Analytics and Data Science News for the Week of January 31; Updates from Databricks, NTT DATA, Qlik & More

Solutions Review Executive Editor Tim King curated this list of notable analytics and data science news for the week of January 31, 2025.

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 31, 2025

Athenic AI Secures Seed Round for Democratized Data Analytics

This new funding will enable Athenic AI to accelerate product development, enhance its market presence, and expand its reach to enterprise clients seeking to unlock the true potential of their data. The company, founded by a team with data and machine learning research experience at UC Berkeley, is set to transform BI reporting and ad hoc analysis with the power of Generative AI.

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Lovelytics Set to Acquire Datalytics

Headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with offices in Medellín, Colombia, and Madrid, Spain, Datalytics has built an 18-year reputation as a trusted partner for enterprises undergoing data and AI transformations. Together, the two companies create a 340-person pure-play Databricks consulting firm, backed by Databricks Ventures and Interlock Equity.

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MicroStrategy Announces Latest Version of ONE Platform

MicroStrategy’s Auto AI bot delivers a human-like conversational experience for users interacting with data. This release includes new chart types and a range of enhancements designed to help Auto better understand ambiguous questions using context and past interactions with the user.

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NTT DATA Unveils New Smart AI Agent

The Smart AI Agent autonomously extracts, organizes, and executes tasks in response to user instructions, complementing existing workforces and streamlining time-consuming processes. By enhancing efficiency across industries, the Smart AI Agent enables businesses to rapidly evaluate and deploy Generative AI applications, optimizing workflows and driving greater productivity.

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Qlik Brings New Data Flow to Qlik Cloud Analytics Platform

Data preparation often accounts for the majority of the time analysts spend on projects, creating bottlenecks and limiting the ability to leverage data effectively. Data Flow addresses this challenge by empowering users to take control of their data workflows, regardless of technical skill level.

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SAS Software Says AI Boosts Government Efficiency

The survey reveals that adaptive organizational design and digital transformation are the most important strategies to boost productivity – and nearly equally so. Additionally, the survey indicates that agencies that have embarked on digital transformation were more likely to have successfully implemented organizational reform.

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Snowflake Reportedly Mulling Redpanda Acquisition

RedPanda operates a streaming data platform that competes with Confluent. According to the information, Snowflake could purchase RedPanda for around $1.5 billion. Snowflake sells data analytics and management software that runs on the cloud-computing platforms.

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Expert Insights Section

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.

Last Chance! Help Shape the Future of Tech and Take the 2025 Skiilify Survey of Tech Professionals Now

In collaboration with Skillify, Solutions Review and Insight Jam co-developed this survey to help facilitate the shift from reactive measures to proactive strategies. The Survey for Tech Professionals aims to explore the areas that will shape the future of tech work, including the evolving role of soft skills, the impact of AI on your job, and strategies for navigating uncertainty while maintaining the drive for innovation.

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NEW by Solutions Review Thought Leader Samir Sharma: Stop Obsessing Over Being “AI Ready”

There’s been a growing chorus over the last 12 months, and every other post on LinkedIn, every conference panel, and every glossy consultancy report seems to be asking, “Are you AI-ready?” As if it’s some mythical threshold, like being admitted into an exclusive club for the enlightened. It’s a distraction that leads organisations down a rabbit hole of endless preparation, rather than focusing on outcomes. Be value ready, not tech ready!

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NEW by Solutions Review Thought Leader Robert Seiner: Stop Being Lazy With Your Data

As the calendar flips to 2025, many of us are busy scribbling down resolutions – eat healthier, exercise more, and spend less time doom-scrolling. But have you considered adding a resolution for your organization? Specifically, how about resolving not to be lazy with your data? Yes, lazy. Because the way some organizations treat their data is akin to hitting the snooze button on a morning workout – ignoring the discipline that’s needed and then wondering why nothing gets better.

Read on Solutions Review

Jam Session On-Demand Featuring Solutions Review Thought Leader Robert Eve: We Don’t Need No (AI) Education

While the song is a commentary on institutional authoritarianism, it is also relevant to today’s AI revolution and its opportunity for unified thought control. Paradoxically, “We don’t need no education” is a warning and a response to AI’s wide-ranging human impact. This insight is cleverly reinforced when these lines are initially sung by Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters and David Gilmour. These lines represent a sinister, centralized, authoritarian point of view of AI.

Watch on YouTube

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