NTT Upgrade reminds leaders to stay on course as the world flip-flops

Enterprises must look beyond short-term ROI to build their future relevance. NTT Research’s showcase San Francisco event came as a timely reminder to leaders to stay focused on the future when they may otherwise be swayed toward knee-jerk budget cuts by the current context of daily market disruptions.

At Upgrade 2025, NTT Research didn’t just put on a tech show—it challenged every enterprise leader. While some leaders chase quick wins and incremental efficiencies, NTT is laying down long-term bets on the foundational science that could redefine business, technology, and human life (see Exhibit 1).

Exhibit 1: NTT Upgrade 2025 showcased a wide range of break-through tech—including a wheelchair controlled by brainwaves

Source: HFS Research, 2025

What enterprise leaders must take away from NTT’s moonshot research strategy

NTT Research is a strategic bet that should encourage boardroom conversations everywhere. The company’s Silicon Valley-based research entity, formed just six years ago, is pursuing basic science in three transformative domains: applied physics for next-generation computing, bio-digital twins for healthcare, and cryptographic security for a trusted AI future.

While these may sound academic, the enterprise implications are real:

• Physics of AI: NTT is asking whether we can predict AI behavior the way Newtonian mechanics predict physical motion. This is a bid to build reliable, explainable AI systems that enterprises can trust, audit, and govern in a world that’s rapidly losing visibility into how its digital systems function.
• Bio-digital twins: Their work on cardiovascular digital twins hints at a future where healthcare isn’t just personalized—it’s automated and predictive. For insurers, hospitals, pharma, and even governments, the implications are seismic: from proactive care to cost containment to democratized access.
• Attribute-based encryption: A new way to secure data by dynamically defining ‘who (and what) gets to see what, when, and how.’ As agents, AI assistants, and autonomous workflows proliferate, this capability will rapidly become essential for protecting sensitive enterprise data while enabling real-time use across contexts and entities.

NTT’s playbook for turning research into impact

In his opening address, NTT Data CEO Abhijit Dubey explained how NTT’s research funnel is driving four core areas of innovation, all highly relevant for enterprise adoption:

• Quantum architectures—NTT has already demonstrated multiple use cases to BMW. Quantum has the potential to upend materials science, finance, and pharmaceuticals by solving complex problems exponentially faster than classical computing, offering breakthroughs in simulation, optimization, and molecular modeling.
• Foresight voice mining—AI-powered tools that convert live conversations into coaching, insights, and action— already cutting call-center handling time by 30% and boosting personalization.
• Trusted data spaces—Ecosystem-wide data sharing that can fuel smarter cities, collaborative healthcare, and more inclusive innovation—aligned to the HFS OneEcosystem agenda.
• Agentic AI architectures – Beyond chatbots, NTT is exploring how agent-based systems can tackle real enterprise workflows while ensuring transparency and traceability.

NTT’s approach matters now more than ever

NTT Research is building the scaffolding for a future where technology powers business responsibly, efficiently, and with human alignment. It’s doing so not through commercial urgency but by freeing top minds to pursue the biggest, boldest problems.

This model—pure research, backed by enterprise muscle, applied through a productized services lens—is one no enterprise leader should ignore. It’s a hybrid blueprint of academia, R&D, and practical IT delivery that forces a strategic and long-term view—even when commercial fires are breaking out all around. Maintaining this long view is essential to avoid flip-flopping in response to whichever way the market is blowing. Exhibit 2 illustrates this point. As HFS Research President Saurabh Gupta puts it: “One U-turn after another doesn’t get you ahead—it just burns fuel and kills your momentum.”

Knee-jerk reactions in response to short-term changes take energy from pursuing the real changes necessary to shift your enterprise to the new AI paradigm—ultimately slowing your efforts to reap the benefits while more focused competitors race ahead.

Exhibit 2: Flip-flopping in response to short-term change—such as weekly shifts in US trade policy—will kill your momentum in the journey to the post-AI paradigm

Source: HFS Research, 2025

The Bottom Line: Take the long view with partners who can help you understand the physics of the future.

NTT is modeling a long-term innovation strategy rooted in data, trust, and transformation—not gimmicks or short-term gains. The companies that will win in the AI era will be those that understand we are moving to a new paradigm and continue to invest in understanding and shaping the AI that is creating that new paradigm.

Who are your long-term innovation partners? If they aren’t helping you understand the physics of your future, it might be time to look elsewhere.