NTT DATA maps six AI trends shaping mass intelligence

NTT DATA has published its Technology Foresight Report 2026, outlining six trends it expects to shape technology innovation as organisations across Asia-Pacific and other regions expand their use of AI and supporting infrastructure.

The report argues that organisations are moving away from standardised AI and cloud approaches. It describes a shift towards sovereign architectures, tighter controls for autonomous systems, and new infrastructure planning for AI workloads. It positions 2026 as a turning point as adoption moves from pilots to wider operational use.

NTT DATA frames these changes as part of an "age of mass intelligence", with businesses prioritising tools that learn, adapt and act autonomously. It also notes that medium- and long-term planning is becoming more important as firms seek to build or defend positions in global markets.

The six trends were selected by assessing the direction of technological change and the relationship between technology, business and society.

Autonomy models

One trend is "Human-orchestrated autonomy". The report describes a stage in which intelligent systems operate at scale and speed, guided by human intent to keep decisions aligned with enterprise goals. It emphasises transparency and governance that makes automated decisions understandable.

This comes as many organisations experiment with AI agents that can carry out tasks across multiple systems, raising questions about accountability, auditability and control. Firms have also faced challenges integrating these tools with legacy processes and risk frameworks.

Trusted security

A second trend is "Intelligence we trust". The report says cybersecurity is evolving into a layer of adaptive intelligence that can learn from threats and respond to more complex attacks. It argues that defences must also cover autonomous AI agents, including their integrity and transparency.

AI-driven security tools are becoming more common in enterprise environments, but they face scrutiny over reliability and false positives. At the same time, attackers are using AI for phishing, malware development and reconnaissance. The report links these pressures to a broader need for trust frameworks around autonomous systems.

Infrastructure shifts

"Informed infrastructure" is another trend. The report says infrastructure is becoming continuously intelligent, with systems optimising performance, cost and sustainability across hybrid environments that include devices, edge locations and cloud platforms.

This reflects rising demand for compute resources to train and run AI models, as well as the operational reality of distributed data estates. Data residency requirements, latency constraints and energy costs all influence where organisations run workloads.

Chip sovereignty

"Sovereign silicon ecosystems" is the fourth trend, focusing on semiconductor innovation and chip supply resilience. The report says nations are building end-to-end chip ecosystems to secure supply chains and protect intellectual property, linking control over silicon to national competitiveness and computing leadership.

Semiconductors have become a strategic priority as geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruption affect access to advanced manufacturing. AI has also increased demand for specialised hardware, raising the stakes for procurement strategies, partnerships and domestic capability building.

Emotional systems

The report also highlights "Embodied agency and emotions", arguing that emotionally responsive systems are emerging as social infrastructure. It points to synthetic emotion as a factor in trust and engagement in human-AI interaction.

Companies are increasingly using conversational interfaces in customer service and internal workflows. This has raised questions about user experience design, disclosure and ethical boundaries, particularly where systems simulate empathy or persuasion.

Beyond efficiency

The sixth trend is "From illusory efficiency to sufficiency". The report argues that the next phase of growth will move beyond narrow efficiency measures, linking technology strategy to resilience and operating within planetary boundaries.

This reflects pressure to show progress on sustainability targets while funding major investment cycles in AI and cloud infrastructure. Energy use, hardware lifecycle management and supply chain sustainability are becoming more prominent in procurement and architecture decisions.

NTT DATA uses the Technology Foresight Report as part of its innovation planning, and says it informs how the company develops technologies and services with customers worldwide.

Oliver Koeth, Managing Director Technology & Innovation DACH at NTT DATA, linked the six trends to a broader shift in how organisations evaluate technology investment.

"The rise of mass intelligence shifts our focus from acceleration to significance," said Oliver Koeth, Managing Director Technology & Innovation DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), NTT DATA. "When emotionally aware systems, sovereign compute and trusted infrastructure come together, technology evolves into a purposeful ally - amplifying resilience and reinforcing the values that will define our shared future."

NTT DATA expects organisations in Asia-Pacific and elsewhere to keep revising AI and infrastructure strategies around autonomy, security and sovereignty as AI systems become more embedded in business operations.