NTT DATA and Ericsson team up to scale private 5G and physical AI for enterprises
NTT DATA and Ericsson partner to scale private 5G and edge AI for enterprise deployments worldwide.
NTT DATA and Ericsson have entered a multi-year strategic partnership aimed at accelerating enterprise adoption of private 5G and advancing edge AI and physical AI deployments at scale. The collaboration is positioned as a move to help organisations transition from pilot projects to production-ready, globally scalable implementations.
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The two companies intend to combine Ericsson’s Private 5G and Edge platforms with NTT DATA’s enterprise network services, wireless expertise, IT and OT security, and managed services capabilities. The objective is to embed intelligence directly into connectivity infrastructure, enabling real-time and autonomous decision-making at the edge.
A fully managed approach to global private 5G
Under the agreement, NTT DATA will act as Ericsson’s global system integration and managed services provider for Private 5G deployments. The companies plan to deliver private 5G as a fully managed service, with consistent architecture, operations and security standards across geographies.
This model addresses a persistent barrier in enterprise connectivity projects, where integration complexity and fragmented vendor ecosystems often slow down adoption. According to Alejandro Cadenas, Associate Vice-President of Worldwide Telco Research at IDC, “Private 5G is the backbone for scaling AI in production, where autonomous systems must operate reliably and at scale, but integration complexity often remains the final hurdle.”
He added, “The combined expertise of NTT DATA and Ericsson seamlessly integrates edge AI and physical AI with enhanced connectivity, overcoming operational, scalability and accountability challenges and accelerating the deployment of AI with confidence.”
The partnership also includes a unified global go-to-market strategy, covering joint sales, marketing and delivery. By presenting a single path to deployment, the companies aim to reduce vendor complexity for enterprises and shorten time to value.
Embedding AI into enterprise connectivity
A central component of the collaboration is the integration of NTT DATA Edge AI agents on Ericsson’s enterprise Edge platforms. This setup is designed to allow AI models and agents to operate where data is generated, rather than relying solely on centralised cloud processing.
Shahid Ahmed, Global Head of Edge Services at NTT DATA, said enterprises require partners capable of aligning connectivity, intelligence and security for real-world production environments. “As enterprises adopt AI at the edge, they need partners who can bring connectivity, intelligence and security together in a way that actually works in production,” he said.
He continued, “Together with Ericsson, we can deploy these solutions faster, operate them at scale and deliver outcomes. Private 5G gives enterprises the foundation they need to achieve real, measurable impact with edge AI and physical AI deployments.”
From Ericsson’s perspective, the collaboration extends its long-standing enterprise wireless strategy into AI-driven operations. Asa Tamsons, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Area Enterprise Wireless Solutions at Ericsson, said the company has been advancing enterprise connectivity for more than a decade and is now expanding support for edge AI and physical AI at scale. “By combining our global platforms with NTT DATA’s engineering and managed services, industry expertise and AI-driven operations, enterprises can move from experimentation to always-on, production-grade operations.”
Targeting high-impact industry use cases
The partnership is structured around repeatable industry solutions across multiple verticals. The companies plan to focus on manufacturing, mining, ports, airports, energy, transportation and smart cities, where private 5G and edge AI deployments can deliver measurable returns on investment.
In manufacturing, use cases include automated quality inspection, predictive maintenance and real-time safety monitoring using sensor and vision data. For transportation, ports and logistics, the emphasis is on autonomous operations driven by real-time vehicle and asset data, supporting dynamic routing, tracking and safety improvements.
Energy and mining environments are expected to benefit from remote and autonomous operations, intelligent inspection and AI-driven monitoring in complex and hazardous settings. In smart cities, proposed applications include intelligent traffic management, public safety monitoring and real-time optimisation of energy and municipal services.
NTT DATA, a US$30+ billion business and technology services provider serving 75% of the Fortune Global 100, positions itself as a leader in enterprise-scale AI, digital infrastructure, cloud, security and connectivity. The company operates in more than 70 countries and forms part of NTT Group, which invests over US$3 billion annually in research and development.
