Make your network a catalyst for AI and growth with NTT DATA and Cisco - Prashil Gareeb — NTT DATA’s Prashil Gareeb

On 20 August 2025, industry professionals from across South Africa joined the webinar “Make Your Network a Catalyst for AI and Growth”, hosted by NTT DATA in partnership with Cisco, and powered by TechCentral.

With AI, hybrid work, and cybersecurity shaping the future of IT, the session explored how modern networks are evolving into strategic business enablers.

Prashil Gareeb, vice president and managed network & collaboration services lead at NTT DATA, highlighted the key drivers of network modernisation — distributed architectures, cloud integration, security by design and cost efficiency. He noted that AI plays a dual role: creating new demands on infrastructure while also enabling smarter, automated network management.
Marc Jessiman, vice president and technology solutions lead at NTT DATA, focused on building secure, resilient networks with full visibility, lifecycle services and sustainability in mind. He outlined five major challenges CIOs face today, including cybersecurity risks, legacy bottlenecks, operational complexity, AI pressures and resource constraints.

With a solid brief that sets the tone — turning network complexity into competitive advantage, powered by AI — the conversation delivered exactly that, moving beyond speeds and feeds to leadership choices that determine whether AI accelerates value or amplifies risk.

Here’s what was tackled and why it matters.

AI is now inseparable from network strategy. Distributed work, hybrid cloud and escalating threat surfaces mean the network is no longer plumbing; it’s the platform where security, performance and data come together. The room aligned on a pragmatic lens: make the network AI-ready to drive business outcomes, not just new tech spend.

Watch the webinar:

Three pillars anchored the discussion:

Network as the AI platform: Build for observability first, see users, apps and traffic end-to-end, then automate what you can prove. Shift service level agreements from uptime focus to client experience and outcomes. Standardise where possible to reduce integration drag and friction. The message is clear: design for telemetry today so machine learning can work tomorrow.
Security by design without the sprawl: Converge networking and security to simplify policy, identity and posture. Avoid tool creep; align controls around data paths and the “moments-that-matter” for employees and customers. Co-managed models were highlighted as smart bridges, maintain strategic control and partner for scale.
Scale with network-as-a-service: To unlock agility and treat capacity as a service. Flex spend, accelerate refresh and keep architecture current for AI workloads. The language of finance and architecture is aligned with elasticity, lifecycle and measurable value as lynchpins for success.

Taking a human-centred business outcome lens, talent strategies for the AI era were redefined, and traditional talent management strategies are now augmented with technology as part of the capacity mix. To win in, organisations are redeploying key talent to higher-value work whilst technology and AI handle repeatable tasks. The key themes of user trust, service reliability and faster change velocity were expressed by both panellists.

NTT DATA's Marc Jessiman — NTT DATA’s Marc Jessiman

NTT DATA is optimally positioned as the execution backbone, leveraging security-by-design, lifecycle services and managed/co-managed operating models that de-risk AI-era networking whilst keeping leadership focused on transformation. The partnership with Cisco provides a scalable platform for innovation, observability, policy convergence and automation.

A clear steer for technology leaders came out of the session:

Baseline observability and define experience-based service level agreements.
Prioritise a roadmap to minimise security sprawl.
Model your network-as-a-service option for elasticity and lifecycle speed.
Map “moments-that-matter” and target AI/automation where it improves trust, speed and resilience.