Alation, in collaboration with Databricks, has introduced tools to improve data governance and visibility for AI initiatives, addressing challenges of data quality and accessibility, as highlighted by industry experts. The partnership aims to accelerate AI development and deployment by providing high-quality, actionable insights into data quality.
Alation Enhances Integration with Databricks to Boost Data Quality for AI Projects
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., June 10, 2024 — Alation, Inc., a data intelligence company, has announced an enhanced collaboration with Databricks, a data and AI firm, to improve the usability and reliability of data for artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives in enterprises. This integration is part of Alation’s Open Data Quality Initiative, aimed at ensuring data consistency, accuracy, and reliability. This collaboration is intended to provide data scientists, engineers, and AI/ML professionals with high-quality, AI-ready data.
The enhanced partnership seeks to address common challenges faced by enterprises in deploying AI, including poor data quality, fragmented data silos, and inconsistent data truths. According to a Forrester report, 70% of enterprises are currently using generative AI, and another 20% are considering it, underscoring the urgent need for accessible, high-quality data.
The collaboration introduces several tools designed to improve data governance and visibility, such as trust flags, impact analysis, and extensive data profiling. These features aim to build a single source of truth, ensuring that high-quality data is accessible across the organization.
John (JW) Williams, Executive Director of Enterprise Data at RaceTrac, highlighted the importance of reliable data. He noted that the integration allows users to find, understand, and utilize data effectively, which is essential for making informed decisions and advancing AI strategies.
Roger Murff, VP of Technology Partners at Databricks, emphasized the need for complete visibility into the data landscape to support AI initiatives. He stated that the partnership with Alation delivers a unified view of data, facilitating collaboration and improving data reliability, which is crucial for developing dependable AI models.
David Chao, CMO and Head of Technology Alliances at Alation, pointed out that while proprietary data is a critical asset, its value is only realised when users can effectively find, understand, and trust it. He acknowledged that maintaining high data standards is increasingly challenging due to the complexity of modern data landscapes. Chao believes that the enhanced partnership sets a new benchmark for data integrity and accelerates AI development and deployment.
Key features of the integration include:
- Data Quality Monitoring: Users can monitor data quality metrics using Databricks Lakehouse Monitoring results within Alation, providing comprehensive data health insights.
- Data Quality Visualisation: The integration converts complex profiling and drift metrics into actionable rules and visualisations, aiding business users in understanding and assessing data quality issues without requiring technical expertise.
- Data Quality Insights: The collaboration enhances data accessibility and trust across the organization, providing users with clear, actionable insights into data quality.
Alation and Databricks will present these developments at the Databricks Data + AI Summit 2024, showcasing how they support data democratization and AI initiatives.
Alation, based in Redwood City, specialises in data intelligence solutions that support self-service analytics, cloud transformation, data governance, and AI readiness. The company works with over 550 enterprises globally.
For more information, visit Alation’s website.
