Databricks buys the AI-powered data migration startup BladeBridge

Databricks Inc. has snapped up a startup called BladeBridge Inc., which offers tools for migrating enterprise data warehouses.

The big-data company said Wednesday it plans to integrate its technology with its own platform. The goal is to help companies move their workloads to its Structured Query Language analytics product Databricks SQL more easily.

BladeBridge’s platform can automate the migration of workloads from more than 20 different data warehouses and extract, transact and load, or ETL, platforms. Unlike traditional migration tools, it uses large language models to aid in code analysis, before converting that code automatically. In doing this, companies can bring their workloads onto Databricks’ Data Intelligence Platform, which is an environment that brings together information from multiple fragmented sources.

The startup has created four tools to facilitate the data migration process: an Analyzer, a Converter, a Data Recon module and a Studio. By using them, it claims companies will save months of work by automatically rebuilding their data assets on DIP within just a few hours.

The migration process starts with the Analyzer, which gives companies a full report on the scope and complexity of their proposed operation, while conducting query tests on the original database and Databricks’ platform in order to identify discrepancies between them.

Once the initial analysis is complete, the Converter begins the process of converting the data on the original platform to a format that’s compatible with Databricks SQL. It uses a “configuration-driven” approach that aims to take into account the architectural differences between the two databases.

According to Databricks, this approach allows customers to retain full ownership of the conversion patterns, so they can update their configurations later should new requirements emerge during the migration operation.

BladeBridge uses an “iterative process” during the conversions, and should unit tests fail for any single component, it will adapt the configuration files, and keep doing this until the error is resolved.

Databricks noted that BladeBridge is one of the most popular platforms around for migrating workloads between different data environments. Already, numerous companies have used its tools to successfully migrate from databases such as Amazon Redshift and Teradata to Databricks SQL, which allows them to run traditional business intelligence and reporting within the DIP. Its tools also support migrations from Databrick’s biggest competitor, Snowflake Inc.

The company is keen to find ways to boost its revenue after closing on a whopping $15 billion in funding last month from investors that included Temasek and QIA. It believes that BladeBridge gives it a way to do that, because it can now offer prospective customers a low-cost and virtually risk-free way to migrate to its platform.

According to BladeBridge, its AI-powered migration approach is at least twice as fast as traditional methods of shifting workloads to new environments. The company is known to have strong ties with several systems integrators, including the likes of Accenture Plc and Capgemini SE, and has proven deployments with “hundreds of customers.”

Databricks said it will make BladeBridge’s tools freely available to anyone who wants to migrate to its platform. This will help it to see through its goal of reaching a $3 billion annual revenue run rate and becoming free cash flow positive, it said.

After announcing its mega funding round last month, Databricks said the money will be used to develop new AI products, expand its go-to-market operations internationally, and pay for more strategic acquisitions.

The company, which is now valued at $62 billion, has made a string of acquisitions in recent months. Last March, it bought an AI startup called Lilac AI Inc., which sells tools for managing the unstructured datasets that feed AI models. Then in June, it purchased Tabular Technologies Inc., which has built a universal storage platform based on the Apache Iceberg standard.

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