Analytics and Data Science News for the Week of January 23; Updates from Datarails, Impetus, Qlik & More

Solutions Review Executive Editor Tim King curated this list of notable analytics and data science news for the week of January 23, 2026.

Keeping tabs on all the most relevant analytics and data science news can be a time-consuming task. As a result, our editorial team aims to provide a summary of the top headlines from the last week in this space. Solutions Review editors will curate vendor product news, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital funding, talent acquisition, and other noteworthy analytics and data science news items.

For early access to all the expert insights published on Solutions Review, join Insight Jam, a community dedicated to enabling the human conversation on AI.

Analytics and Data Science News for the Week of January 23, 2026

Astronomer Releases State of Apache Airflow 2026 Report

Airflow sits at the heart of data-driven businesses, powering the pipelines that feed dashboards for decision-makers, providing in-product analytics and orchestrating everything from machine learning models to AI agents in user-facing applications. All while providing ultimate flexibility to work with whatever data platforms are right for the job.

Read on for more → https://finance.yahoo.com/news/astronomer-releases-state-apache-airflow-140000349.html

Datarails Raises $70M Series C to Make AI the Foundation of the CFO’s Office

The Excel‑native, AI‑first platform positions its FinanceOS as the “decision engine” for the CFO’s office—spanning FP&A, cash management, month‑end close, and spend control—and is rolling out new Strategy, Planning, and Reporting AI finance agents that generate board‑ready outputs and answer questions such as profitability drivers, forecast scenarios, and budget variances directly from unified ERP, CRM, HRIS, and Excel data.

Read on for more → https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/datarails-raises-70m-series-c-led-by-one-peak-to-make-ai-the-foundation-of-the-cfos-office-302666573.html

Databricks Announces BlackIce, a Containerized Red‑Teaming Toolkit for AI Security Testing

Databricks open‑sourced BlackIce, a containerized red‑teaming toolkit that security and ML teams can spin up to systematically probe AI systems for weaknesses like prompt injection, data exfiltration, and jailbreaks. BlackIce provides reusable attack libraries, configurable scenarios, and reporting so organizations can continuously test LLM and agentic applications in controlled environments and feed findings back into hardening and guardrails.

Read on for more → https://www.databricks.com/blog/announcing-blackice-containerized-red-teaming-toolkit-ai-security-testing

GoodData Announces Launch of MCP Server to Let AI Execute Analytics Safely

GoodData launched an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that exposes governed analytics—metrics, semantic models, and dashboards—as tools AI agents can call programmatically. The MCP server lets enterprises plug LLMs into GoodData while enforcing centralized definitions and permissions, enabling AI to answer business questions and run analytics workflows without bypassing data governance.

Read on for more → https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/computers-technology-and-internet/gooddata-announces-launch-of-mcp-server-to-let-ai-execute-analyti-1128987

Microsoft Introduces Markers in Azure Maps for Power BI

Microsoft added configurable markers to Azure Maps visuals in Power BI so report authors can better highlight locations, categories, and thresholds on geospatial dashboards. With richer marker styling and formatting, users can make map‑based insights more legible, such as calling out store performance, incident clusters, or asset status directly on the map.

Read on for more → https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-markers-in-azure-maps-for-power-bi

Precisely Study Finds AI Confidence Outpaces Readiness as Data Integrity Gaps Persist

Precisely’s fourth annual study shows organizations are increasingly confident in AI but still hampered by poor data quality, lineage, and governance. Many respondents cite data integrity as the top barrier to realizing AI value, underscoring the need for better metadata, observability, and trust frameworks around enterprise data.

Read on for more → https://www.precisely.com/press-release/fourth-annual-study-finds-ai-confidence-outpaces-readiness-as-data-integrity-gaps-persist

Qlik Welcomes Mark Relph of AWS to AI Council

Qlik added Mark Relph, a senior AWS leader, to its AI Council to advise on cloud‑native AI strategy, ecosystem partnerships, and responsible use of generative AI in analytics. His appointment strengthens ties between Qlik and hyperscale cloud platforms as customers push more BI and data integration workloads into the cloud.

Read on for more → https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260121476762/en/Qlik-Welcomes-Mark-Relph-of-AWS-to-AI-Council

confidence-outpaces-readiness-as-data-integrity-gaps-persist

Qrvey Launches Ready-to-Use AI Features

Designed specifically for SaaS product and engineering teams evaluating embedded analytics, the Developer Playground allows users to explore Qrvey’s platform, and its AI capabilities, on their own terms, using sample datasets, dashboards, and workflow automation.

