AI agents discussing among themselves to solve an organisation’s problems; a tech that generates text straight from the human mind by analysing brain activity; GenAI simulating human behaviours to aid faster surveys; and the development of a large-scale, general purpose optical quantum computer.
These may sound like a wish list of transformative digital tools, but Japan’s IT and telecom major NTT Inc has already developed these and is refining them for client use.
At NTT’s R&D Forum held in Tokyo in November, the company showcased over 80 such solutions across technologies such as AI, quantum, mobility, digital twin, automotive and more. NTT believes it is at the forefront of the transformations brought about by AI and quantum technology. With annual R&D spend of about $3.5 billion, NTT is committing around 30 per cent of its profit to R&D, company officials told businessline.
“Optical quantum computers, which utilise the properties of light, present a promising solution with low power consumption, and can operate at room temperature and pressure,” Akira Shimada, President and CEO, NTT Inc, declared as the company inked a partnership with a start-up, OptQC Corp, to come up with a 1-million qubit optical quantum computer by 2030.
Rika Nakazawa, Chief of Commercial Innovation at NTT’s data centre and infrastructure arm NTT DATA, said the company already has proof of concepts in quantum, which it has been working on across sectors with partners. “We are looking to take those POCs to create value at scale,” she said. “The challenge in quantum computing lies in achieving scale by perfecting error correction and combining deep research with industry use cases,” she added. The year 2025 was not just the 100th anniversary of quantum science, but also designated by the Japanese government as the first year of ‘quantum industrialisation’.
Indian talent pool
At the centre of NTT’s transition to a future-proof organisation is its Global AI Office, with 50-60 core members — over half of them from Japan and the rest from other regions, including India.
Kenji Motohashi, co-lead of the Global AI Office in NTT DATA, who is responsible for company-wide generative AI strategy and promotion, says Indian talent pool, particularly AI skills, is integral for NTT. “We are leveraging so many smart people from India, and that is working very proactively in the transformation in the company,” he said.
NTT DATA currently commands nearly 30 per cent of India’s data centre market share. Further, the country is emerging as one of its largest global delivery hubs, with over 40,000 people. “We are targeting $2 billion as AI revenue in FY27. We are also targeting a 50 per cent productivity improvement due to AI by this fiscal year and about 70 per cent by 2027,” Motohashi said.
About 500 NTT projects today use AI for software development. The company aims to train over 200,000 employees worldwide in ‘practical AI skills’ by FY27. It is also setting up a facility in Silicon Valley, the “hotbed of new AI solutions”.
(The writer was in Tokyo at the invitation of NTT Inc)
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Published on December 1, 2025