In a landmark partnership set to accelerate enterprise AI adoption, Confluent, the data-streaming pioneer, has teamed up with Databricks, the Data and AI company, to integrate real-time operational and analytical data. The collaboration aims to break down data silos and ensure AI models have instant access to high-quality, real-time data, transforming how businesses make AI-driven decisions.
With only 22% of enterprises AI-ready, many struggle to bridge the gap between operational systems where data is generated and analytical systems where insights are derived. This partnership addresses that challenge by seamlessly connecting Confluent’s Tableflow and Databricks’ Unity Catalog, making real-time, governed data readily available for AI applications.
“Real-time data is the fuel for AI,” Jay Kreps, co-founder and CEO of Confluent.
AI Innovation Needs Real-Time Data
Enterprises in finance, healthcare, and e-commerce increasingly rely on AI, but outdated infrastructure and disconnected data systems limit their ability to scale AI-driven insights. Through this partnership, Confluent and Databricks will enable businesses to optimize AI workflows by ensuring data is discoverable, secure, and instantly actionable across teams.
“Real-time data is the fuel for AI,” said Jay Kreps, co-founder and CEO of Confluent. “Too often, enterprises are held back by disconnected systems that fail to deliver the data they need, in the format they need, at the moment they need it. Together with Databricks, we’re ensuring businesses can harness the power of real-time data to build sophisticated AI-driven applications for their most critical use cases.”
With Tableflow’s bidirectional integration into Delta Lake and Unity Catalog, organizations will now have a unified data architecture, allowing teams to collaborate efficiently and build scalable AI models.
A Future Built on Streaming AI
The integration will allow enterprises to use any AI tool or engine—such as Apache Spark, Trino, and DuckDB—to process real-time data without operational bottlenecks. Additionally, Confluent’s Stream Governance suite will enhance metadata management, ensuring greater data lineage tracking and automated quality monitoring.
As AI adoption continues to surge, real-time data infrastructure is set to become the backbone of enterprise innovation. With this strategic collaboration, Confluent and Databricks are leading the charge in ensuring AI is not just intelligent—but instant.
