Trend Macrotrend 3: trust becomes the operating layer as AI enters critical operations

Summary

NTT DATA's third macrotrend, intelligence we trust, argues that trust is becoming a working layer of digital systems rather than an abstract value. As AI grows more autonomous, interconnected and embedded in critical operations, organisations face cyberthreats that adapt, a fast rise in AI-generated misinformation and growing dependence on models they cannot inspect. Emerging autonomy and emotional capabilities raise the stakes for integrity, security and transparency even further. The report calls for a move from conventional cybersecurity to adaptive, self-learning and proactive defence ecosystems that protect both data and machine intelligence. Beyond individual companies, it sees trustworthy intelligence as a societal foundation for accountability and confidence at scale. The systems that succeed, it says, will be explainable, protected and aligned with human values.