TOKYO -- NTT Data Group has teamed up with Google to develop and sell artificial intelligence agents that will carry out marketing and other operations in place of humans, using the U.S. technology company's generative AI, Nikkei learned on Tuesday.
NTT Data has recently concluded a global strategic tie-up agreement with Google's cloud computing division, which operates services for corporate clients. As the first Japanese company to conclude such a contract with Google Cloud, NTT Data will set up an organization of thousands of experts to promote the business in more than 50 countries and regions.
Information technology companies that have concluded global partnerships with Google Cloud are limited in number and include Accenture and Deloitte.
NTT Data will start by developing and marketing AI agents using Google technology. An AI agent is a system that can solve complicated tasks on its own by learning corporate clients' data. For example, it can automatically reply to telephone inquiries to a call center and work out an optimum marketing strategy by analyzing past business transaction data.
The Japanese IT services giant will make use of Google's Gemini generative AI to develop more than 50 AI agents tailored to specific sales and marketing operations. It will also customize the agents based on business practices and regulations in various parts of the country.
NTT Data will build infrastructure for the safe usage of AI agents. Generative AI, the foundation of AI agents, generally operates on an external cloud platform and is used by multiple companies. Concerns exist, therefore, that AI may unintentionally use important information input by one client to provide solutions to another.
To avoid such leakage, NTT Data will install the same facilities as those of Google's cloud system in its group call centers around the globe and client companies' operational bases, and run AI agents in such locations. Experts of the Tokyo-based company will take charge of operating and managing the facilities and AI agents.
NTT Data in May began marketing AI services developed by OpenAI to domestic and overseas companies. It has also tied up with Oracle, and in December will start services to store customer data on servers in Japan.
The arrangement with Google covers a wider cross-section of businesses than NTT Data's partnerships with OpenAI and Oracle.
Parent company NTT is proceeding with the process to turn NTT Data into a wholly owned subsidiary after a tender offer in June. Under a new corporate group structure, NTT Data will focus on growth business areas including AI agents, cloud computing services and data center operations.
The global market for AI agents is forecast by MarketsandMarkets, an Indian research company, to grow 10 times from 2024 to $52.6 billion by 2030.
