ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives

Everything is Context: The Many Layers of Context for Enterprise AI

Posted by Matt Aslett on 19 August 2026

I have previously described how context is everything when it comes to establishing enterprise trust in the output of generative and agentic artificial intelligence. Based on our recent interactions with analytics and data software providers, it might be more accurate to say that context is everywhere, as almost all providers of analytics and data software are currently positioning products in... Read More

Topics: Operations, Data Platforms, Generative AI, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning, AI Governance

AI Imperatives for Business Software Providers

Posted by Robert Kugel on 12 August 2026

I recently wrote about the distinction between personal productivity artificial intelligence (AI) and enterprise AI. Each has a role to play. An important challenge facing enterprises in the coming years will be encouraging and supporting the use of AI-enabled personal productivity applications for individuals and small workgroups while preventing their misuse in performing enterprise tasks and... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Supply Chain Planning, Business Planning, Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP and Continuous Accounting, supply chain management, digital finance, Procure-to-Pay, Consolidate and Close Management, Order-to-Cash, AI & Machine Learning, Buyer Behavior, AI Governance

Oracle Fusion Agentic Apps May Address AI Cost and Control Issues

Posted by Robert Kugel on 30 July 2026

Oracle’s recent announcements around Fusion Agentic Applications represent a meaningful evolution in enterprise application architecture, especially as it facilitates automation and, ultimately, process transformation. Rather than following a prevailing view that assumes agentic systems must capture the nuances of every business process top-down, which would be prohibitively expensive and... Read More

Topics: Governance, Office of Finance, Business Planning, ERP and Continuous Accounting, digital finance, Procure-to-Pay, Consolidate and Close Management, Customers and CX - Business & Technologies, Employees & HCM - Business & Technologies, Order-to-Cash, Office of Revenue - Business Technologies, AI & Machine Learning, Supply Chain & Operations

Boomi Enables Enterprise Data and Agent Activation

Posted by Matt Aslett on 29 July 2026

As an increasing proportion of enterprise software becomes replaced or augmented by artificial intelligence agents, capabilities for application, data and API management are evolving accordingly. Orchestrating communication and integration among applications, data, systems, tools and processes is essential to enabling agents to execute business processes through autonomous actions. Established... Read More

Topics: Operations, Generative AI, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning, AI Governance

MariaDB on Track to Address Data Platform Requirements for Agentic AI

Posted by Matt Aslett on 21 July 2026

I recently wrote about the ecosystem of products and providers related to the MySQL database, noting the long history of friction in the MySQL community regarding the ownership and licensing of the open-source project. Perhaps the clearest illustration of that friction is the existence of MariaDB, which was specifically created in response to concerns over the ownership and licensing of MySQL.... Read More

Topics: Data Platforms, AI & Technologies, Streaming & Events, AI & Machine Learning

Moving Towards a Holistic Approach to Data Management and Operations

Posted by Matt Aslett on 15 July 2026

As enterprises embracing artificial intelligence move from initial pilots and trial projects through deployment and into production at scale, many are realizing the critical importance of reliable data management and agile, responsive data operations (DataOps) processes to improve trust in the data used for AI and business intelligence. With an emphasis on agility, automation and continuous... Read More

Topics: Operations, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning, AI Governance

Databricks Unites Operational and Analytic Workloads on the Lakehouse

Posted by Matt Aslett on 08 July 2026

I recently wrote about the emerging category of data platform products that facilitate the deployment of Online Transaction Processing workloads on data lakehouse architecture. Databricks Lakebase is a prime example of this OLTP-on-lakehouse approach, which was added to its Databricks Data Intelligence Platform in 2025 and became generally available earlier this year. At the company’s recent Data... Read More

Topics: Governance, Data Platforms, Generative AI, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies, Streaming & Events, AI & Machine Learning

IBM Addresses Autonomous Database Administration for Db2

Posted by Matt Aslett on 01 July 2026

I have previously written about the emerging requirements for database management systems, including the use of artificial intelligence to automate and accelerate the execution of database administration tasks. These emerging requirements have provided an opportunity for new and established data platform providers to differentiate in a crowded and competitive market. IBM is a prime example of an... Read More

Topics: Operations, Business Planning, Data Platforms, Generative AI, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

Salesforce Adds Knowledge to Tableau for Agentic Analytics

Posted by Matt Aslett on 03 June 2026

I recently wrote about the growing importance of semantics as a context layer for business intelligence and artificial intelligence agents. Semantic modeling has always been a critical enabler for business intelligence, adding meaning to data that provides the conceptual context for its use. It has become essential as a key enabler of multiple trends driving innovation in the analytics sector,... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Data Platforms, Generative AI, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

Teradata Advances Autonomous Knowledge Platform for Agentic AI

Posted by Mukesh Ranjan on 21 May 2026

A core challenge faced by enterprises due to the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and agentic AI is how to operationalize AI systems that rely on vast volumes of unstructured and multimodal data without compromising governance, scalability or performance. While early retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG) experiments fuelled interest in vector databases, many organizations... Read More

