GSIs Drive Enterprise AI Success: Insights from IndyCar

Why GSIs Are Winning The Enterprise AI Race

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a place synonymous with speed and precision, might seem an unlikely classroom for understanding the complexities of enterprise AI. Yet, at the recent Java House Grand Prix near Monterey, California, I found myself in a rolling headquarters – more akin to a high-tech mobile command center – belonging to the Arrow McLaren IndyCar team. It was here, amidst the hum of data scientists and engineers, that the parallels between motorsport and the cutting edge of Artificial Intelligence became strikingly clear.

The team’s driver, Nolan Siegel, navigates the track in a car adorned with the **NTT Data** sponsorship. This isn't just about branding; it’s about a shared ethos of leveraging data at extreme velocities. IndyCar racing, with its billions of data points streaming from over 150 sensors per car each hour, perfectly mirrors the demanding environment of enterprise AI implementation. As Chief Engineer for car number 6, Kate Gundlach, aptly put it, “The driver is the ultimate sensor.” This sentiment resonates deeply in the business world, where, as she further elaborated, “having no data is better than having bad data.” This highlights a critical challenge many businesses face: the overwhelming deluge of information can be more detrimental than a lack of it if not properly managed and interpreted.

The AI Inflection Point: From Ambition to Operationalization

The enterprise AI landscape is at a pivotal moment. Generative AI is moving beyond the experimental phase into tangible, real-world applications. The next frontier, agentic AI – systems capable of autonomous decision-making and action – promises even greater transformation. However, for many businesses, the journey from recognizing AI's potential to successfully deploying it remains a significant hurdle. A recent MIT report sheds light on this, indicating that a staggering 95% of generative AI pilot projects have failed to yield meaningful results.

The challenges are multifaceted, extending beyond mere technological capabilities. Integrating large language models, hyperscale cloud platforms, complex multimodal data, and robust security frameworks often results in a lack of seamless interoperability. Enterprises are tasked with orchestrating these diverse elements across existing legacy systems, all while adhering to strict regulatory compliance, managing data sovereignty, and, crucially, demonstrating a clear return on investment (ROI). It’s a complex web that few organizations can navigate independently.

Enter the Global System Integrators (GSIs)

This is precisely where Global System Integrators (GSIs) step in. Traditionally known for guiding businesses through digital transformations, GSIs are now becoming the essential connective tissue that makes enterprise AI not just possible, but operational. Among these leaders, Tokyo-based **NTT Data** is making particularly strategic moves, positioning itself as a key enabler in this evolving AI ecosystem.

Why GSIs Hold the Keys to AI Success

The adoption of enterprise AI differs significantly from previous technological shifts. Firstly, it necessitates a comprehensive, full-stack transformation, impacting everything from data pipelines and cloud infrastructure to security protocols, application development, and fundamental business workflows. Secondly, it demands sophisticated ecosystem orchestration, as no single vendor can realistically cater to every nuanced enterprise requirement.

Andrew Wells, Chief Data and AI Officer for **NTT Data**, shared his perspective on how GSIs bridge these critical gaps. He highlighted three core differentiators that empower GSIs to lead in the AI domain:

• Industry Expertise: GSIs possess a deep understanding of vertical-specific workflows and regulatory compliance. This allows them to design AI solutions that deliver tangible business outcomes, moving beyond mere technological novelty to address core business needs.
• Integration Mastery: With decades of experience in connecting disparate systems, GSIs excel at seamlessly integrating technologies from a multitude of vendors into cohesive, enterprise-grade solutions. They are the architects of technological harmony.
• Global Delivery Capacity: Leveraging worldwide networks of consultants and engineers, GSIs ensure consistent and scalable AI rollouts across diverse geographies and industries, providing a reliable foundation for global businesses.

In essence, GSIs act as accelerators for AI adoption, translating groundbreaking innovation into measurable, real-world enterprise transformation. For small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), this means gaining access to sophisticated AI capabilities without the prohibitive upfront investment in specialized internal teams.

NTT Data’s Strategic AI Offensive

**NTT Data**, with its expansive operations across more than 50 countries, serves as a prime example of how a GSI can strategically capitalize on the current AI revolution. Over the past year alone, the company has forged significant partnerships with industry giants such as Google Cloud, Microsoft, Mistral AI, Salesforce, and Corvic AI. This aggressive expansion of its AI ecosystem is a clear signal of its commitment to leading the charge.

