Two major technology firms announced a multi-year strategic partnership designed to help organizations navigate the growing complexity of securing artificial intelligence systems. NTT DATA, a global leader in AI and digital services, and Palo Alto Networks, a cybersecurity platform provider, revealed their alliance on August 20, 2026, targeting $1 billion in joint business by the end of 2029.

What Does This Alliance Actually Do?

The partnership combines Palo Alto Networks' AI-powered cybersecurity platforms with NTT DATA's consulting, engineering, and managed services capabilities. Rather than offering point solutions, the alliance aims to deliver a unified approach that spans cybersecurity strategy, implementation, and ongoing management. The collaboration is backed by more than 2,000 certified professionals and dedicated engineers who will work directly with clients to assess cyber risk, deploy AI securely, and continuously optimize security defenses.

This represents Palo Alto Networks' first strategic alliance of this kind with a global systems integrator, signaling a shift in how major security vendors are approaching the AI era. The companies will leverage joint engineering, co-innovation, and coordinated global delivery to accelerate client outcomes.

Which Industries Need This Most?

Initial solutions will focus on highly regulated and critical sectors where security failures carry the highest stakes. The alliance targets financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and the public sector, addressing six strategic transformation areas:

• Autonomous Security Operations Centers: Modernize security teams with AI agents that detect, investigate, and respond to sophisticated cyber threats at machine speed while reducing operational complexity.
• AI Governance: Embed security and risk management throughout the entire AI lifecycle, helping organizations manage emerging AI risks while scaling innovation responsibly.
• Identity Security: Protect human, machine, and AI agent identities across workloads and devices through a unified framework designed to discover, manage, and govern identities enterprise-wide.
• Zero Trust and Secure Access Service Edge: Secure users, applications, and data across complex attack surfaces using AI-driven threat detection and prevention.
• Resilient Cloud: Improve visibility and compliance across multi-cloud environments with AI-enabled security posture management and stronger governance controls.
• Firewall Modernization: Reduce complexity and improve visibility in firewall environments to strengthen overall enterprise security.

The focus on these six areas reflects the reality that organizations are struggling to secure AI systems while maintaining the speed and agility that AI promises. Legacy security approaches, designed for traditional infrastructure, are proving inadequate for the machine-speed threats that AI-powered attacks can generate.

How to Prepare Your Organization for Secure AI Deployment

Organizations looking to safely adopt AI should consider several foundational steps based on the priorities outlined in this alliance:

• Assess Your Current Risk Posture: Before deploying new AI systems, conduct a comprehensive audit of existing cybersecurity vulnerabilities, identity management gaps, and cloud configuration weaknesses that attackers could exploit.
• Establish AI Governance Frameworks: Create clear policies and oversight mechanisms for how AI systems are developed, deployed, and monitored, including accountability measures and transparency requirements.
• Invest in Identity and Access Management: Strengthen controls around human, machine, and AI agent identities, since compromised credentials remain one of the easiest paths for attackers to gain access.
• Modernize Security Operations: Move beyond reactive, manual security processes toward AI-assisted detection and response systems that can operate at the speed threats now move.
• Plan for Multi-Cloud Complexity: If your organization uses multiple cloud providers, ensure you have unified visibility and governance across all environments rather than managing each separately.

NTT DATA brings substantial depth to this collaboration, with over 7,500 cybersecurity professionals, 70 delivery centers, and 20 Autonomous Cyber Defense Centers globally. Paired with Palo Alto Networks' AI-powered platforms and Unit 42 threat intelligence, the alliance delivers both the technology and human expertise that enterprise organizations need to securely deploy AI across complex environments.

"AI is reshaping both business and cybersecurity, making deep ecosystem collaboration more important than ever. Expanding our alliance with NTT DATA allows us to operationalize platformization at true global scale, helping enterprises eliminate legacy complexity and move fast without sacrificing safety," said Nikesh Arora, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Palo Alto Networks.

Nikesh Arora, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Palo Alto Networks

The timing of this alliance reflects an urgent industry need. As organizations race to adopt AI for competitive advantage, the threat landscape is evolving at unprecedented speed. Attackers are developing new techniques faster than traditional security teams can respond, and the integration of AI into both defensive and offensive capabilities is creating a new category of risk that requires specialized expertise.

"AI is redefining every aspect of the enterprise, but it is also transforming the threat landscape at unprecedented speed. Organizations need a new approach to cyber resilience that combines AI-driven security, deep industry expertise and global scale," stated Abhijit Dubey, Chief Executive Officer and Chief AI Officer of NTT DATA.

Abhijit Dubey, Chief Executive Officer and Chief AI Officer, NTT DATA

The alliance model itself represents a broader trend in enterprise security. Rather than expecting individual organizations to build all necessary capabilities internally, vendors are recognizing that secure AI adoption requires a combination of cutting-edge technology, deep industry knowledge, and hands-on managed services. By pooling resources and expertise, NTT DATA and Palo Alto Networks aim to reduce the friction and complexity that currently slow down AI deployment in regulated industries.

The $1 billion revenue target over three years suggests significant market demand for this type of integrated offering. Organizations in financial services, healthcare, and critical infrastructure are under intense pressure to modernize their security posture while simultaneously accelerating AI adoption. This alliance positions both companies to capture a meaningful share of that opportunity while helping their clients navigate one of the most complex technology transitions in recent history.