NTT DATA expands AI Factory network to Riyadh, Paris, Singapore
IT services firm NTT DATA has expanded its AI Factory network to Riyadh, Paris and Singapore, giving enterprises dedicated facilities to test, secure and deploy artificial intelligence (AI) systems before scaling them.
The new sites add to the company’s original AI Factory in Plano, Texas. A further facility in Munich, Germany, opened on 7 October at NTT Global Data Centers’ Munich 2 data centre.
According to NTT DATA, the expansion targets one of the biggest hurdles in enterprise AI adoption: moving projects beyond the pilot stage. Infrastructure limits, cybersecurity risks, governance requirements and uncertainty over costs continue to slow deployments.
The AI Factories let business and technology teams evaluate how AI applications perform against real business needs. They can also assess infrastructure requirements, deployment options and running costs before committing to wider roll-outs.
Through workshops, technical assessments, proof-of-concept planning and solution design, organisations can see how AI systems behave under real-world conditions.
“AI at scale is ultimately about turning intelligence into measurable business impact,” says Dilip Kumar, president of technology solutions at NTT DATA.
“That requires organisations to balance innovation with responsibility and make informed choices about where AI creates value and how it can be deployed sustainably and economically.”
The facilities combine NTT DATA’s AI capabilities with technology from partners including Cisco and Nvidia. They support use cases spanning employee productivity, customer experience, cybersecurity, software development, intelligent operations and industry-specific processes.
Security sits at the core of the offering, which uses Cisco Secure AI Factory with Nvidia as its infrastructure foundation. The platform combines computing, networking, security and operations to help organisations run AI workloads while keeping control of their data and costs.
“Scaling AI goes beyond computing,” says Cassie Roach, global VP of AI infrastructure and connectivity partner sales at Cisco.
“Enterprises need a secure and resilient infrastructure foundation that spans infrastructure, security, performance and operations while maintaining control of their data and AI economics.”
NTT DATA says its research shows enterprise leaders want greater confidence in AI performance and business value before expanding their investments.
Chris Barnard, VP of networking and infrastructure services at IDC, says governance is critical to getting returns from AI.
“Realising AI outcomes starts with building the right AI Factory foundation with strong governance. That requires infrastructure, data, security and operations to work together, supported by the right ecosystem of partners.”
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