Palo Alto Networks and NTT DATA team up on a $1 billion AI security push
An AI agent deployed inside a bank or hospital system does not sit still. It queries databases, moves files, and calls other software on its own schedule. To do any of that, it needs credentials, just like an employee does. In February, Palo Alto Networks put the ratio at more than 80 machine accounts for every human one inside a typical enterprise. Most security teams cannot produce a full list…
Palo Alto Networks and NTT DATA have formed a multiyear alliance with a $1 billion joint business goal by the end of 2029. The partnership combines Palo Alto's security platforms with NTT DATA's consulting and managed services to help clients assess cyber risk, deploy AI securely, and manage controls afterward. According to NTT DATA, the figure represents the total value of customer contracts and orders from the two companies combined over the period.
The release notes that the alliance is backed by "joint investments," though neither company disclosed the amount. Palo Alto Networks alone reported roughly $11.4 billion in revenue for its 2026 fiscal year. The expanded alliance aims to operationalize platformization at true global scale, moving customers away from a patchwork of security tools to one vendor's stack.
NTT DATA emphasized the agreement's scope, going beyond the earlier partnership focused solely on securing AI deployments and frontier models. The identity security work in the new joint business runs on technology acquired by Palo Alto Networks through its $25 billion purchase of CyberArk, which it rebranded as Idira in May. NTT DATA, with over 7,500 cybersecurity staff and 70 delivery centers, is well-positioned to distribute Idira to regulated industries.
The alliance's first solution area is an autonomous security operations center (SOC), implying automation for alert triage and repetitive investigation to free up analysts for more complex tasks. NTT DATA emphasized that automation does not replace security professionals but shifts their focus to threat hunting, incident command, and recovery work.
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