Amit Walia, Informatica | Informatica World 2024

Summary

In this interview at Informatica World, CEO Amit Walia discusses the company's focus on data readiness for AI, highlighting the importance of complete, high-quality, and governed data for AI models. He emphasizes Informatica's role in data management and their platform's ability to support AI-driven digital transformation, while also touching on the evolving role of Chief Data Officers in strategic decision-making.

Takeaways

• 🌐 The conference tagline 'everyone's ready for AI except your data' reflects a common concern among Informatica's customers, highlighting the need for data readiness for AI applications.
• 🔍 Informatica's focus is on data management, ensuring that AI models receive complete, high-quality, and governed data, which is crucial for effective AI operations.
• 💼 CEO Amit Walia emphasizes the complexity of enterprise data environments, which include numerous apps, data silos, and cloud platforms, and the importance of Informatica's role in managing this complexity.
• 🌐 Informatica has built a metadata system of record, similar to what Google did for the worldwide web, to manage enterprise data, which powers their IDMC platform.
• 🚀 The IDMC platform is scaling rapidly, handling 92 trillion transactions per month, demonstrating Informatica's commitment to supporting large-scale data management needs.
• 🔧 Informatica's pivot to an all-cloud strategy and the development of new products on the IDMC platform has positioned the company to support AI-driven digital transformations.
• 🤖 The company's AI engine, CLA, and its recent addition, CLA GPT, are designed to provide a holistic platform for digital transformation, including AI-driven initiatives.
• 🏆 Informatica prides itself on being the 'Switzerland of data,' supporting any data format, cloud, database, or application, and aims to maintain this neutrality in the AI and LLM space.
• 💡 Data quality and governance are highlighted as critical components in ensuring that AI systems provide accurate and reliable results, underlining the importance of Informatica's role in data management.
• 📈 Informatica's approach to data management is seen as a strategic advantage, helping customers consolidate their data management tools and achieve a higher ROI on their data investments.

Q & A

What is the main theme of Informatica World this year?

The main theme of Informatica World this year is 'everyone's ready for AI, except your data', highlighting the readiness of organizations for AI but the unpreparedness of their data.

What is the primary challenge organizations are facing in their AI initiatives according to Amit Walia?

The primary challenge organizations are facing in their AI initiatives is the lack of readiness of their data. Amit Walia mentions that customers have expressed the need for complete, holistic, and high-quality data for their AI models.

How does Informatica address the complexity of enterprise data management?

Informatica addresses the complexity of enterprise data management by building a metadata system of record, similar to what Google did for the worldwide web, but for enterprise data. This system powers the IDMC platform, helping enterprises manage their data effectively.

What is the significance of Informatica's pivot to an all-cloud strategy?

Informatica's pivot to an all-cloud strategy was significant as it allowed the company to build a new platform, IDMC, which is scalable and capable of handling large volumes of transactions. This platform supports the company's AI and data management capabilities.

How does Informatica's IDMC platform scale?

The IDMC platform is designed to handle a massive scale, running at 92 trillion transactions a month. Each time the scale doubles, the growth rate continues, demonstrating the platform's ability to support large enterprises.

What is the role of Informatica's AI engine, CLA, in the context of data management?

CLA, Informatica's AI engine, is integrated into the IDMC platform to provide intelligent data management capabilities. It helps in managing and operationalizing AI models by ensuring the quality and governance of the data being used.

How does Informatica support its customers in their digital transformation journey?

Informatica supports its customers in their digital transformation journey by providing a holistic platform that includes best-of-breed products, an AI engine, and a single consumption-based pricing model. This allows customers to use any product on the platform for their data-driven initiatives.

What is the role of the Chief Data Officer (CDO) in the context of AI and data management?

The role of the CDO has evolved to become more strategic, focusing on data governance, quality, and compliance. CDOs are now seen as thought leaders and advisors, guiding organizations on how to manage their data effectively in the context of AI and digital transformation.

How does Informatica's approach to data management help in achieving a higher ROI on data?

Informatica's approach to data management helps in achieving a higher ROI by consolidating fragmented data management tools into a single, scalable platform. This reduces the complexity and cost associated with managing multiple tools and ensures that data is of high quality and governed effectively.

