ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives

Confluent Address Unified Stream and Batch Processing with AI

Posted by Matt Aslett on 22 July 2025

I have been saying for several years that success with streaming data requires enterprises to manage data in motion alongside data at rest, rather than treating streaming as a niche activity. Software providers have also been moving in this direction. Many established data management providers have added the ability to manage, store and process streaming data alongside their existing batch data... Read More

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

Boomi Enables Data Management and Agentic AI

Posted by Matt Aslett on 03 July 2025

One of the key questions that will need to be solved if agentic artificial intelligence is to fulfill its potential is which technologies and providers will serve the role of orchestrating communication and integration between the various models, applications and data repositories involved. ISG Research defines agentic AI as software designed to execute business processes through autonomous... Read More

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

The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Data Management

Posted by Matt Aslett on 01 July 2025

If a single phrase could sum up the big data craze of a dozen or so years ago, it would be “more data beats better algorithms.” Attributed to Google research director Peter Norvig, the quote effectively summarized a research paper Norvig jointly authored called The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Data and was embraced by big data enthusiasts as articulating the prevalent thinking that enterprises... Read More

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

Solace Enables Agentic AI with Solace Platform

Posted by Matt Aslett on 25 June 2025

My colleagues have recently described how agentic artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize enterprise computing by automating the handling of static and dynamic complexity to enable software to take action without the need for human intervention. Put simply, agentic AI is the orchestration of the execution of discreet business tasks by a combination of software components... Read More

Topics: Governance, AI, Generative AI, AI & Technologies, AI and Machine Learning, Streaming & Events

Data Lakehouses Enable Data as a Product

Posted by Matt Aslett on 17 June 2025

I have previously described how data as a product was initially closely aligned with data mesh, a cultural and organizational approach to distributed data processing. As a result of data mesh’s association with distributed data, many assumed that the concept was diametrically opposed to the data lake, which offered a platform for combining large volumes of data from multiple data sources. That... Read More

Topics: Operations, Data Platforms, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies

OneStream Roadmap for AI and Agents

Posted by Robert Kugel on 12 June 2025

OneStream offers a platform designed to serve the needs of accounting and financial planning and analysis (FP&A) organizations. The software handles financial close and consolidation, planning and budgeting, analysis and reporting. OneStream recently held its annual user conference, Splash, in Nashville. In attending this meeting, my focus was once again on the progress the company has made over... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Analytics, Business Planning, ERP and Continuous Accounting, digital finance, Consolidate and Close Management, AI & Technologies, AI and Machine Learning

Salesforce Intention for Informatica Will Bolster AI and Data Efforts

Posted by Matt Aslett on 11 June 2025

I have previously explained how increased enterprise focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and agentic AI is a forcing function for enterprises to take long-overdue steps to improve data management and data governance. Data is integral to AI: large volumes of data are required to train models, while data freshness is important for inferencing in interactive applications and data quality is... Read More

Topics: Governance, Data Management, Generative AI, AI & Technologies, Agentic AI

Google Plots BigQuery Path from Data to AI

Posted by Matt Aslett on 03 June 2025

A little under a year ago, I explained how Google was positioning its BigQuery product as a unified data platform for processing data in multiple formats, across multiple locations, for multiple use cases—including business intelligence (BI) and artificial intelligence (AI)—using a combination of multiple data engines, including SQL, Spark and Python. The evolution of BigQuery as the focus of... Read More

Topics: Data Platforms, Generative AI, AI & Technologies

Google Next Highlights AI Investments

Posted by David Menninger on 03 June 2025

The artificial intelligence (AI) landscape is undergoing dramatic transformation, with enterprises rapidly adapting to a world where AI is no longer just a possibility but a necessity. ISG Market Lens research of 300 enterprises shows that AI initiatives were the second largest category of IT spending for 2024, behind customer experience initiatives. Furthermore, enterprises plan to increase 2025... Read More

Topics: Generative AI, AI & Technologies, AI and Machine Learning, Cloud Infrastructure

Knowledge Graphs are Critical to Data Intelligence and AI

Posted by Matt Aslett on 22 May 2025

I recently described how business data catalogs are evolving into data intelligence catalogs. These catalogs combine technical and business metadata and data governance capabilities with knowledge graph functionality to deliver a holistic, business-level view of data production and consumption. The concept of the knowledge graph has been part of the data sector for decades, but adoption has... Read More

Topics: Governance, Generative AI, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies