NTT DATA and Palo Alto Networks have formed a three-year global strategic alliance targeting $1 billion in combined business by 2029, focused on AI security and managed services. The partnership marks Palo Alto Networks' first strategic alliance of this kind with a global systems integrator, according to Channel Insider. The collaboration will merge the vendor's cybersecurity platforms and Unit 42 threat intelligence with NTT DATA's consulting, engineering and managed services capabilities.
Under the agreement, more than 2,000 Palo Alto Networks-certified professionals will support the initiative, working alongside dedicated Forward Deployed Engineers. NTT DATA contributes a broader cybersecurity workforce exceeding 7,500 professionals, backed by more than 70 delivery centers and over 20 Autonomous Cyber Defense Centers worldwide. The services provider will gain early access to new Palo Alto Networks platform features through direct engineering collaboration, potentially enabling faster delivery of new AI security capabilities to customers. Initial offerings will target customers in highly regulated and critical sectors, including financial services, healthcare, manufacturing and the public sector.
"AI is reshaping both business and cybersecurity, making deep ecosystem collaboration more important than ever," Palo Alto Networks Chairman and CEO Nikesh Arora said. The companies identified six primary transformation areas: autonomous security operations centers, AI governance, identity security, Zero Trust and SASE, resilient cloud environments, and firewall modernization. According to Abhijit Dubey, CEO and chief AI officer at NTT DATA, organizations require a fresh approach to cyber resilience that blends AI-driven security with deep industry expertise and global scale.
The offerings aim to tackle security challenges stemming from increasingly complex infrastructure as enterprises deploy AI applications and autonomous agents. NTT DATA and Palo Alto Networks plan to jointly engineer and deliver security offerings spanning strategy, implementation and ongoing managed services. The alliance builds on the companies' existing Frontier AI collaboration, bringing together NTT DATA's AI governance and managed services capabilities with Unit 42 threat intelligence.
For the channel, the deal highlights the growing convergence of cybersecurity platforms, AI governance and managed services. Large systems integrators and service providers are increasingly positioned not simply to deploy security products, but to help enterprises govern AI deployments and manage the resulting security environments over time. That's opening a new avenue for partners of all sizes to go deeper with existing customers and market a differentiated approach to new business as well. The shift reflects how AI adoption is forcing enterprises to rethink security architecture at a fundamental level, creating opportunities for partners who can deliver both technical integration and long-term operational oversight. For technology decision-makers navigating AI transformation, the partnership model signals a maturation of vendor-integrator relationships beyond transactional product sales toward sustained strategic collaboration.