In this What’s Next with Aki Anastasiou interview, Aishwarya Singh discusses the value that AI brings to South African organisations.

Singh is the Senior Vice President and Head of Microsoft Global Practice and Digital Collaboration Services at NTT Data.

In this role, she is focused on transforming employee and client experiences through Agentic AI.

She believes strongly in the role NTT Data is playing in driving powerful transformations for its clients across areas like employee engagement, client experience, operational efficiencies, and innovation.

Before working at NTT Data, she was a partner at McKinsey, before joining NTT Ltd (now part of NTT DATA) as a Global SVP.

She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics and Instrumentation from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, and a PGPM from the Indian School of Business.

In this What’s Next interview, Singh discusses the power of agentic AI.

She unpacks the key elements that set agentic AI apart from traditional generative AI.

Singh then reveals the company’s groundbreaking Smart AI Agent Ecosystem and how it is a big step forward for the entire AI sector.

She explores responsible AI deployment and the practical integration steps that CIOs can take to ensure data security, negate bias, and minimise job losses.

Singh also shares how NTT DATA helps enterprises use agentic AI to modernise legacy systems and improve employee and customer experiences to deliver assured outcomes — even in complex environments like South Africa’s finance, healthcare, and public sectors.

She provides tips on how to begin your organisation’s agentic AI journey, and concludes the discussion by discussing what’s on the horizon for agentic AI over the next 12–18 months.