What are some of the potential use cases for AI in enterprises that Informatica is seeing?

Informatica is seeing a variety of AI use cases in enterprises, including customer service, supply chain management, real-time decision-making, reducing customer churn, and sentiment analysis. These use cases are driven by the need to improve operational efficiency and customer experience.

How does Informatica's partnership with other technology providers benefit its customers?

Informatica's partnerships with various technology providers, including cloud hyperscalers and system integrators, provide its customers with a diverse and robust set of solutions. This enables customers to choose the best tools and services that fit their specific needs and ensures that they can leverage the latest technologies in their data management and AI initiatives.

Outlines

00:00

🗣️ CEO Amit Walia on Informatica's AI Readiness

In this segment, CEO of Informatica, Amit Walia, discusses the company's focus on AI readiness and data management. He emphasizes the importance of having complete, high-quality, and well-governed data to effectively utilize AI models. Walia highlights Informatica's role in building a metadata system to manage enterprise data, comparing it to Google's approach to the worldwide web. He also touches on the company's pivot to a cloud-first strategy and its commitment to supporting any data format, cloud platform, or application, positioning Informatica as a 'Switzerland of data' in the AI era.

05:02

💼 Data Management and ROI in the AI Era

This paragraph delves into the strategic shift organizations are making towards AI and data-driven initiatives, despite budget constraints. Amit Walia explains how Informatica is helping customers achieve a higher return on investment by streamlining their data management tools and consolidating them onto Informatica's Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) platform. He also discusses the company's unique value proposition of offering best-of-breed products on a single platform with a holistic AI engine, and the importance of Informatica's role as a strategic advisor in the digital transformation journey.

10:04

🛠️ Building Centers of Excellence for AI Governance

The conversation shifts to the evolving role of Chief Data Officers (CDOs) and the creation of Centers of Excellence in response to AI and regulatory compliance needs. Walia describes how CDOs are becoming critical in managing the data estate holistically and how Informatica supports these efforts through its platform that integrates governance and quality. He also addresses the importance of legal involvement in ensuring responsible data usage and the boardroom's focus on data quality as a key driver of value.

15:05

🚀 Informatica's AI Future and Customer Use Cases

Amit Walia expresses excitement about the future of AI at Informatica, particularly the potential for customers to experiment with and operationalize AI workloads using Informatica's IDMC platform. He anticipates that next year's Informatica World will feature customer testimonials on the operational benefits of AI and its impact on the bottom line. Walia also discusses the diverse use cases emerging across different sectors, such as customer service, supply chain optimization, and real-time decision-making, and emphasizes Informatica's position as a neutral partner in a fragmented ecosystem.

Keywords

💡Informatica

Informatica is a leading software company specializing in data integration and management. In the context of the video, it is the host company of the conference being discussed. The CEO of Informatica, Amit Walia, is interviewed, highlighting the company's focus on data management solutions that are crucial for AI readiness.

💡AI

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and learn. In the video, AI is a central theme, with the tagline 'everyone's ready for AI, except your data' indicating a focus on the readiness of data for AI applications. The discussion revolves around how enterprises can prepare their data for AI integration.

💡Data Management

Data Management involves the processes, policies, and systems that ensure the effective and efficient use of information in enabling an organization to achieve its goals. In the video, data management is emphasized as a critical component for AI readiness, with Informatica positioning itself as a provider of solutions that help enterprises manage their data for AI applications.

💡Enterprise

An Enterprise refers to a large business organization or a business with multiple locations and a complex structure. In the script, the term is used to describe the complex environments within which Informatica's data management solutions operate, highlighting the challenges of managing data across numerous applications, data silos, and cloud platforms.

💡Metadata System

A Metadata System is a set of data that describes and gives information about other data. In the video, Informatica is described as having built a metadata system of record for enterprise data, similar to what Google did for the worldwide web. This system is crucial for managing and governing data, which is essential for AI applications.

💡IDMC Platform

IDMC stands for Intelligent Data Management Cloud, which is a platform offered by Informatica. The platform is highlighted in the video as a scalable solution running at 92 trillion transactions a month, supporting customers in managing their data for digital transformation and AI readiness.

