Welcome to the latest edition of the World of DaaS Roundup. This week, the data industry is consolidating fast and the winners are those who own the layer beneath AI.
Consulting giants are leading the charge, acquiring data-ready capabilities to industrialize AI and move beyond experimentation. At the same time, data platforms are evolving into the operating systems that power enterprise AI agents, becoming central to how organizations deploy intelligence at scale.
Meanwhile, regulators are reshaping the landscape, turning proprietary data into a shared — and increasingly priced — asset. This shift is accelerating a broader transformation: enterprise data at massive scale is not just enabling AI, it's actively rebuilding entire professions.
All of this points to a deeper truth:
The real moat in AI is no longer the model — it's the data layer beneath it.
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Accenture buys Spain’s Keepler to industrialize AI-on-your-data. Accenture Newsroom
The consulting giant is absorbing cloud-native data shops to cover the preparation layer that sits between raw enterprise data and AI output signaling that the margin is no longer in the model, but in making data AI-ready.
37 new unicorns in March — 4-year high, AI-data infra leading. Crunchbase
Fourteen of the new billion-dollar startups come from robotics, foundational AI and AI infrastructure — all three categories built on proprietary data pipelines that have become the real moat behind valuation jumps.
EU forces Google to share search ranking, query and click data with AI rivals. Bloomberg
Bruseels’ preliminary DMA findings (April 16) explicitly include AI chatbots among eligible beneficiaries— effectively reclassifying search data as regulated commodity and setting FRAND pricing terms, with a binding decision due July 27 and fines of up to 10% of Alphabet’s global revenue on the table.
Snowflake makes enterprise data the launchpad for agentic AI. Snowflake
New intelligence and Cortex Code expansions embed AI agents directly in governed enterprise data — turning the data platform itself into where every AI action is executed and audited.
EY embeds multi-agent AI across 1.4T lines of journal data and 130K auditors. EY
New intelligence and Cortex Code expansions embed AI agents directly in governed enterprise data — turning the data platform itself into where every AI action is executed and audited.
Re-Air: The Data Economy: Turning Information into a Tradable Commodity with Viktor Kessler of Vakamo
The shift from rigid warehouses to open Lakehouse systems where data becomes a governed, shareable, monetizable asset. The Data Stack Show.
→ As data architecture moves beyond closed warehouses and proprietary silos, the rise of open table formats like Apache Iceberg is unlocking a new reality where data itself can be shared, governed, and traded across organizations — turning information into a true product and opening the door to AI-driven data exchanges.
In this episode of The Data Stack Show, they discuss:
How the Lakehouse model is replacing traditional data warehouses as the new foundation of the data economy.
Why Apache Iceberg and open formats are enabling seamless data sharing, governance, and monetization.
The shift from "data as infrastructure" to "data as a product" — and what that means for how companies create value.
Why decentralized data production challenges legacy governance and opens space for new security and compliance models.
The emerging vision of AI-driven data exchanges and how they could reshape who owns, sells, and profits from information.
M&A Funding Roundup
MSCI acquired PM Insights to bring private markets secondaries pricing data.
SLR acquired Planetrcis and ClimSystems to build out its climate risk analytics.
Golden Analytics (AI- native BI) raised $7M seed led by NEA and Madrona.
Xoople (Earth-data infrastructure) raised $130M Series B led by Nazca Capital.
Showcasing open roles at companies led by members of our community. A few standout opportunities this week:
VP DATA at The Atlantic
Vice President, Data and Insights at GitLab
Data Specialist at Lee Hecht Harrison
Looking to showcase an open role? The World of DaaS job board highlights opportunities from members across our community. Apply to join and get access to exclusive perks including job board postings, curated introductions, private events, and more.
Till next time,
The World of DaaS Team