Topics: Data Platforms, Generative AI, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

Oracle Addresses Combined AI and Data Platform Requirements

Posted by Matt Aslett on 13 May 2026

To mitigate cost and complexity, artificial intelligence (AI) and data initiatives must be aligned. Enterprises cannot afford fragmented approaches that duplicate effort or slow deployment, particularly as competitive pressure increases. Many providers have offered both AI platform and data platform capabilities for some time, but they have often addressed requirements with dedicated products... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Data Platforms, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

Salesforce Tackles the Entire Agent Development Lifecycle

Posted by David Menninger on 05 May 2026

Agentic AI is rapidly emerging as the next phase of enterprise automation, moving beyond static workflows and copilots toward systems capable of autonomous reasoning, decision-making and action. Enterprises are increasingly experimenting with AI agents to augment customer service, IT operations and business processes, yet many struggle to operationalize these systems at scale. The challenge is no... Read More

Topics: Governance, Generative AI, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

Becoming a Predictive Finance Department

Posted by Robert Kugel on 21 April 2026

By now it should be obvious that artificial Intelligence (AI) and agents in all of their forms are on the brink of changing how finance and accounting departments operate. The basic outlines are already in place, but it’s not clear how or how rapidly day-to-day operations will evolve, as well as (by definition) what surprises are in store. One of the most profound impacts of AI will be on the... Read More

Topics: Governance, Office of Finance, Analytics, Business Planning, digital finance, Generative AI, Data Intelligence, AI & Machine Learning

The Value of Combined AI and Data Platforms

Posted by Matt Aslett on 15 April 2026

I have previously explained the critical importance of data to successful artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, including generative and agentic AI. While enterprises have demonstrated the value of AI through small-scale initiatives, scaling these efforts has highlighted the need to coordinate AI and data programs more effectively. Providers that can address the full combination of AI and... Read More

Topics: Governance, Analytics, Data Platforms, Generative AI, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

Three Questions to Evaluate AI-Powered IT Software

Posted by Jeff Orr on 02 April 2026

Enterprise IT leaders are committing seven-figure budgets to "AI-powered" platforms across ITSM, security and cloud management categories. These contracts promise autonomous remediation, intelligent triage and predictive insights. The problem: most CIOs and CISOs can't articulate what the embedded AI actually does or whether it delivers measurable ROI beyond the software provider's deck. The... Read More

Topics: procurement, Generative AI, IT & Technologies, Platforms, Bias, AI & Machine Learning, Due Diligence, Autonomous Decision, Training Data, Time-to-Value

The Potential Benefits and Challenges of Vibe Analytics

Posted by Matt Aslett on 25 March 2026

I previously wrote about the potential for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to change the face of analytics and facilitate data literacy and data democratization by enabling business users without specialist analytic skills to discover and analyze data. At the time of writing, GenAI-based interfaces were already being adopted by business intelligence (BI) software providers to... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Data Platforms, Generative AI, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

Semantic Layers Provide Business Context for BI and AI Agents

Posted by Matt Aslett on 17 March 2026

As I previously described, context is everything for generative (GenAI) and agentic AI. Enterprises moved in large numbers to adopt foundational GenAI since its emergence into mainstream consciousness during 2023. As they did so, it quickly became clear that establishing trust in GenAI output would require enterprises to augment the realistic content generated by foundation models with real-world... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Generative AI, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

Alation Provides AI Agents With Governed Knowledge

Posted by Matt Aslett on 06 March 2026

I have previously described the critical importance of context for enterprise adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and agentic AI. Establishing trust in the content generated by GenAI is facilitated by grounding the models with real-world context from enterprise content and data, while AI agents designed to make context-aware decisions and take automated actions based on... Read More

Topics: Governance, Analytics, Generative AI, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

Alteryx Has a Unified Approach to Analytics and Data

Posted by Matt Aslett on 03 March 2026

Since Alteryx was acquired by Clearlake Capital and Insight Partners in March 2024, the company has taken the opportunity to revamp its product portfolio and refresh its executive team. Alteryx has always offered a combination of functionality that spans the data and analytics lifecycle, including data integration, data preparation and data quality, as well as the development of analytics... Read More

Topics: Operations, Analytics, Generative AI, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

Autonomy Is Key for Effective Sovereign AI and Data Strategies

Posted by Matt Aslett on 26 February 2026

The term “sovereign AI and data” became increasingly prevalent in recent years, initially driven by cloud infrastructure providers responding to the need to support regional regulations with sovereign cloud offerings. However, the use of sovereign cloud infrastructure is not required to deliver compliance with data sovereignty regulations. In fact, our research indicates that having the autonomy... Read More

Topics: Governance, Operations, Analytics, Data Platforms, Generative AI, IT & Technologies, AI & Technologies, Cloud Infrastructure, Platforms, AI & Machine Learning