💡Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation refers to the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how a company operates and delivers value to customers. In the video, digital transformation is discussed in the context of how Informatica's solutions help enterprises transform their data management practices to be ready for AI and other technological advancements.

💡CLA

CLA, or Clarity Advanced, is Informatica's AI engine mentioned in the video. It is part of the company's strategy to provide a holistic platform for digital transformation, including AI-driven initiatives. CLA is used to enhance data management and decision-making processes within enterprises.

💡Data Quality

Data Quality refers to the overall integrity and reliability of data. In the video, data quality is emphasized as a critical factor in AI readiness. Enterprises need to ensure that their data is accurate, complete, and consistent to derive meaningful insights and outcomes from AI applications.

💡ROI

ROI stands for Return on Investment, a measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment. In the context of the video, ROI is discussed in relation to how Informatica's solutions can help enterprises achieve a higher ROI on their data management initiatives, particularly in the context of AI and digital transformation.

💡CDIO

CDIO stands for Chief Data and Information Officer. In the video, the role of the CDIO is discussed as becoming increasingly strategic in the era of AI and digital transformation. CDIOs are seen as key drivers in managing data estates and ensuring compliance with regulations, making them crucial in the journey towards AI readiness.

Highlights

Informatica World is focusing on AI readiness and the challenges organizations face with data readiness.

The tagline 'everyone's ready for AI, except your data' reflects a common concern among Informatica's customers.

Enterprises have complex, fragmented environments with numerous apps, data silos, and cloud platforms.

AI models require complete, holistic, and high-quality data to function effectively.

Informatica's role is in data management, ensuring data is ready for AI models.

Informatica has built a metadata system of record, similar to Google's approach to the worldwide web, for enterprise data.

The IDMC platform is running at 92 trillion transactions a month, showcasing Informatica's scale.

Informatica's pivot to an all-cloud strategy has been a strategic move to support AI and digital transformation.

Informatica's AI engine, CLA, and its recent launch of CLA GPT, aim to provide a holistic platform for digital transformation.

Informatica positions itself as the Switzerland of data, supporting any data format, cloud, database, or application.

Data quality is crucial for AI, and Informatica emphasizes the importance of good data governance.

Budgets are being allocated towards strategic, data-driven initiatives, which is beneficial for Informatica.

Customers are consolidating their data management tools to a single, best-of-breed platform like Informatica.

Informatica's platform supports all AI workloads, making it future-proof for customers.

The role of the Chief Data Officer (CDO) is evolving, becoming more strategic and important in the era of AI.

CDOs are becoming the drivers and champions of holistic data management within enterprises.

Informatica's partnerships with cloud hyperscalers, data clouds, and system integrators are crucial for supporting diverse customer landscapes.

Amitabh Chaudhary, CEO of Informatica, is excited about the potential of AI and its impact on enterprises in the coming year.

Informatica is expecting to see operational AI benefits and real-world use cases demonstrated at next year's Informatica World.

Different use cases for AI are emerging, including customer service, supply chain management, and real-time decision making.