Gartner has recognized this momentum, naming **NTT Data** an “Emerging Leader” in its 2025 Innovation Guide for Generative AI Consulting and Implementation Services. This accolade underscores **NTT Data**’s potent combination of innovation, market insight, and robust delivery capabilities. Sudhir Chaturvedi, CEO of North America and Global Chief Growth Officer for **NTT Data**, emphasized that this strategic positioning is deliberate. The GSI has evolved from being a mere participant in the service market to actively shaping the enterprise AI landscape. He articulated this vision, stating, “if we can deliver the full stack” and become “part of each client’s fabric.” This integrated approach is crucial for businesses seeking end-to-end AI solutions.

These strategic alliances firmly establish **NTT Data** as one of the most proactive and influential integrators within the generative and agentic AI ecosystem. For SMEs looking to harness AI without the complexity, partnering with a GSI like **NTT Data** can provide a clear path forward.

Co-Innovation at Scale with Google Cloud

**NTT Data** recently solidified its commitment to AI-powered cloud innovation through a global partnership with Google Cloud. This collaboration builds upon their existing 2024 APAC co-innovation agreement and **NTT Data**’s strategic acquisition of Google Cloud specialist Niveus Solutions. This move signifies a deep dive into leveraging Google Cloud’s advanced AI capabilities to address pressing enterprise challenges, particularly in regulatory compliance and operational scalability.

The partnership is already yielding tangible industry solutions. In the financial services sector, **NTT Data**’s Regla platform, operating on Google Cloud, is streamlining regulatory reporting and compliance. For the hospitality industry, their Virtual Travel Concierge leverages Google's powerful Gemini models to provide real-time, multilingual customer service, successfully managing over three million conversations monthly. This demonstrates the practical application of AI in enhancing customer experiences and operational efficiency – areas where many SMEs are looking for an edge.

A significant focus for **NTT Data** and Google Cloud is the development of sovereign AI capabilities. Utilizing Google Distributed Cloud, they are enabling clients to deploy air-gapped and connected sovereign cloud environments. This is a critical offering for highly regulated industries grappling with complex data residency requirements and a growing need for data control and security.

To support this extensive collaboration, **NTT Data** has established a dedicated Google Cloud Business Group, comprised of thousands of engineers and architects, with ambitious plans to certify an additional 5,000 professionals in Google Cloud technologies. This demonstrates a significant investment in specialized talent, ensuring they can deliver sophisticated solutions at scale. This alliance also highlights a broader industry trend: hyperscalers like Google Cloud increasingly rely on system integrators, just as integrators depend on hyperscalers for foundational technology. Similar strategic partnerships exist between Microsoft and **NTT Data**, as well as Amazon Web Services and Deloitte, underscoring the interconnected nature of the modern tech landscape.

MAIKA, as an all-in-one AI platform designed for SMEs, complements these large-scale initiatives by making advanced AI accessible and manageable. While GSIs like **NTT Data** build the infrastructure and high-level strategies, **MAIKA** provides the practical tools for businesses to integrate AI into their daily operations, from content enhancement and data insights to process automation and customer engagement through custom AI chatbots.

Tackling Multi-Agent Complexity with Microsoft

While many enterprises are still navigating the initial stages of generative AI pilots, **NTT Data** is already charting the course for the next frontier: multi-agent AI systems. These advanced systems involve multiple, specialized AI agents collaborating to tackle complex tasks, such as sophisticated IT service management or highly personalized insurance support. This level of automation and intelligence can dramatically streamline operations for businesses of all sizes.

Through its strategic partnership with Microsoft, **NTT Data** has developed managed services capable of orchestrating these intricate multi-agent workflows on Azure AI Foundry. Their demonstration at the recent Microsoft Build conference showcased a multi-agent ticket management system that significantly reduced response times and elevated customer satisfaction. This was achieved through automated classification, prioritization, intelligent routing, and swift resolution of issues. The business case is compelling: streamlined workflows, enhanced compliance adherence, and substantial cost savings derived from intelligent automation. As businesses transition from experimentation to scaled deployment, orchestration frameworks like these are becoming indispensable enablers of widespread AI adoption.

For SMEs, the ability to implement such advanced automation without the need for extensive in-house expertise is a game-changer. Platforms like **MAIKA** can help bridge this gap, offering features that automate repetitive tasks and improve customer interactions, mirroring the benefits seen in these enterprise-level solutions.

Independence with Mistral AI

Recognizing the importance of flexibility and avoiding vendor lock-in, **NTT Data** is also strategically hedging against hyperscaler dependence through its partnership with Mistral AI. This Paris-based startup is renowned for its high-performance, open-weight generative models, offering powerful alternatives to proprietary solutions. Together, **NTT Data** and Mistral AI are co-developing secure, private AI platforms tailored for regulated sectors, including finance, insurance, and defense.

