The enterprise AI revolution just got a major acceleration boost. NTT DATA’s newly announced industry-ready service for Salesforce’s Agentforce represents more than just another consulting partnership – it’s a strategic response to the explosive growth in agentic AI adoption that’s reshaping how businesses think about digital labor.
NTT DATA’s approach centers on what they call the “EPAS” model: Evangelize, Pilot, Adopt, and Scale. This isn’t your typical implementation roadmap; it’s a recognition that agentic AI requires a fundamentally different adoption strategy than traditional enterprise software.
The evangelization phase acknowledges a crucial market reality: many of the demos Salesforce has shown are simple and consumer-friendly, not reflecting how agents can be used in complex, enterprise situations. By leading with domain-specific use cases from their repository of hundreds of agentic AI scenarios, NTT DATA is addressing the credibility gap that has slowed enterprise adoption.
The pilot phase leverages NTT DATA’s extensive integration expertise with MuleSoft and Data Cloud – capabilities that become critical when agents need to work with existing enterprise systems. This isn’t just about deploying a chatbot; it’s about creating agents that can interact with complex, multi-vendor IT ecosystems.
Market Momentum Meets Implementation Reality
The timing couldn’t be better. AI agent usage is up 233% in six months, and over that same period, 8,000 customers have signed up to deploy Agentforce. Yet beneath these impressive numbers lies a more complex story about enterprise readiness.
In February, Salesforce announced that it had closed around 5,000 Agentforce deals – with 3,000 of those being paid customers and 2,000 still testing the technology. This split reveals the challenge: enterprises are interested but cautious. Many are still in evaluation mode, waiting for proven implementation methodologies and real-world success stories.
NTT DATA’s service addresses this hesitation by offering concrete use cases across industries. Their top focus on Customer Service and Experience aligns with where enterprises see immediate value, while their Application Management Services “agentification” speaks to the operational efficiency gains that CFOs demand.
The $236 Billion Opportunity
The numbers driving this partnership are staggering. The global AI agents market size is calculated at $7.9 billion in 2025 and is forecasted to reach around $236 billion by 2034. Even more telling, by 2028, 33% of enterprise software applications are expected to incorporate agentic AI, a significant rise from less than 1% in 2024.
This explosive growth creates both opportunity and risk. Early movers can gain significant competitive advantages, while laggards risk being left behind in an increasingly automated business landscape. NTT DATA’s positioning as both implementer and operator addresses a key enterprise concern: how to not just deploy agents but manage and evolve them over time.
Industry-Specific Intelligence
What sets this offering apart is NTT DATA’s industry vertical expertise. Their use cases span from Life Insurance-as-a-Service to Contact Center-as-a-Service, recognizing that successful agent deployment requires deep domain knowledge, not just technical implementation skills.
“With our new service for Agentforce, our partnership with Salesforce underscores the transformative potential of agentic AI,” commented Megan Piccininni, SVP and Global Salesforce Practice Leader at NTT DATA. “Central to this innovation is the coordination and orchestration of multiple intelligent agents, which are essential for achieving comprehensive end-to-end automation across various platforms.”
In healthcare, their AI agents focus on patient management and outcomes – areas where accuracy and compliance are non-negotiable. For real estate and vendor management, they’re targeting task automation that reduces support tickets and manual processes. These aren’t generic chatbots; they’re specialized digital workers designed for specific business contexts.
The Governance and Security Control capabilities they’ve built into their offering address another critical enterprise concern. 89% of CIOs identify AI and automation as critical to their digital strategy in 2025, yet 60% of AI projects fail to deliver clear ROI. NTT DATA’s centralized management approach aims to ensure consistency and control across deployed agents – a crucial factor for risk-conscious enterprises.
Technical Integration Advantages
NTT DATA’s partnership brings unique technical advantages that matter for enterprise deployments. Their award-winning expertise in both integration and data unification platforms addresses the reality that successful agent deployment depends heavily on data quality and system connectivity.