Transcripts

good afternoon everyone and welcome back

to the cubes live coverage of

Informatica World here at the Mandalay

Bay Convention Center I'm your host

Rebecca night sitting alongside my

co-host and analyst Rob stretche Rob

we've been waiting for this one yeah

absolutely this is right from the top I

mean this is doesn't get any better in

looking at the direction that

Informatica is going in for the next

year and I I think again was set really

well with the Keynotes but I'm really

excited about this indeed so let's

welcome to the cube AMT wallia he is the

CEO of Informatica thank you so much for

coming on Rebecca great to be here hello

Rob so Rob I mean sorry Amit the the

tagline for this conference is

everyone's ready for for AI for AI

except your data Y

and that that that is the message that

is really coming across but we'd like to

hear from the horse's mouth how do you

describe that as as what you see as sort

of the the overarching issue right now

that organizations across the board are

grappling with well you know the the

funny thing about this tagline is that

we didn't come up with it as I've been

talking to hundreds of customers they

exactly what they've been saying that to

me like for the last 12 months I've been

hearing them say you know what we all

want to get ready for AI but my data is

not ready I'm like that's such an

obvious thing to say that's what our

customers are telling us so let's just

tell it back to them so it's h it's it's

pretty verbatim from our customers look

if you kind of step back here is the

reality of an Enterprise it's a very

complex fragmented environment uh you

know there's there's like hundreds of

apps running around hundreds of data

silos running around hundreds of and you

know many Cloud platforms people are

building their own apps and let's not

forget as much as we think the world is

100% Cloud there's a lot of stuff

running from the old Legacy stuff

running around as well and when when you

think about AI in particular the biggest

thing is that you want to give your AI

model an AI model by itself is not

intelligent but you got to give it first

of all complete holistic data so you

want to bring data from all over those

places you want to give it good quality

data you want to have governance on top

of that data so for the as a model can

do something and you operationalize that

all of that stuff is data management and

at the end of the day that's what we do

for a living and the other thing is

fundamentally is that searching for all

this data is a complex thing and what

we've done very uniquely is build this

metadata system of record which is what

Google did to the worldwide web we did

to the Enterprise data and that's

powering this idmc platform we have

helping Enterprises in this gen world to

get stuff done yeah and I I think what

it also has done is accelerated the pace

at which yourself and your customers but

in particular yourself I mean again like

you said you're in the you're probably

like in the vortex of the storm right in

the eye there of why data management is

important like you said garbage in

garbage out especially with AI how has

that changed Informatica that just the

AI and accelerating the the pace of

everything look fundamentally the first

pivot the company did a couple of years

ago was was pivoting to all Cloud

everything what we did was we we built a

whole new informatic under the covers

brand new products even if there was an

old Legacy product we left it behind all

on one platform idmc and to give you a

sense of scale that platform is running

at 92 trillion transactions a month

that's a usage of the platform by our

customers and each time the scale

doubles growth rate has continued like

that so it's it's a that scale we're

operating so that has already happened

and now what that what that has allowed

us to do is in the world of gen actually

provide those capabilities for customers

to use that platform to run the geni

workloads but also provide our gen in

the context of a clar co-pilot CLA is

our AI engine and clear GPT which which

went live a couple of weeks ago so our

goal is to give our customers a holistic

platform to do any kind of digital

transformation including gen driven

digital transformation and the one other

thing is that very unique for us is that

we've always been the Switzerland of

data we support any data format support

any Cloud any database any application

and in the world of gen we're going to

be the Switzerland of gen any llm any

Vector database any of that stuff that's

very important for our customers to have

that choice yeah I mean we were even

talking with gav about how you're using

different models for different pieces

underneath CLA GPT and how it actually

again to give the right not only the

right answer but how to say no when it

doesn't know which I loved I mean that

that answer was probably the best AI

answer because having used other AI

things and it gives me an answer and I'm

like yeah that's completely wrong and

then you lose faith in it I mean so from

an Informatica perspective the thread

we've been seeing throughout this week

has been data quality give the right

answers get get the best data in govern

it really well make sure that you're

bringing it all together and I think the

special sauce that I've seen in the you

know 13 years or so that I've known

Informatica is that really it's about

the metadata and how that all gets

across like you were saying all of those

silos no matter if it's on Prem or in

the cloud are you seeing the customers

when you're I mean you're have to be in

in data with customer meetings this week

to put it

mildly they're saying here's I mean like

uh teada who was on stage and went from

8 to two different data management

systems that has to be one of the major

goals because again uh geni tends to

steal from other places from a budgetary

perspective it's not like there's

infinite money everywhere within it are

you seeing that at your customers where

they're looking to Informatica to

actually help you get a higher Roi on

