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In a move to accelerate the development of agentic AI applications and make it easier to manage compute resources, DataRobot today announced the acquisition of Agnostiq – a Toronto-based software startup that specializes in distributed computing solutions.
DataRobot is known for enterprise AI and AutoML platforms, which are designed to automate and simplify the development, deployment, and management of machine learning models for businesses. With the acquisition of Agnostiq, DataRobot aims to integrate Agnostiq’s open-source Covalent platform into its ecosystem.
The goal is to enable businesses to enhance compute orchestration across multi-cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments, including CPUs, GPUs, and NPUs. This Agnostiq integration is expected to reduce the complexity and improve the efficiency of AI workload deployment.
DataRobot shared a recent study that reveals businesses are finding it challenging to convert their needs into functional agentic AI applications. A key reason for this is the inability to manage these applications across fragmented tools and environments. This leads to increased costs and inefficiencies that stall growth and innovation.
According to DataRobot, it is critical that businesses have the flexibility to deploy agenic AI across multiple infrastructure and compute environments. “Businesses are eager to move into an era of agentic AI, but are limited by siloed infrastructure and tooling. This operational complexity is not sustainable or scalable,” said Debanjan Saha, Chief Executive Officer, DataRobot.
“By integrating this acquisition, we are empowering AI teams to intelligently and cost-effectively develop and manage agentic AI across compute environments — delivering tangible results for the business.“
DataRobot claims that what sets them apart is that their AI platform caters to both technical users, such as data scientists, and non-technical users, such as business professionals.
The platform works by analyzing the task the users want to automate and selecting the most suitable neural network to train from its library of prepackaged algorithms. For more advanced users, the platform offers tools to create and customize neural networks.
DataRobot has adopted the use of agentic AI, which refers to more advanced forms of AI that can perform various tasks with minimal human input. While these systems offer significant promise, many organizations struggle in scaling and managing agentic AI. With the integration of Covalent, DataRobot aims to offer dynamic compute orchestration across environments. This would help businesses to deploy AI applications more efficiently, reducing complexity and costs while enhancing performance.
Debanjan Saha , CEO of DataRobot
“With Covalent’s advanced compute orchestration, we’re thrilled to become part of DataRobot’s journey, working together to help our communities rapidly build and deploy groundbreaking AI solutions with seamless scalability and efficiency,” said Oktay Goktas, Chief Executive Officer, Agnostiq.
DataRobot expects the Agnostiq integration will allow for the bursting of resources to ensure that infrastructure scales with optimal price-performance. Another benefit of Covalent for DataRobot is its ability to consolidate AI tooling into a single platform, simplifying the process of managing AI initiatives.
Founded in 2012, DataRobot has made a series of acquisitions over the last few years. They nabbed Algorithmia in July 2021 in a move to solidify its position in the emerging market for enterprise AI platforms. Other notable acquisitions include Paxata, a provider of data preparation and self-service analytics tools, and ParallelM, an MLOps company.
DataRobot’s recent acquisition of Agnostiq marks another strategic milestone. It enhances DataRobot’s ability to meet the needs of enterprise clients across various IT systems. With the agentic AI market growing, this move could help DataRobot stay ahead in the evolving landscape.
Interestingly, DataRobot made no mention of Agnostiq’s previous focus on quantum computing. This aligns with the broader industry trend of quantum startups shifting toward AI and high-performance computing. It remains to be seen whether quantum computing will continue to be part of Covalent’s development under DataRobot’s ownership.
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