift in how companies approach AI deployment. By integrating NVIDIA technologies into their AI factories, NTT DATA provides its clients with a powerful and secure environment to adopt agent-based AI with measurable returns from the outset.

NTT DATA claims that the enterprise AI factory model fills a gap that has hindered many AI programs: the distance between a successful pilot and an operational production system. The platform is designed to standardize outcomes and reduce the time and cost of transitioning from a proof of concept to operational deployment.

Concrete Deployment Cases

Three deployment examples illustrate the effectiveness of enterprise AI factories. A cancer research hospital is using NVIDIA HGX platforms, in collaboration with NTT DATA and Dell, to enhance radiological analysis and accelerate model evaluation, thereby supporting clinical research workflows.

In the automotive sector, a global supplier has successfully reduced production setup time by validating workloads on bare metal before expanding via an AI factory architecture on NVIDIA infrastructure. Another example involves an American tech company that uses NVIDIA-accelerated simulation and 3D visualization to validate a next-generation battery production line before its physical deployment.

An Optimized Infrastructure for AI

The technical integration relies on two key components from NVIDIA. NeMo, a suite for building agent-based AI systems, operates on GPU-accelerated infrastructure. NIM Microservices, on the other hand, provides pre-built containers optimized for GPUs, with APIs that facilitate the deployment of AI applications. Together, these tools form a comprehensive, production-ready AI agent platform.

NTT DATA also offers pre-qualified GenAI prototypes based on this technology stack, thus reducing complexity and accelerating return on investment for clients developing sector-specific applications. John Fanelli, Vice President of Enterprise Software at NVIDIA, highlights that companies are seeking robust and scalable platforms to transition from pilot projects to large-scale production.

NTT DATA positions enterprise AI factories as a domain-specific delivery model, with the NVIDIA stack serving as a common infrastructure under sector-by-sector customization. NTT DATA describes itself as the only global IT services provider active in all three tracks of NVIDIA's partner ecosystem: Solution Provider, Cloud Partner, and Global System Integrator Partner Network. This announcement comes at a time when companies are under pressure to demonstrate financial returns on their AI investments. The AI factory model aims to systematize governance, domain-specific performance, and maximize return on investment.