their data yeah so uh that's a great

head of questions I think what we are

seeing is three things one is absolutely

you're right it budgets are not

increasing exponentially but what

customers are doing is that routing

budgets towards critical strategic

initiatives and data driven gen driven

initiatives are definitely getting the

budget allocation so that's a good thing

for us because that's a Tailwind then

comes a second thing customers have come

to this realization that good Lord am I

in the business of stitching hundreds of

data management tools and by the way

some of them are so small that they

cannot even scale to Enterprises

operational scale and then if one thing

fails my whole flow changes or I get to

a

Consolidated best to breed player like

Informatica and have them do that for me

and with us they get two things see we

talk about a platform intelligent data

management Cloud but what people forget

is that we also have the best of breed

products on that platform all products

from us are number one in our category

whether you look at the magic quadrants

whether you look at the Forester waves

so they're getting a twof for they're

getting the best products one platform a

AI engine and lastly one single

consumption based pricing for the entire

platform so you can use any product when

buy even one ipu and lastly all of those

products and all of that platform if

they've already started using it

currently for their data driven disal

transformation as we shared on stage

fully seamlessly support all gen

workloads so they don't have to

re-engineer anything if they were doing

a current workload on some data platform

they can now do llms and Vector

databases so they are future proof they

don't have to spend a lot more money to

do genni initiatives that's the three

things that I'm seeing that's

consolidating a lot all of this

fragmentation to

idmc when you had the the CDO of of of

Takata on yesterday you asked tea sorry

you asked her about her the how the role

of the cdio has changed over the years

and I I thought it was a really

insightful question I'm a journalist and

so a good question and it occurred to me

that there's there's so the sea Suite is

really undergoing such a transformation

in in this new era of gen how you're a

tech veteran you've been in Informatica

for a long time too how would you say

your job as a leader has changed in this

new

era you know um I think the one thing

that has changed a lot especially For

What customers are asking us and I see

that when I get talked to customers by

the way both bar and Rafi was on stage

uh they are looking to players like us

who are you know leaders in our space at

scale for Thought leadership and advice

so my first conversation with both of

them were look I'm undergoing this kind

of a transformation can I just talk to

you as to how to even think about it am

I making a mistake over there should I

do this it's not about the technology

first the conversation is a lot more

strategic and the scale and the breadth

and the depth and the place we have in

the industry because we've seen so much

they are looking to us for advice

guidance thought leadership which I

think is a great thing because it

elevates a conversation about having one

product for one use case to a platform

and a holistic conversation that's a big

change that's happening all

conversations for me begin with can you

tell me how am I thinking about it the

right way uh and and by the way the cdos

coming to them look they are a very big

persona for us we have thousands of cdos

in our Network in fact we run a cdio

council every month we meet we only have

a chat about what's happening in that

world and their role has changed and

they're becoming very strategic and and

I really see their role growing very

significantly yeah it it seems to be one

of those roles that seems to get other

letters like c a d o and like things

like this it's crazy to see that and I

mean having been in that world with

people that are looking out and saying

as a CDO do I own AI to is the CIO own

AI where does this all and oh by the way

then we got to partner up with the the

legal council and governance and how do

you see from your level in those

strategic conversations that are

happening about here's how we're

building our Center of Excellence how

are customers really looking to build a

center of excellence that's centralizing

kind of governance and privacy and all

that because there's other regulations

coming down you know the AI Act was the

first kind of volley in Europe there's

going to be stuff coming to uh you know

a state near you or a country near you

how do you see that evolving that kind

of center of excellent at your customers

yeah and I think and it is evolving

that's the right word to put it I think

what I'm seeing is a couple of things of

course legal is involved because there

is Regulatory Compliance there's always

the nervousness of about if we do

something silly so legal is always

involved in terms of looking at are we

doing the right things same in our

company our legal council looking at are

we approaching it the right way are

using customers data the right way are

we using our own employees data the

right way which is the right thing to do

I think what has happened is that what

will H what is happening is that clearly

that's it's one interesting thing that's

happened at the boardroom level topics

like governance quality have become very

because people realize oh without good

quality stuff it's not nothing will come

out of value so the cdos are becoming

more more important that hey we need to

get the data estate in order and you

cannot look at the data estate in a silo

that that function and that business

unit over there so the cdus are becoming

that glue to say hey if I have to put my

data state in order I got to do it

holistically so they are definitely

becoming the owners or the drivers and

the champions of that now clearly the

users of AI will be functional right you

know I'm in sales I can use salesforce's

AI I'm in marketing I can use adobe's AI

I'm in cm I can use workday's AI that

