Latest news with #ApacheKafka®
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Confluent unlocks scalable real-time agentic AI with streaming agents
Confluent, Inc. (Nasdaq: CFLT), the data streaming pioneer, today announced Streaming Agents , a new capability in Confluent Cloud for Apache Flink® that makes it easy to build and scale AI agents that monitor, reason, and act on real-time data. Streaming Agents removes barriers to enterprise-grade agentic artificial intelligence (AI) by unifying data processing and AI workflows and providing easy, secure connections to every part of a business, including large language models (LLMs) and embedding models, tools, and other systems. It accelerates the adoption of agentic AI , enabling more efficient workflows, faster time to value, and the creation of entirely new business models and opportunities. 'Agentic AI is on every organization's roadmap. But most companies are stuck in prototype purgatory, falling behind as others race toward measurable outcomes,' said Shaun Clowes, Chief Product Officer at Confluent. 'Even your smartest AI agents are flying blind if they don't have fresh business context. Streaming Agents simplifies the messy work of integrating the tools and data that create real intelligence, giving organizations a solid foundation to deploy AI agents that drive meaningful change across the business.' IDC research shows that while organizations ran an average of 23 generative AI proofs of concept between 2023 and 2024, only three reached production. Of those, just 62% met expectations. Agents are only as powerful as the tools and data they can access, but today's workflows are painfully complex and costly, blocking businesses from unlocking the full value of agentic AI. While existing AI frameworks make it easy to get started with agents, many teams struggle to integrate real-time data into agentic AI initiatives, resulting in hallucinations and unreliable responses. 'While most enterprises are investing in agentic AI, their data architectures can't support the autonomous decision-making capabilities these systems require,' said Stewart Bond, Vice President of Data Intelligence and Integration Software at IDC. 'Organizations should prioritize agentic AI solutions that offer easy, secure integration and leverage real-time data for the essential context needed for intelligent action.' Build and scale real time AI agents with streaming agents Streaming Agents brings agentic AI directly into stream processing pipelines to help teams build, deploy, and orchestrate event-driven agents with Apache Kafka® and Apache Flink®. By unifying data processing and AI reasoning, agents gain access to fresh contextual data from real-time sources to quickly adapt and communicate with other agents and systems as conditions change. Streaming Agents are always on and works on a business's behalf, operating dynamically, processing high-volume data streams, and instantly responding to real-time signals with context-aware reasoning like human operators would. For example, Streaming Agents can do competitive pricing by continuously monitoring prices across ecommerce sites and automatically updating product prices on a retailer's site to reflect the most competitive offer for customers. Key features of streaming agents include: Tool calling for context-aware automation: Tool invocation via Model Context Protocol (MCP) enables agents to select the right external tool, such as a database, software-as-a-service (SaaS), or API, to take meaningful action. Tool calling accounts for what's happening in the business and what other systems and agents are doing. Connections for secure integrations: Securely connect to models, vector databases, and MCP directly using Flink. Connections also protect sensitive credentials, encourage more reusability by sharing connections across multiple tables, models, and functions, and centralize management for large-scale Tables and Search to boost AI accuracy: Ensure that streaming data is enriched with non-Kafka data sources, such as relational databases and REST APIs, to provide the most current and complete view of data. This improves the accuracy of AI decision-making, vector search, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications, reduces cost and complexity by using Flink SQL, and leverages the security and networking capabilities of Confluent for iteration and safety: Agents can be developed and evaluated using real data without live side effects, enabling dark launches, A/B testing, and faster iteration.
Mid East Info
2 days ago
- Business
- Mid East Info
Confluent Unlocks Scalable Real-Time Agentic AI With Streaming Agents - Middle East Business News and Information
Confluent, Inc. (Nasdaq: CFLT), the data streaming pioneer, today announced Streaming Agents, a new capability in Confluent Cloud for Apache Flink® that makes it easy to build and scale AI agents that monitor, reason, and act on real-time data. Streaming Agents removes barriers to enterprise-grade agentic artificial intelligence (AI) by unifying data processing and AI workflows and providing easy, secure connections to every part of a business, including large language models (LLMs) and embedding models, tools, and other systems. It accelerates the adoption of agentic AI, enabling more efficient workflows, faster time to value, and the creation of entirely new business models and opportunities. 'Agentic AI is on every organization's roadmap. But most companies are stuck in prototype purgatory, falling behind as others race toward measurable outcomes,' said Shaun Clowes, Chief Product Officer at Confluent. 'Even your smartest AI agents are flying blind if they don't have fresh business context. Streaming Agents simplifies the messy work of integrating the tools and data that create real intelligence, giving organizations a solid foundation to deploy AI agents that drive meaningful change across the business.' IDC research shows that while organizations ran an average of 23 generative AI proofs of concept between 2023 and 2024, only three reached production. Of those, just 62% met expectations. 'While most enterprises are investing in agentic AI, their data architectures can't support the autonomous decision-making capabilities these systems require,' said Stewart Bond, Vice President of Data Intelligence and Integration Software at IDC. 