In a detailed interview with CRN India, Amir Durrani, Global Head, Applications and Business Process Services at NTT DATA Inc., accentuates the firm’s partner-first model of expanding AI and digital transformation worldwide. He explains how strategic partnerships, investments in talent, and a wide-ranging portfolio are making NTT DATA’s channel ecosystem deliver value across various markets.
He also sheds light on how AI is redefining customer journeys, NTT DATA’s strength in India, and the future prospects for partners who support the company’s innovation vision.
With hundreds of AI use cases already identified, what specific opportunities do you see for your partners, be they resellers, ISVs, or systems integrators, to monetise agentic AI in India and globally?
Our partner enablement strategy is to build an ecosystem through which partners can access agentic AI directly and build quantifiable business value. Salesforce’s AgentExchange, in which we are deeply embedded, offers resellers, ISVs, and systems integrators access to hundreds of pre-built templates and tested MCP servers. These enable partners to build digital workforces of AI agents that can be quickly and securely deployed. Opportunities abound in customer experience, AMS, and marketing automation. Beyond reselling, partners can co-create industry-specific solutions with us and hyperscalers, allowing them to differentiate their offerings while expanding revenue streams. The model is built on collaboration, co-innovation, and scalability, ensuring that partners of all sizes can monetise AI effectively.
Are you looking at any incentive models or co-innovation labs to support this?
Yes. A cornerstone of our Smart AI Agent ecosystem is the creation of OpenAI Centres of Excellence (CoEs) to accelerate development and deployment of generative AI services. These CoEs will support partners in building industry-specific solutions and taking them to market globally. Incentive models are also being explored, especially for those partners who co-innovate and bring differentiated solutions to clients. By creating labs and shared innovation environments, we ensure that partners are not just resellers but collaborators in the AI transformation journey.
From healthcare and BFSI to automotive and logistics, which sectors do you anticipate will see the fastest returns on investment from agentic AI adoption over the next two years, and why?
For partners, the fastest ROI sectors align with where enterprises are already scaling AI adoption. BFSI, healthcare, and Application Management Services are leading the way, with agentification driving efficiencies and improving outcomes. For example, in healthcare, AI is streamlining patient management, while in BFSI, Agentforce enables offerings like life insurance-as-a-service. For partners, these sectors present opportunities to deliver packaged solutions, vertical-specific IP, and managed services. Additionally, marketing automation, recruitment optimisation, and vendor management represent cross-industry opportunities that can be replicated across geographies.
Are there any sectors that are starting to adopt AI faster than you were expecting?
Manufacturing and utilities are emerging as unlikely champions in the adoption of AI. For partners, this matters because it creates new solution areas and revenue streams. Manufacturing, for instance, offers opportunities in the area of predictive maintenance and automating supply chains, and utilities are utilising AI in predicting demand and managing smart grids. These are new markets that have not yet been exploited and where partners can move in with custom solutions.
With $1.5 billion of committed Indian yearly investments in such areas as AI research and development, delivery excellence, client co-innovation, or partner enablement, what will be the major beneficiaries? How are you matching these investments against changing client expectations?
Our $1.5 billion investment in India will fortify infrastructure, increase data centres, and fuel innovation hubs. For partners, this translates into more possibilities to co-innovate with clients, draw on delivery excellence, and apply our AI research to co-create industry solutions. We tie these investments together by getting clients and partners involved in outcomes-focused discussions, so what we create together meets changing market aspirations. We wish to have partners view NTT DATA as not only a service provider but also as a transformation partner who shares risks with them.
With agentic AI assuming increasingly sophisticated workflows and decision-making, what is your view on reskilling the workforce, and how is NTT DATA enabling enterprises and partners to prepare for it?
We view workforce reskilling as a collaborative responsibility between NTT DATA, our clients, and our partners. AI is complementing jobs and not substituting them, but it does need a change in skills. We offer internal training programmes and roll them out to clients and partners so that they can gain confidence and competence in using AI responsibly. Our purpose, as asserted through the ‘Our Way’ programme, is responsible innovation for the good of society. By training employees and partners together and co-innovating, we prepare the ecosystem for more sophisticated, agentic workflows without incurring fear of redundancy.
What are your top priorities for the remainder of 2025?
For our partner ecosystem, the 2025 priority is clear: that is, establishing meaningful partnerships, co-creating industry-focused platforms, and driving AI adoption worldwide. We are working with hyperscalers like Microsoft, AWS, and Google Cloud, as well as enterprise leaders like Salesforce, to ensure that our partner community has access to the latest platforms and tools. The dedicated Google Cloud Business Unit for GenAI, for example, will open new avenues for partners to innovate and monetise AI. In short, our focus is on enabling an ecosystem where every partner can thrive while helping clients achieve meaningful transformation.
