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The Weekly

Data Hygiene is worth $8 Million

Salesforce dives back into the M&A market to acquire data management company Informatica for a cool $8m

Salesforce was in the news this week for making an $8m acquisition of Informatica and in the world of AI, this tells us something about how important your data layer is. (And if you don't know, Informatica is an enterprise cloud data management and data integration solution.) Salesforce, just like plenty of other enterprise software companies, have been running fast towards an AI driven future. Nearly all of their marketing and sales communication is focused on their Agentforce product telling us all about the efficiencies that agentic AI can bring to our working lives. However, whilst many of us will see highly polished user interfaces and exciting functionality, the key to success is the underlying data.

Accuate Data is a Must for AI

I have spoken about this quite a lot before, (e.g. The Data Catalog) but you cannot build an AI project without first making sure you have the reliable data to work from. In fact, there are a number of questions that you should ask yourself:

  • Is it accurate?
  • Is it up to date?
  • How was the data collected?
  • Who owns the data?
  • Who has access?

Most Data is a Mess

And let's be honest, most companies have more data than they know what to do with across the organisation. Some of it will be on personal desktops, some of it in shared corporate drives, and increasingly a portion of it will be stored in cloud solutions like Snowflake or Databricks. It's largely a mess.

Salesforce obviously knows this, so this acquisition of Informatica is very smart. It might not seem like the most exciting piece of software to buy amongst all the current AI hype, but I can tell you, it is one of the most important.

Using generative AI at work still has the ability to cause embarrassment, or worse a large mistake, when we don't check the output.

To prevent that, I've created a Notion document complete:

  • Simple checkpoints before using AI.
  • A clear process for checking AI output for accuracy and quality.
  • Actionable tips on how to add their own valuable insights and polish AI responses.
  • Practical examples for common work tasks.
  • Essential background info on why AI can make mistakes (like 'hallucinations').
  • And much more, all within an easy-to-use, interactive Notion template.
Get your guide today

Curated News

Thomson Reuters has introduced agentic AI systems designed to assist professionals in law, tax, and accounting. These AI agents can autonomously handle complex, multi-step tasks within existing workflows, such as legal research and document drafting, while ensuring human oversight for accuracy and accountability. The initiative aims to enhance productivity and precision in high-stakes professional environments.

IBM Acquires Seek AI to Bolster Enterprise AI Capabilities

IBM has acquired Seek AI, a company specializing in AI-driven data platforms for industries like e-commerce and finance. This acquisition aims to strengthen IBM's position in the enterprise AI market and support the development of agentic AI solutions that can autonomously analyze data and provide actionable insights for businesses.

Perplexity AI Envisions AI Agents as the Future of Web Interaction

Perplexity, an AI-driven search tool, is positioning AI agents as the next evolution in web interaction. CEO Aravind Srinivas emphasized that these agents could transform how users perform tasks online, such as shopping, scheduling, and personalized searches. By automating and streamlining these activities, AI agents aim to enhance user experience and efficiency.

Upcoming AI Events


Data+AI Summit
San Francisco, June 9–12

The AI Summit London
Tobacco Dock, London, June 11-12

World AI Summit
Taets Art & Event Park, Amsterdam, October 8-9

Big Data Conference Europe
Vilnius, Lithuania, November 19-21

Thanks for reading, and see you next Friday.

Simon,

Are you looking for a job in the tech sector? You'd do well to check out all the available roles on Wellfound. Wellfound is a platform that connects startups and tech companies with job seekers. It offers over 130,000 remote and local job listings, allowing candidates to apply with a single profile and view salary and equity details upfront.

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