The ability to innovate with AI while keeping data within controlled environments
As artificial intelligence becomes inseparable from how large organizations operate, the question of where that intelligence runs — and who controls it — has grown into a defining tension of the modern enterprise. NTT DATA's recognition as a Leader in Everest Group's Private Cloud Services PEAK Matrix Assessment for 2025 reflects a broader reckoning: that for regulated industries, sovereignty over data and computing is not a constraint to be worked around, but a value to be engineered toward. In a landscape where public cloud efficiency and private control have long seemed like competing priorities, NTT DATA's positioning suggests the market is beginning to believe it can have both.
- Regulated industries face mounting pressure to adopt AI at speed while keeping sensitive data out of public cloud environments — a tension that has no easy resolution.
- Sixteen providers were evaluated, and NTT DATA distinguished itself by offering a rare full-stack approach: network, data center, and private cloud managed through a single, consistent model.
- GPU-dense platforms and partnerships with NVIDIA and Mistral AI give NTT DATA's clients a faster path from AI strategy to working systems, without surrendering control over their own infrastructure.
- A unified monitoring and AIOps interface reduces the friction of hybrid environments, while edge compute capabilities extend private cloud reach to where data is actually born.
- The company now serves three-quarters of the Fortune Global 100 across more than seventy countries, signaling that 'sovereign AI' is not a niche concern but an enterprise-wide imperative.
NTT DATA has been named a Leader in Everest Group's Private Cloud Services PEAK Matrix Assessment for 2025, a recognition that speaks to the company's capacity to guide large, complex organizations through the work of modernizing their computing infrastructure without surrendering control over it.
The assessment evaluated sixteen providers on their ability to design and manage private cloud environments — the dedicated systems that organizations, especially those in regulated industries, operate within their own walls. NTT DATA stood out by offering an integrated portfolio spanning network infrastructure, data center operations, and private cloud platforms, all delivered through a unified consulting and managed services model. For organizations modernizing across multiple systems and locations, that consistency is not a convenience — it is a requirement.
What further distinguished NTT DATA was its treatment of artificial intelligence as a foundational element of private cloud infrastructure rather than an add-on. The company has built GPU-dense platforms for AI workloads and partnered with NVIDIA and Mistral AI to accelerate deployment. For clients in financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing — where data sensitivity and compliance define what is possible — NTT DATA has developed industry-specific AI accelerators co-built with NVIDIA, shortening the distance between strategy and working systems.
Charlie Li, who leads the company's global cloud and security operations, described the recognition as validation of NTT DATA's approach to 'sovereign AI' — enabling organizations to innovate with artificial intelligence while keeping data and computing within their own controlled environments. As AI becomes central to business operations, that ability to innovate without exposure is increasingly what enterprises are asking for.
NTT DATA serves three-quarters of the Fortune Global 100 and operates in more than seventy countries as part of NTT Group, which invests over three billion dollars annually in research and development. Its Leader status reflects a market arriving at a new conviction: that the long-standing trade-off between public cloud efficiency and private infrastructure control may, at last, be a problem worth solving rather than a choice to be made.
NTT DATA has been named a Leader in Everest Group's Private Cloud Services PEAK Matrix Assessment for 2025, a recognition that underscores the company's ability to guide large organizations through the complex work of modernizing their computing infrastructure at scale.
The assessment evaluated sixteen providers on their capacity to design, orchestrate, and manage private cloud environments—the dedicated computing systems that organizations, particularly those in regulated industries, build and operate within their own walls rather than renting space from public cloud providers. NTT DATA distinguished itself by offering what amounts to a complete toolkit: integrated network infrastructure, data center operations, and private cloud platforms, all delivered through a single consulting and managed services model. This unified approach matters because organizations attempting to modernize across multiple systems and locations need consistency—the same tools, the same processes, the same team understanding what's happening everywhere at once.
What set NTT DATA apart in the assessment was its focus on artificial intelligence as a core capability of private cloud infrastructure. The company has built GPU-dense platforms optimized for AI workloads and has formed partnerships with NVIDIA and Mistral AI to accelerate how quickly clients can deploy AI applications within their own environments. For organizations in financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing—sectors where data sensitivity and regulatory compliance constrain where computing can happen—this matters considerably. NTT DATA has developed pre-built AI accelerators tailored to specific industries, co-developed with NVIDIA, that allow these organizations to move faster from strategy to working systems.