Early implementations of this collaboration include a sovereign AI platform deployed in Luxembourg and a specialized patent-search application developed for Dennemeyer, a global intellectual property services firm. By offering private, sustainable AI deployments, the **NTT Data**-Mistral alliance directly addresses the growing demand for strategic AI autonomy and data control, ensuring businesses can leverage AI responsibly and securely.

The availability of flexible AI models and platforms, such as those supported by **MAIKA**, allows SMEs to explore and adopt AI solutions that best fit their specific needs and budget, without being tied to a single ecosystem.

Expanding the Ecosystem: Salesforce and Corvic AI

Further strengthening **NTT Data**’s comprehensive AI offering are additional strategic partnerships. New services developed for Salesforce's Agentforce platform empower enterprises to augment their existing teams with autonomous AI agents. This initiative leverages **NTT Data**’s proven “Evangelize, Pilot, Adopt, Scale” methodology, providing a structured approach to AI integration.

Simultaneously, an alliance with Corvic AI extends **NTT Data**’s capabilities into the critical area of multimodal data management. Corvic’s platform excels at reconciling diverse data types – including documents, graphs, tables, and images – effectively solving the pervasive problem of fragmented enterprise data. This fragmentation often acts as a significant bottleneck in AI adoption, making data integration and utilization a paramount concern for many businesses.

For SMEs, the challenge of fragmented data and the need for seamless integration are very real. **MAIKA**’s platform is designed to tackle these very issues, offering features that can help consolidate and interpret data, making it actionable for businesses that may not have the resources to implement complex data management solutions.

The AI Scaling Imperative

The enterprise AI market is undeniably entering its scaling phase. Industry analysts like IDC project that global AI systems spending will surpass $500 billion by 2027, indicating massive growth potential. However, numerous surveys consistently reveal that many enterprises struggle to move beyond the proof-of-concept stage. They frequently encounter familiar roadblocks, including critical talent shortages, complex integration challenges, pervasive security concerns, and a lack of clarity regarding ROI.

GSIs, with **NTT Data** at the forefront, are emerging as the definitive solution to this execution gap. While pioneers like OpenAI, Meta, and the hyperscalers are instrumental in developing cutting-edge AI models, it is the GSIs who are crucial in helping enterprises translate these models into measurable business impact across a wide array of industries. This is where the expertise of organizations like **MAIKA** also plays a vital role, democratizing access to AI tools for smaller businesses.

Agentic AI further strengthens this argument. The orchestration of multiple AI agents across different vendors and platforms demands the sophisticated systems expertise, robust governance frameworks, and extensive global delivery models that GSIs have meticulously refined over decades. This complex orchestration is precisely what many SMEs lack the internal resources to manage.

The Road Ahead: Navigating the AI Frontier

The next 18 months are poised to be a defining period for AI in the enterprise. AI model builders will continue to introduce groundbreaking foundation models, while agile, open-weight players like Mistral AI will increasingly offer compelling alternatives. Enterprises will face mounting pressure to demonstrate tangible AI ROI at scale, even as regulatory bodies intensify oversight concerning data privacy, security, and sovereignty.

In this dynamic environment, GSIs will undoubtedly become indispensable partners. **NTT Data**’s recent surge in partnership momentum and notable client wins vividly illustrate the potential that emerges when technical expertise, ecosystem breadth, and industry-specific delivery capabilities converge. This approach ensures that businesses, regardless of size, can harness the power of AI.

Reflecting on this synergy, Arrow McLaren team principal Tony Kanaan shared a profound insight trackside at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: “Once, the driver taught the computer; now it’s the opposite.” He added that in working with **NTT Data**, “we’re all learning together” – a sentiment that aptly captures the collaborative spirit essential for navigating the complexities of modern enterprise AI adoption. This collaborative spirit is also at the heart of what platforms like **MAIKA** aim to foster for SMEs, enabling them to learn, adapt, and thrive in the AI-driven future.

For small to medium-sized businesses looking to navigate this complex AI landscape and achieve tangible results, exploring solutions that simplify implementation and maximize ROI is key. Platforms like MAIKA offer an accessible entry point, providing powerful AI tools designed to enhance content, uncover insights, automate processes, and engage customers more effectively. Don't let AI complexity hold your business back. Discover how MAIKA can empower your organization to thrive in the digital age.

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