Breaking the gridlock: How AI and private 5G resolve IT/OT friction

Real-time data exchange is powering a new wave of digital transformation in the industrial sector, unlocking unprecedented gains in speed, flexibility and operational intelligence. But beneath this momentum lies a long-standing tension: the uneasy convergence of IT and OT.

The struggle to integrate these two worlds, built on different priorities and protocols, has slowed progress and stifled innovation. Now, that impasse is breaking.

AI-driven private wireless networks have emerged as the catalyst for true IT/OT convergence. By delivering secure, high-performance connectivity and enabling intelligent edge computing, they turn fragmented systems into unified, adaptive infrastructures ready for the next era of industrial intelligence.

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Why IT/OT convergence stalls

First, let’s consider the factors that make IT/OT integration difficult:

Cultural and organizational divide

IT and OT teams have traditionally operated in silos, leading to limited communication and conflicting priorities. IT tends to emphasize innovation, agility and prompt updates to address vulnerabilities, even if it leads to short-term disruptions. In contrast, OT prioritizes physical safety and operational continuity above all else, resisting changes that could disrupt critical operations, lead to catastrophic losses or endanger personnel.

This philosophical conflict is at the heart of the convergence challenge.

The following scenario highlights the risks when innovation and safety priorities diverge: A logistics company’s IT team suggests deploying AI-based predictive maintenance across its fleet of automated forklifts. OT pushes back, citing concerns about algorithmic errors and a lack of fail-safes. The project stalls for months, during which time a preventable mechanical failure causes a warehouse injury — ironically, the kind of incident the AI system was designed to prevent.

Technical and interoperability hurdles

OT systems, including industrial control systems (ICS) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) architectures, were designed with proprietary protocols and disparate data formats and communication standards. Often, this renders them incompatible with modern IT infrastructure. Integrating these legacy systems requires complex, time-consuming planning and custom development or middleware, which introduces a significant risk of downtime.

What can go wrong? Let’s say a factory tries to connect its robotic assembly line (running on a 1990s-era ICS) to a modern manufacturing execution system dashboard. Because the middleware can’t translate real-time telemetry fast enough, causing data lags and triggering false alarms, production is paused for two days while engineers rebuild the integration layer.

Pervasive security blind spots

Connecting traditionally air-gapped OT networks to IT networks dramatically expands an organization’s attack surface. The tendency of OT systems to focus on stability over digital security means they often lack fundamental security controls such as firewalls, intrusion detection and advanced endpoint protection. Their long lifecycles also make timely security updates challenging, leaving them vulnerable and creating a weak link that advanced persistent threats can exploit.

Picture this: A municipal water utility adds remote access to its SCADA system for efficiency, but the OT network lacks intrusion detection and endpoint protection. A stealthy threat actor exploits a vulnerable pump controller to inject false chemical dosing commands. Although caught in time, the incident triggers a public health alert and attracts compliance scrutiny.

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A tug-of-war over downtime

In OT environments, downtime is catastrophic. It affects physical safety, operational continuity and financial performance. While IT teams prioritize timely updates, OT teams remain cautious, as they know even brief disruptions can cause real-world harm.

Consider this scenario: An auto supplier’s IT team schedules a network upgrade to improve cybersecurity and enable real-time analytics. The OT team resists, citing concerns about system stability and restart risks. Eventually, the upgrade proceeds during a planned maintenance window. But the OT system doesn’t restart cleanly, causing hydraulic misfires on the stamping line and damaging precision molds. The downtime stretches to four hours, delaying shipments and breaching SLAs with customers.

Regulatory and skills gaps

Converged OT environments introduce a complex web of stringent, industry-specific regulations — such as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC CIP) standards for energy — that are less standardized than those in IT. Managing these dynamic requirements while addressing a lack of personnel with specialized IT/OT convergence skills can be tricky.

Imagine a regional energy provider decides to expand their digital monitoring across substations. But the integration triggers NERC CIP compliance gaps, specifically around remote access logging and asset classification. With no staff trained in both cybersecurity and OT protocols, the utility scrambles to retrofit controls, which diverts resources from core operations.

The definitive solution: AI-driven private wireless networks

Across industrial organizations large and small, AI-enabled private wireless is driving progress toward IT/OT integration. Here's what that looks like in practice:

Seamless integration and unified connectivity: Private 5G networks provide a dedicated, high-performance and secure connectivity layer that seamlessly integrates disparate OT and IT systems. Unlike public networks, private 5G solutions use SIM authentication to restrict access to authorized devices and users. All your data stays on-premises and under your control. And thanks to ultralow latency and high-speed data transfers, your business-critical applications always perform at their peak.

Intelligent, proactive system management: AI elevates connectivity platforms from mere utilities to intelligent, proactive systems capable of autonomous network management, real-time threat detection and dynamic resource allocation. AI algorithms analyze network traffic and usage patterns to predict and allocate resources, creating self-optimizing networks that autonomously adjust parameters for performance and efficiency.

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Adaptive and holistic security: The private network’s intrinsic security measures — such as on-premises data control and SIM authentication — create a secure, contained environment. AI-driven security then adds an adaptive layer of defense. Unlike traditional wireless, AI and machine-learning systems analyze vast datasets in real time to recognize unusual behavioral patterns and detect novel threats. These systems can also learn the unique communication patterns of each OT device and flag deviations.  

Strategic “translator”: AI steps in to help IT and OT find common ground. For example:

• It anticipates failures, allowing OT teams to schedule maintenance during planned downtime, thereby satisfying their need for stability.
• It automates security vulnerability management and can even provide virtual patching for legacy OT systems that can’t be physically updated — meeting IT’s security demands without disrupting critical operations.

This creates a unified operational picture and fosters better collaboration between previously siloed teams.

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NTT DATA’s private 5G: Built for decisions, not just connections

NTT DATA, named a Leader by Everest Group in their 5G Engineering Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2025 report*, is constructing intelligent ecosystems.

We believe private 5G should both connect devices and empower decisions. Our enterprise-grade Network as a Service platform delivers secure, ultra-low-latency connectivity designed for business-critical environments, while our professional and managed services keep every deployment seamless and secure.

From site visits and spectrum planning to 24x7 monitoring and SLA-backed support, our clients gain not just a network but also peace of mind, and our “secure by design” philosophy means core networks are deployed on-premises, behind client firewalls, with advanced security baked in.

* Everest Group, 5G Engineering Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2025, September 2025.