The integration with Salesforce’s enhanced Atlas architecture, which now features 50% lower latency since January 2025, and support for multiple LLMs including Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet, gives enterprises the flexibility they need for complex use cases.
Piccininni emphasized their unique positioning in the market: “In our role as an Outsourcing Service Provider (OSP), our competence to deploy the new service for Agentforce across industries differentiates us from the rest. By merging our competencies in Salesforce, Application Management Services, Business Process Services, Data and AI Services, Cloud and Security Services, and next-generation technologies, we deliver multi-faceted benefits to our clients.”
The partnership validation comes directly from Salesforce leadership. “Organizations need a new labor model that unlocks the full potential of humans with AI at work,” said Phil Samenuk, SVP of Global Alliances & Channels and Outsourcing Service Providers at Salesforce. “NTT DATA is a critical partner for identifying and developing specific use cases with our joint customers across industries, helping to ensure tailored and effective AI solutions for scaling digital labor.”
The Competitive Dynamics
This announcement reflects broader competitive dynamics in the enterprise AI space. While companies like OpenAI focus on foundation models and Microsoft emphasizes productivity integration, Salesforce and NTT DATA are targeting the operational core of enterprises – the systems that actually run businesses.
Customers such as The Adecco Group, Engine, OpenTable, Oregon Humane Society, Precina, and Vivint have adopted Agentforce, transforming how their businesses run with digital labor. These early successes provide the proof points that enterprise buyers need to move from pilot to production.
Samenuk further emphasized the evolutionary nature of the platform: “With Agentforce constantly evolving and expanding, NTT DATA’s new service demonstrates the company’s commitment to empowering customers to deliver success with Agentforce.”
The results are compelling: Engine reduced average customer case handle time by 15%, 1-800Accountant autonomously resolved 70% of administrative chat engagements during tax season, and Grupo Globo increased subscriber retention by 22%. These aren’t marginal improvements; they’re transformational business outcomes.
What this means for ERP insiders
Move beyond evaluation to implementation. The enterprise agentic AI market will reach $24.5 billion by 2030, making immediate action critical for competitive advantage. Recent research found organizations using Agentforce can achieve ROI up to five times faster and with at least a 20% lower total cost of ownership, while DIY agent-based AI projects can take up to a year to implement, but Agentforce customers go live in just 4-6 weeks. Business leaders should initiate pilot programs immediately rather than waiting for technology maturity, as NTT DATA’s EPAS methodology provides a proven path from proof-of-concept to enterprise scale. Companies like NTT DATA have demonstrated internal success by developing automations that deleted 400+ ad hoc reports annually and streamlined commission updates, showing tangible operational benefits.
Prioritize data integration over agent sophistication. Agentforce 3 features an enhanced Atlas architecture with 50% lower latency since January 2025 and expanded LLM choices, but success depends more on data quality than model sophistication. NTT DATA’s expertise in MuleSoft integration and Data Cloud unification addresses the reality that Data Cloud does need to be enabled for Agentforce to function, but Agentforce does not require full Data Cloud implementation. Technology leaders should focus first on data governance and system connectivity before deploying advanced agents. Companies like Vodafone España leveraged NTT DATA’s successful implementation of Salesforce’s Data Cloud and Marketing Cloud to deliver exceptional customer experiences and improved engagement. The lesson: invest in data infrastructure first, sophisticated AI capabilities second.
Choose integration specialists over pure-play AI vendors. NTT DATA has completed 3,500+ successful Salesforce projects and holds 10,000+ Salesforce and MuleSoft certifications, providing proven enterprise-grade implementation capabilities that pure-play AI vendors lack. Salesforce selected NTT DATA to manage and develop applications across their own internal instance, spanning various Salesforce Clouds, MuleSoft, Heroku, and Slack, demonstrating trust in complex enterprise environments. Procurement leaders should prioritize partners with deep ERP and CRM integration experience over those focused solely on AI innovation. The partnership model offers access to hundreds of ready-to-use actions, topics, and templates built by partners, and pre-validated Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers through AgentExchange, reducing development time and implementation risk while ensuring enterprise-grade security and governance.
