Palo Alto Networks and NTT DATA forge $1 billion AI security alliance targeting 2029

Palo Alto Networks and NTT DATA have announced a multiyear global alliance targeting $1 billion in joint business by the end of 2029, marking Palo Alto's first strategic partnership of this scale with a global systems integrator1

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. The agreement combines Palo Alto Networks' AI-powered cybersecurity platforms with NTT DATA's consulting, engineering, and managed services to help organizations navigate the complexities of secure AI adoption5

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Expanding Beyond Previous Collaboration

While the two companies launched a joint managed cybersecurity service in 2024 and NTT DATA joined Palo Alto's Frontier AI Alliance in April as one of five founding members, this new agreement goes considerably further1

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. The partnership establishes a dedicated go-to-market model, a shared engineering roadmap, and grants NTT DATA early access to platform features before they ship2

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. Palo Alto Networks is assigning forward-deployed engineers to the work, backed by joint investments from both companies1

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The $1 billion target represents the total value of customer contracts and orders the two companies sell together over three years, blending product and subscription revenue with services, integration, and managed services across both balance sheets2

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. While neither company disclosed current joint business figures or specific investment amounts, the alliance brings together more than 2,000 certified experts to streamline deployments and accelerate customer results5

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Addressing Critical Identity Security Challenges

A central focus of the partnership tackles a pressing cybersecurity challenge: managing machine identities in AI-driven environments. According to Palo Alto Networks, there are more than 80 machine accounts for every human one inside a typical enterprise as of February2

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. Most security teams cannot produce a full list of these accounts, creating blind spots around who or what has access to sensitive systems2

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The identity security component runs on Idira, the platform Palo Alto Networks built from its $25 billion acquisition of CyberArk Software Ltd. and released in May1

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. The framework is designed to discover, manage, secure, and govern human, machine, and AI agent identities, including workloads and devices, across the enterprise4

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Six Strategic Transformation Areas

Initial solutions will address cybersecurity challenges facing clients in highly regulated industries including financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and the public sector across six areas4

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. The autonomous security operations center pairs agentic AI tooling with NTT DATA's managed detection and response staff to help organizations detect, investigate, and respond faster to machine-speed cyber threats while reducing operational complexity1

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AI governance embeds security and risk management throughout the AI lifecycle, helping organizations manage emerging AI risks and scale innovation with greater accountability, transparency, and control5

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. The zero trust and SASE architectures help secure users, applications, and data across complex attack surfaces through unified secure edge architecture leveraging AI-driven threat detection4

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. Resilient cloud security enables visibility, compliance, and autonomous risk reduction across multicloud environments with AI-enabled posture management5

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. Firewall modernization rounds out the offerings to reduce complexity and strengthen enterprise security4

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Global Scale and Non-Exclusive Terms

NTT DATA brings over 7,500 cybersecurity professionals, 70-plus delivery centers, and 20-plus Autonomous Cyber Defense Centers to the collaboration5

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. Paired with Palo Alto Networks' AI-powered platforms and Unit 42 threat intelligence, the alliance delivers the technology, expertise, and global reach enterprises need to deploy AI across complex environments5

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The alliance is not exclusive, and NTT DATA continues to resell rival platforms, including CrowdStrike's Falcon1

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. Nikesh Arora, chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks, stated that expanding the alliance "allows us to operationalize platformization at true global scale, helping enterprises eliminate legacy complexity and move fast without sacrificing safety"5

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. Abhijit Dubey, CEO and Chief AI Officer at NTT DATA, Inc., noted that "AI is redefining every aspect of the enterprise, but it is also transforming the threat landscape," emphasizing the need for a new approach combining AI-driven security, industry expertise, and global scale5

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