The company's platform consolidates monitoring, automation, and artificial intelligence operations into a single interface, reducing the operational friction that typically comes with managing hybrid environments where some workloads run on private infrastructure and others on public clouds. NTT DATA also extends private cloud capabilities to the edge—to computing resources located near where data originates, on customer premises or in regional facilities—enabling low-latency processing for time-sensitive applications.
Charlie Li, who leads NTT DATA's global cloud and security operations, framed the recognition as validation of the company's approach to what he called "sovereign AI"—the ability for organizations to innovate with artificial intelligence while keeping their data and computing within their own controlled environments. This resonates with a broader shift in enterprise technology: as AI becomes central to business operations, organizations are increasingly unwilling to send sensitive data to public cloud providers, even when those providers offer sophisticated AI tools.
Everest Group's assessment noted that Leaders in this category distinguished themselves not only through technical capability but through strategic partnerships that enhance reliability and integration. NTT DATA's relationships with hyperscalers and AI infrastructure vendors position it to help clients navigate an increasingly complex ecosystem where private infrastructure must coexist and interoperate with public cloud services.
The company serves three-quarters of the Fortune Global 100 and operates in more than seventy countries. It is part of NTT Group, which invests over three billion dollars annually in research and development. The private cloud services market itself reflects a fundamental tension in modern enterprise technology: the efficiency and innovation velocity of shared, public cloud infrastructure versus the control, compliance, and data sovereignty that private infrastructure provides. NTT DATA's positioning as a Leader suggests the market is increasingly looking for providers who can help organizations have both.
Notable Quotes
Being recognized as a Leader reinforces our commitment to helping clients modernize with confidence. We provide full-stack sovereign AI and private cloud solutions, spanning infrastructure, platforms and services, enabling organizations to innovate securely within their own environments.— Charlie Li, President, Global Head of Cloud and Security, NTT DATA
NTT DATA demonstrates a strong focus on private cloud transformation through its integrated network, data center, and private cloud capabilities, complemented by a consulting-led, end-to-end transformation model and Private AI capabilities supported by AI-optimized infrastructure and strategic partnerships.— Deepti Sekhri, Practice Director, Everest Group
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What does it actually mean for a company to be a "Leader" in this assessment? Is it just marketing language?
No—Everest Group evaluated sixteen specific providers against defined criteria: architectural design, orchestration capability, managed services quality, and increasingly, AI automation and governance. NTT DATA stood out because they don't just offer private cloud infrastructure; they offer a complete path from consulting through migration to ongoing operations, all unified under one platform.
Why does that matter? Why can't a company just buy pieces from different vendors?
Because when you're modernizing a complex organization—especially one in healthcare or finance with strict compliance requirements—consistency is survival. If your monitoring system doesn't talk to your automation system, and neither talks to your AI operations platform, you end up with blind spots. NTT DATA's unified approach means the same team, the same tools, the same visibility everywhere.
The report mentions "sovereign AI." That's a phrase I keep hearing. What's actually different about it?
It means your AI systems run on your infrastructure, with your data staying inside your walls. For a bank or a hospital, that's not a luxury—it's often a requirement. Public cloud providers can't guarantee that level of isolation, so NTT DATA built GPU-dense infrastructure specifically designed for AI workloads that need to stay private.
And the partnerships with NVIDIA and Mistral AI—are those just endorsements, or do they change what's actually possible?
They change what's possible. NVIDIA's GPUs are the standard for AI compute, and Mistral AI is a leading open-source language model provider. By pre-building accelerators with both, NTT DATA lets clients deploy sophisticated AI applications in weeks instead of months. That's not marketing; that's engineering that compresses timelines.
So who actually benefits most from this?
Organizations in regulated sectors—financial services, healthcare, manufacturing—where data can't leave the building but innovation can't wait. They need to move fast with AI, but they can't use the same shortcuts that public cloud companies use. NTT DATA built the infrastructure for that exact tension.