will be there but the data State can has

to be only managed in one place I think

I'm seeing a lot of that happen now in

large companies there can be multiple

cdos there can be a global CDI but the

cdos are becoming critically

important so this has really been a

terrific show and it's it's showcased

not only a lot of Innovations and

refinements that Informatica is putting

out but it also the the thought

leadership as you were saying and just

how your approach informatica's

Evolution as a company and as a brand

what are some of the things that are

most exciting to you going back go

thinking thinking about the future and

about next year's Informatica World boy

I think look I am definitely excited

it's look it while gen is one of those

things it's going to be a cliche but I'm

super excited about that and the reason

for that is that look let's not forget

non gen transformation digital

transformation is still very much

underway and has to underway it won't go

away I I give the example that I think

will continue for the next 5 years too

but the reality is that gen is an

exponential driver and customers have to

start somewhere Enterprises are not

necessarily in operational mode yet

let's be very honest but they all have

they all building a road map this is the

first use case what I'm excited about is

that our customers with currently

deployed idmc can actually start

experimenting the geni workloads can

start operationalize that and what I

really and I'm going to I'm I fully

expect that when we come to next year on

stage there will be two customers who

will be talking about their operational

gen benefits and what they did just like

had Barb and Rafi on stage talking about

digital TR that's what I think will

happen next year and how it's really

impacting the bottom line and by the way

we're seeing it today like you know I

think you had SSM Health uh but they

using clear GPT and they were able to

discover very quickly you know where the

different critical resources were where

critical equipment were and they can

route it within their Hospital Network

imagine that imagine how much patient

care gets elevated if you can get the

right resource and the right equipment

quickly from point A to point B if one

thing is understaffed and the other one

is over staffed so we seeing that

already and I fully expect next year we

will be seeing actual demonstrated uh

use cases where people will be talking

about yeah I I think to me that that's

the most exciting thing is because we we

even have we were're partnered up with

the company ETR and in that data 80% of

companies are still in the evaluation

phase around what is the use case that

they're going to do in in production and

we we agree and I think there's a lot of

talk about silicon and all of this other

stuff that's way underneath where the

actual apps are and I know informatic

has been in what I'll call traditional

AI or ml for a long time and building

models and being able to you know hey

recommendations engines for customer 360

and things of that nature where do you

see the customers initially jumping in

and and is it customer service is it you

know generation of content is it code

generation where do you see them coming

to you and saying hey we want use our

data in this way in this use case as as

we start to evaluate those use cases you

know interestingly what we saw is many

use cases not just one because like I

gave you this example of SSM Health that

is nothing to it is customer service but

think about this way it's also a little

bit of a supply chain thing how do I get

the right people and the Right medical

care equipment at the right place so

it's a bit of a supply chain

conversation which results in higher

patient care and customer service so now

depends upon how you want to categorize

that we saw another customer think of it

in the context of a great campaign

Effectiveness which results in higher

Revenue generation which is in context

of serving the customers so we are

seeing very different use cases emerge

the beauty is here's what I tell

everyone data impacts your entire value

chain of an Enterprise from front end to

back end whether it's increasing Revenue

reducing cost increasing productivity

and we seen customers attempt all of

those things but you're right I see

customer service I see supply chain I

see discovery of data make real-time

decisions help reduce customers churn

better understand your customer

sentiment analysis those are the kind of

places I'm seeing uh a lot of use cases

emerge another thing I think I want to I

want to emphasize is that one of the

unique things hopefully you you getting

to see here is that are we have this

unique place in this ecosystem where we

the Switzerland working with everybody I

mean you heard Scott on stage shridar on

stage from Snowflake and and our

Partnerships are deep with all the cloud

hyperscalers the data clouds and all the

system integrators who have informatic

practices it's very important for our

customers because our customers have a

very fragmented diverse set of

landscape we have a very high bar

working with all of them so our

customers can benefit by having that

choice and that's another thing that as

you as customers walk around as you guys

walk around you'll see everybody present

here signifying our strong partnership

ethos yeah no we that's definitely come

through to put it mildly we've had the

vast majority of ecosystem on in fact we

have more more to come after this

afternoon as well but it's been

fantastic seeing that because like you

said they are so fragmented and it's it

is that layer up above where you're

building your data products that has

data from all over the place yes yeah

yes well Amit thank you so much for

coming on the cube a really great

conversation always a pleasure thank you

Rebecca thanks Rob I'm Rebecca Knight

for Rob stretch a stay tuned for more of

the cubes live coverage of Informatica

World you're watching the cube the

leader in Enterprise news and Analysis

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