Starting May 1, the pair will join as part of a global strategic partnership that hopes to transform business operations using generative AI models.
Beyond distributing the ChatGPT Enterprise subscription plan to Japanese users, the pair are gearing up to create agentic AI solutions that boast a “deep understanding of the business and industry-specific challenges of various industries”.
“By combining the global system integration know-how that the NTT Data Group boasts with OpenAI's world-leading AI technology, we will further accelerate our customers' business transformation and contribute to the realisation of a sustainable society,” said Yutaka Sasaki, president and CEO of NTT Data Group Corp.
Agentic AI, or the concept of an agent-based AI system performing assigned tasks on behalf of a user or another system, is quickly becoming the next big thing in AI, with businesses looking at it as a viable method to intelligently automate processes.
NTT Data has been working for some time on agentic AI, unveiling a suite back in March that lets users build and manage their own AI agents.
OpenAI, meanwhile, has slowly waded its way into AI agents, with the launch of GPTs, customisable versions of ChatGPT, its earlist attempt.
The world’s most valuable startup later waded deeper, offering a glimpse at Operator, an agentic AI tool capable of autonomously browsing the web to accomplish tasks.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, previously suggested that agentic AI will be integrated into our daily lives by 2025. Now, the startup has partnered with NTT Data to bring such solutions to businesses.
The pair plans to develop generative AI agents, with an initial focus on the Japanese market before expanding to Europe, North America, and the wider Asia Pacific region.
Beyond next-gen AI agents, NTT Data will bring ChatGPT Enterprise to Japanese users. The business-focused subscription plan offers a more customisable version of the chatbot, with unlimited access to newer models like GPT-4o and the ability to input more text thanks to larger context windows.
The pair also plan to offer an acceleration programme aimed at use case creation to 100 major companies.
“OpenAI aims to provide AI that is safe and easy for everyone to use through cutting-edge technology, and contributes to improving productivity,” said Tadao Nagasaki, CEO of OpenAI Japan. “The introduction of ChatGPT Enterprise and OpenAI API by the NTT Data Group is a large-scale business transformation initiative with an eye on both domestic and overseas, and we are deeply sympathetic to this.
“We will continue to deepen our collaboration and together pave the way for the future of AI use in Japanese companies.”
NTT Data said it aims to achieve cumulative sales of 100 billion yen ($697 million) in its OpenAI-related business by the end of fiscal year 2027.
The Japanese firm also plans to create an OpenAI-centric ‘centre of excellence’ aimed at providing customers generative AI-focused support.
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