NTT Data Group secured its position as the first Japanese company to ink a comprehensive global strategic partnership with Google Cloud, focusing on artificial intelligence agents designed to replace human workers in marketing and operational tasks.
The Tokyo-based IT services giant will establish an organization comprising thousands of experts to promote AI agent solutions across more than 50 countries and regions. The initiative leverages Google’s generative AI technology to create automated systems capable of handling business functions traditionally performed by people.
The timing coincides with NTT Data’s broader AI ambitions. The company launched its Smart AI Agent ecosystem earlier this year, targeting ¥300 billion ($2 billion) in related revenue by 2027. The firm currently employs 2,600 Google-certified engineers globally and plans to add at least 1,000 more specialists in the Asia-Pacific region.
While NTT Data promotes the partnership as transformative, questions remain about the practical deployment timeline and whether businesses will readily adopt AI systems to replace human roles. The company already expanded its Google Cloud relationship in November, establishing a dedicated business unit for data analytics and generative AI solutions.
The collaboration builds on existing AI agent deployments in healthcare and automotive manufacturing, where NTT Data systems currently handle insurance appeals processing and regulatory compliance tasks. However, the marketing applications represent a more consumer-facing expansion of the technology.
