ABB and TCS sign multi-million AI network overhaul agreement

In July 2026, ABB and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) levelled up their 20-year relationship with a multi-million dollar, multi-year deal to rewrite how ABB’s global digital network runs. ABB has more than 160 manufacturing sites with 111,900 employees working across them. TCS’s software systems and cloud technology aim to better connect them all through a centralized, AI-powered network that can fix itself.

Global companies like ABB often suffer from fragmented networks where different systems run in different offices, which can create security blind spots and lag times. Under this new deal, TCS will now run ABB’s Future Network Model program, thus bringing everything under a standardized Network-as-a-Service model. This approach aims to replace or update fragmented setups with a secure, scalable architecture using a centralized control hub to unite several key elements across ABB’s global footprint. This also includes service integration and management to coordinate all IT services, which is a dedicated global network operations center for 24/7 oversight, and advanced security capabilities to safeguard infrastructure. At the same time, TCS will overhaul local and wide area network systems, including LAN, WAN, and next-generation software-defined WAN (SD-WAN), to modernize how physical offices connect.

By embedding AI directly into the fabric of the network, the new system will continuously monitor itself. If a connection drops in an office halfway across the world, or a security threat pops up, the AI can sense, adapt, and help resolve the issue.

Impact on the ICT Market

In the fast-evolving landscape of IT services, partnerships and alliances between companies are becoming increasingly crucial. Collaborations and partnerships enable firms to leverage each other’s strengths, access new markets, and foster innovation, thus resulting in mutual benefits. The ability to innovate, scale, and deliver true value to customers is no longer a function of what a single company can do, but of what it can achieve in concert with others. These alliances are not mere tactical arrangements or simple sales channels; they are the fundamental, load-bearing pillars of modern business strategy.

Accessing Specialized Expertise: A company that excels at building enterprise software can partner with a leading AI research firm to integrate cutting-edge machine learning capabilities into its products far more quickly than it could build them from scratch.

De-risking Innovation: Co-development partnerships allow two or more companies to share the immense costs and risks associated with developing a new, unproven technology. This enables the pursuit of ambitious projects that would otherwise be too risky for a single entity to handle.

Cross-Pollination of Ideas: When engineers and product managers from different companies and cultures collaborate, it creates a powerful cross-pollination of ideas. This acts as a key driver for breakthrough innovation that would be unlikely to occur within a homogenous internal team.

Impact on the Network as a Service Market

The global network as a service market size is estimated at USD 23.50 billion in 2025 and is predicted to increase from USD 30.50 billion in 2026 to approximately USD 298.73 billion by 2035, expanding at a CAGR of 28.95% from 2025 to 2035.

According to Precedence Research, as businesses undergo digital transformation, there's a growing need for flexible and scalable network solutions. Network as a Service (NaaS) supports the evolving requirements of digital initiatives, such as cloud migration and IoT integration, fostering network as a service market's growth. The rise of remote work, accelerated by global events, has further increased the demand for NaaS. Companies all over the world are seeking reliable and secure network solutions to support a dispersed workforce, driving the adoption of NaaS for remote connectivity and collaboration.

Businesses are drawn to the scalability and cost-efficiency offered by NaaS. The ability to scale network resources based on demand without significant upfront investments appeals to organizations, resulting in increased adoption for optimized resource utilization. The integration of advanced technologies, particularly Software-Defined Networking (SDN), enhances the capabilities of NaaS.

Impact on the Network Operations Center as a Service Market

The global network operations center as a service market size accounted for USD 8.70 billion in 2025 and is predicted to increase from USD 10.05 billion in 2026 to approximately USD 44.20 billion by 2035, expanding at a CAGR of 18.90% from 2026 to 2035.

According to Precedence Research, the market is driven by increasing demand for 24/7 network monitoring, rising cloud adoption, and the need for cost-efficient, scalable IT infrastructure management across enterprises. Enterprises are outsourcing network operations to ensure continuous monitoring and support, while also combining NOCaaS with security operations (SOC) capabilities. This convergence helps improve threat detection and strengthens overall network resilience.

Providers are increasingly integrating AI and machine learning to enable predictive monitoring, automated issue detection, and faster incident response. This thus reduces downtime and minimizes the need for manual intervention in network management. Organizations worldwide are shifting away from traditional on-premise NOCs to cloud-based services for greater scalability, flexibility, and cost efficiency. This shift also supports remote monitoring of distributed IT environments.

Expert Opinion

Alec Joannou, Group CIO at ABB, said,

“As our business evolves, it is critical to have an ecosystem that is resilient, secure and aligned with long-term transformation goals. Our association with TCS reflects a shared focus on delivery excellence, continuous enhancement, and building capabilities that can support our strategic priorities.”

Anupam Singhal, President of Manufacturing at TCS, said,

“With AI embedded into the network operations model, supported by secure digital infrastructure and our deep domain expertise, we are bringing our ‘infrastructure to intelligence’ approach to build a resilient, intelligent network backbone. 

“Through this engagement, we will enable network systems that can sense, adapt, and improve continuously, while strengthening reliability, security, user experience, and scale as ABB continues to advance as a future-ready enterprise.”