'Organizations should prioritize agentic AI solutions that offer easy, secure integration and leverage real-time data for the essential context needed for intelligent action.' Build and Scale Real Time AI Agents With Streaming Agents Streaming Agents brings agentic AI directly into stream processing pipelines to help teams build, deploy, and orchestrate event-driven agents with Apache Kafka® and Apache Flink®. By unifying data processing and AI reasoning, agents gain access to fresh contextual data from real-time sources to quickly adapt and communicate with other agents and systems as conditions change. Streaming Agents are always on and works on a business's behalf, operating dynamically, processing high-volume data streams, and instantly responding to real-time signals with context-aware reasoning like human operators would. For example, Streaming Agents can do competitive pricing by continuously monitoring prices across ecommerce sites and automatically updating product prices on a retailer's site to reflect the most competitive offer for customers. Key features of Streaming Agents include: Tool calling for context-aware automation: Tool invocation via Model Context Protocol (MCP) enables agents to select the right external tool, such as a database, software-as-a-service (SaaS), or API, to take meaningful action. Tool calling accounts for what's happening in the business and what other systems and agents are doing. Tool invocation via Model Context Protocol (MCP) enables agents to select the right external tool, such as a database, software-as-a-service (SaaS), or API, to take meaningful action. Tool calling accounts for what's happening in the business and what other systems and agents are doing. Connections for secure integrations: Securely connect to models, vector databases, and MCP directly using Flink. Connections also protect sensitive credentials, encourage more reusability by sharing connections across multiple tables, models, and functions, and centralize management for large-scale deployments. Securely connect to models, vector databases, and MCP directly using Flink. Connections also protect sensitive credentials, encourage more reusability by sharing connections across multiple tables, models, and functions, and centralize management for large-scale deployments. External Tables and Search to boost AI accuracy: Ensure that streaming data is enriched with non-Kafka data sources, such as relational databases and REST APIs, to provide the most current and complete view of data. This improves the accuracy of AI decision-making, vector search, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications, reduces cost and complexity by using Flink SQL, and leverages the security and networking capabilities of Confluent Cloud. Ensure that streaming data is enriched with non-Kafka data sources, such as relational databases and REST APIs, to provide the most current and complete view of data. This improves the accuracy of AI decision-making, vector search, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications, reduces cost and complexity by using Flink SQL, and leverages the security and networking capabilities of Confluent Cloud. Replayability for iteration and safety: Agents can be developed and evaluated using real data without live side effects, enabling dark launches, A/B testing, and faster iteration. Streaming Agents are available today in open preview.
Tahawul Tech
10-03-2025
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
sccc by stc & Confluent to bring enterprise-ready data streaming to Saudi Arabia
Confluent, Inc., the data streaming pioneer, recently announced sccc by stc— a leading cloud services provider in Saudi Arabia —has joined the Confluent OEM Program as a managed service provider (MSP) to make data streaming more accessible in Saudi Arabia. The new partnership aligns with Saudi Vision 2030, an initiative that prioritises technical innovation, by helping accelerate digital transformations across key industries including finance, retail, healthcare, and public services. Through this agreement: sccc by stc is Confluent's first MSP in Saudi Arabia, allowing enterprises to stream, connect, process, and govern data as it flows throughout their business in real time. Local specialists are available through sccc by stc to tailor streaming solutions to each client's unique needs, from initial deployment to ongoing maintenance and optimisation. sccc by stc will make Confluent's industry leading Apache Flink® streaming service available to drive faster insights, proactive AI-based automation, and predictive intelligence. 'Our partnership with Confluent marks a major milestone in providing Saudi enterprises with the tools needed to harness the power of real-time data,' said Talal Albakr, CEO of sccc by stc. 'By integrating Confluent's data streaming platform with our cloud solutions, organizations can gain immediate insights into customer behaviours, market trends, and potential security threats. This powerful combination also unlocks new AI-driven applications, bringing us closer to Saudi Vision 2030 and the Kingdom's goal of becoming a global leader in technology and innovation'. Saudi Arabia's digital economy is evolving at an unprecedented pace, forcing a shift from traditional, batch-based data practices to real-time data streaming and processing. This partnership will empower Saudi industries with cutting-edge data streaming capabilities that optimize operations, enhance customer engagement, and foster ongoing development. 'Confluent offers the fastest and most scalable path to delivering enterprise-grade data streaming', said Kamal Brar, Senior Vice President, Worldwide ISV and APAC, Confluent. 'By enabling organisations to unlock the power of real-time data, this partnership will not only accelerate service delivery but also foster breakthroughs in the region, supporting the Kingdom's vision of becoming a global technology leader'. The Confluent OEM Program makes it easy to launch and enhance customer offerings with a complete data streaming platform for Apache Kafka® and Apache Flink®. With license to embed Confluent's enterprise-grade platform throughout their business, sccc by stc can bring real-time products and Kafka offerings to market faster and easily monetize customer demand for data streaming with limited investment and risk. Image Credit: sccc by stc & Confluent
