NTT DATA is preparing for a major transformation of its India operations by reskilling all its employees in the country to become AI-native developers. The global IT services firm, which employs more than 40,000 people in India, aims to turn its engineering base into a powerhouse for scaling generative AI capabilities worldwide.
During a press interaction, leaders from the company’s global Generative AI Office highlighted that India sits at the centre of NTT DATA’s future strategy. The large-scale reskilling effort is designed to significantly boost productivity, enabling the same engineering teams to handle far more global projects than they do today. The company envisions a future where Indian teams can double—or even multiply—project-delivery capacity through AI-driven development.
NTT DATA already draws heavily from Indian talent for its research and development work in Japan and Silicon Valley. While the company currently has no plans to establish a core R&D centre in India, executives indicated that such a move could become possible in the long term, similar to existing software- development hubs in the country.
The company also underscored that India’s AI market requires a distinct approach. Cost sensitivity and data confidentiality are major priorities for Indian clients. To stay competitive, NTT DATA said it is prepared to support pricing models tailored for the Indian market.
Data sovereignty is another growing demand. Many Indian clients prefer private infrastructure over shared environments to ensure secure handling of sensitive information.
NTT DATA sees India’s Global Capability Centres as a key growth area and aims to strengthen its support for them using AI-trained engineering talent. Looking ahead, the company believes the current GenAI wave is only the beginning, anticipating major breakthroughs in quantum computing and robotics over the next decade.