Read on for more → https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/computers-technology-and-internet/qrvey-launches-ready-to-use-ai-features-in-its-embedded-analytics-1129211

Rocket Software Accelerates Data Modernization With Rocket ContentEdge

Rocket Software launched Rocket ContentEdge, a content services solution that provides safe, in‑place access to unstructured information across mainframe, on‑prem, and cloud systems so organizations can apply “safety‑first” GenAI, automation, and analytics without moving data.

Read on for more → https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/01/22/3223740/0/en/Rocket-Software-Accelerates-Data-Modernization-with-Rocket-ContentEdge.html

Expert Insights

Watch this space each week as our editors will share upcoming events, new thought leadership, and the best resources from Insight Jam, Solutions Review’s enterprise tech community where the human conversation around AI is happening. The goal? To help you gain a forward-thinking analysis and remain on-trend through expert advice, best practices, predictions, and vendor-neutral software evaluation tools.

Solutions Review Editors Launch New ‘Human-AI Ledger’ Newsletter to Chronicle the Human Impact of AI

Artificial intelligence is everywhere—but understanding its human impact has never been more urgent. That’s where Solutions Review‘s latest newsletter, The Human-AI Ledger, comes in. Designed to chronicle how AI is reshaping the way we learn, work, lead, and live, this newsletter explores the soft side of AI—the non-technical, deeply human dimensions that determine whether this technological revolution helps us thrive or leaves us behind.

Sign up now to get a weekly debrief of the latest human-centric news, insights, and commentary coming out of this emerging discussion.

Sign Up Free

Solutions Review is Getting Set to Host Impetus and Forrester Research for Exclusive Session ‘The Next Generation of Observability in the Era of Agentic AI’ on January 28

In this fireside chat, an analyst-led discussion will explore how observability has evolved, whether today’s tools are ready for these new demands, and why observability is becoming essential in the agentic AI era. The session will also highlight how solutions like Impetus Prism help organizations bring observability and cost intelligence together as an enterprise capability.

Register on LinkedIn

Solutions Review is Getting Set to Host Promethium and BARC for the Exclusive Session ‘Break the Metadata Bottleneck to Drive Agentic AI and Contextual Insights’ on January 29

This webinar examines three structural challenges behind that bottleneck: distributed datasets, heterogeneous environments, and rising expectations for true self-service analytics. We then outline architectural principles that dynamically integrate data, metadata, and analytics to guide wide-ranging business decisions.

Register on LinkedIn

Solutions Review is Getting Set to Host Nutanix and Northeastern University for the Exclusive Session ‘Cloud-Native for the AI-Powered, Innovation-Ready Enterprise Masterclass’ on February 19

Join us for the Nutanix Cloud Native Masterclass, an exclusive event for C-level executives, where attendees will receive a Certificate of Completion from Northeastern University, recognizing their expertise in cloud native strategies. In this Masterclass we’ll explore how cloud native architecture is reshaping enterprise IT. Unlike traditional monolithic applications — which are slow to evolve, difficult to scale, and operationally complex — cloud native applications are composed of independent, loosely coupled components. Built on microservices, containers, Kubernetes, and API-driven design, they are optimized for dynamic, distributed environments.

Register on LinkedIn

Thought Leaders: Why Boards Quietly Lose Confidence in Data Programs by Samir Sharma

Boards rarely lose confidence in data programs overnight. What I see instead is a slow, almost imperceptible shift. Early curiosity turns into tolerance, and tolerance eventually becomes quiet concern. Nothing dramatic happens, the program doesn’t collapse and funding often remains in place. Updates continue to be presented and on the surface, everything looks stable.

Read on Solutions Review

Keith McCormick and LinkedIn Learning Launch New Course: Side Hustle Strategies for Data Science and Analytics Experts

Keith steps through how to jump-start your side hustle in writing by serving as a technical reviewer for technical books. He explains how to use your data science and analytics expertise to become a paid presenter at conferences. Plus, he covers how to build your reputation as a consultant, become a part-time instructor at a university, and more. Along the way, Keith shares tips and strategies for making the most of these new ventures once they’ve become part of your professional portfolio.

​Register on LinkedIn

For consideration in future analytics and data science news roundups, send your announcements to the editor: tking@solutionsreview.com.