From pilots to profits: How AI leaders turn vision into real value, according to NTT DATA’s 2026 Global AI Report
December 9, 2025
NTT DATA Group Corporation
TOKYO and London — December 9, 2025 — NTT DATA, a global leader in AI, digital business, and IT services, released the 2026 Global AI Report: A playbook for AI leaders. The report draws on fresh benchmark research and reveals how a select group of “AI leaders” outpace competitors through deliberate strategy and disciplined execution.
The analysis is based on a survey of 2,567 senior executives spanning 35 countries and 15 industries. Only 15% of respondents met the criteria to be considered AI leaders, defined by a clear AI strategy, mature operating models, and focused execution. These leaders report notably higher revenue growth and profit margins compared with their peers.
"AI accountability now belongs in the boardroom and requires an enterprise-wide agenda," stated Yutaka Sasaki, President and CEO of NTT DATA Group. "Our findings show that a small cadre of AI leaders is already using AI to differentiate, drive growth, and reinvent how humans and machines collaborate to create value."
Strategy
AI is treated as a core growth engine, with organizations reshaping their strategic priorities accordingly.
- Strategic alignment and speed: Leaders win by tightly aligning AI with business strategy, converting strategic focus and rapid action into superior financial returns.
- End-to-end focus: Top performers concentrate on high-value domains that unlock outsized economic value and redesign workflows across the entire process.
- Flywheel momentum: Early successes generate reinvestment cycles that fuel ongoing growth.
- Core reinvention: Growth leaders rebuild essential applications with embedded AI rather than relying solely on surface enhancements.
Execution
AI leaders differentiate themselves through robust foundations, empowered people, deliberate adoption, strong governance, and capable partners.
- Secure at scale: Leaders build scalable, secure AI stacks, localize or relocate infrastructure for private or sovereign AI, and invest to remove bottlenecks.
- Expert-first AI: They use AI to enhance the impact of skilled employees rather than replace them.
- Adoption that sticks: Top performers treat rollout as a company-wide change program, embracing proactive change management to reduce resistance.
- Governed for scale: Leading organizations centralize AI governance, establish enterprise-wide oversight, and empower dedicated Chief AI Officers to own risk and steer innovation.
- Partner-powered growth: Elite players collaborate with external experts and are open to outcome-based gain-sharing models that accelerate AI value.
"Once AI and business strategies align, the most effective move is to pick one or two domains that offer disproportionate value and redesign them end-to-end with AI," said Abhijit Dubey, CEO and CAIO of NTT DATA, Inc. "Backing this targeted, end-to-end approach with strong governance, modern infrastructure, and trusted partners is how today’s AI leaders convert pilots into profits and pull ahead of the market."
About the Research
The survey was conducted between September and October 2025. Respondents included C-suite executives and other senior leaders from organizations across technology, manufacturing, banking and financial services, healthcare, consumer sectors, and more.
For the full 2026 Global AI Report: A playbook for AI leaders, visit NTT DATA’s website: https://services.global.ntt/en-us/campaigns/2026-global-ai-report-playbook.
About NTT DATA
NTT DATA is a multi-billion-dollar technology and services company serving 75% of the Fortune Global 100. The firm is dedicated to accelerating client success and advancing society through responsible innovation. It ranks among the world’s leading providers of AI and digital infrastructure, with strengths in enterprise-scale AI, cloud, security, connectivity, data centers, and application services. Their consulting and industry solutions help organizations navigate the digital future with confidence and sustainability. As a Global Top Employer, NTT DATA employs experts in more than 70 countries and offers access to a robust ecosystem of innovation centers and partnerships with both established firms and startups. NTT DATA is part of the NTT Group, which invests over $3 billion annually in R&D.
Learn more at nttdata.com.
