ServiceNow, the digital workflow infrastructure giant now valued at more than $106 billion, has acquired data.world — the Austin, Texas-based data management pioneer. This latest move comes on the heels of ServiceNow’s recent acquisition of Moveworks, as the company seeks to bolster its overall artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. Last year, Data.World made waves within the tech community when they raised $50 million in their Series C funding round. Given all this, it’s no wonder this impressive round valued the company at $350 million.
Founded in 2015, Data.World has gained prominence as a go-to platform for enterprises looking to bring order and visibility to their complex data landscapes. The company has raised over $130 million in venture financing from notable investors such as Alumni Ventures, Prologis Ventures, and Shasta Ventures. The acquisition is a continuation of ServiceNow’s overarching strategy to deliver generative AI at scale to its global customer base.
Philip Kirk, Senior Vice President Corporate Business Development at ServiceNow, touted the company’s commitment to responsible AI. He pointed out that making the leap from non-agentic to agentic AI would necessitate a mix of capability-building, acquisitions, and partnerships.
“It is kind of three-dimensional chess right now to figure out whether to build, buy, or partner,” Kirk remarked in an interview with TechCrunch. He continued to emphasize that ServiceNow really did their due diligence on reviewing dozens of companies, but chose Data.World specifically for its track record and leading-edge solutions.
Gaurav Rewari, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Data Analytics at ServiceNow, acknowledged the complexities involved in the journey toward advanced AI. “As I like to say, this path to agentic ‘AI heaven’ goes through some form of data hell, and that’s the grim reality,” Rewari stated, underscoring the challenges enterprises face when managing vast amounts of data.
ServiceNow’s recent acquisition of Data.World confirms its long-standing and increasingly dominant position in the market. It provides the business critical expertise to ensure customers deploy AI technology at scale. By combining Data.World’s powerful platform into its own products, ServiceNow hopes to make managing data faster and easier and create a better experience for users in the process.
You can pry open Data.World’s entire funding history on sites like Crunchbase. PitchBook has subsequently written about Flywheel’s sky-high valuation. ServiceNow, too, is heavily investing to grow its portfolio within the AI arena. To address the industry’s changing needs, it draws upon a mix of in-house development and outside collaboration.
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