IBM targets AI application growth with DataStax buy

The system supports Langflow a low-code, open-source app builder for retrieval augmented generation (RAG) and multi-agent AI applications, IBM stated.  “It is Python-based and model-, API-, and database-agnostic. Langflow adds additional flexible middleware capabilities to IBM watsonx.ai, the integrated, end-to-end AI development studio for building generative AI applications,” IBM stated.    

DataStax competes with a variety of large database vendors including Oracle and MongoDB and has development partnerships with core cloud vendors such as Amazon, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure.  The company recently teamed with Nvidia to integrate its technology with the Nvidia AI Enterprise platform.

“The acquisition of a prominent NoSQL database vendor focused on unstructured data management should nicely complement IBM’s long-time Db2 relational database offering,” equity research firm William Blair wrote in a report about the acquisition.   “With respect to GenAI, the deal should broaden the core capabilities of IBM’s watsonx GenAI platform, especially around managing unstructured and semi-structured data and simplifying an enterprise’s ability to develop cutting-edge AI applications around that data.”

The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2025.