“The Salesforce Data Cloud offering allows Salesforce users to ingest data from a variety of systems into the Salesforce Cloud platform to provide a holistic view of their enterprise and customer journey.”
Hi, Amit. Welcome to the Technology Interview Series. Please tell us about your journey in the technology industry and how you co-started CData?
I started my career at Infosys Technologies, one of the leading IT Services vendors in India. From there, I came to the US to complete my MBA at the Duke University Fuqua School of Business and joined a network security startup. The contrasting experience of working in an established organization vs. the high-energy entrepreneurial environment of a startup made me realize that I wanted to build something from scratch, so I began seeking like-minded individuals for a new startup venture.
My co-founders and I worked for many years to find the right product with the right market fit. We had developed great technology but struggled to get it out into the market during a period of economic uncertainty. Eventually, we stripped down our technology offering to its strongest piece (data connectors) and found traction in helping connect systems using a standards-based approach. Thus, CData Software was born.
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What is CData? What kind of problems do you solve for your customers?
CData is the world’s leading data connectivity company. We help our customers connect to business data in their CRM systems, Marketing Automation platforms, ERPs, SaaS tools, Hadoop Systems, and more from any tool or application.
Our connectors leverage existing relational database standards (SQL, ODBC, JDBC, ADO.NET etc.) to allow our users to connect to any source, from any tool, in a consistent and seamless fashion. This allows developers and IT teams to easily and quickly integrate their entire tech stack to give stakeholders secure and governable access to any of their live data for improved visibility into performance trends, customer experiences, lead pipelines, and more.
CData connectivity solutions are also leveraged by hundreds of ISVs worldwide to improve integration offerings within their platforms. We count the world’s leading data companies, including Salesforce, Tableau, Informatica, Google, SAS, and many more as our customers.
Could you tell us more about your product offerings and the Ideal Customer Profile?
We go to market with our products in both a direct-to-enterprise motion and through embedded connectivity with our OEM channel.
Our direct-to-enterprise customers are data teams across all sectors and markets. While IT teams are our largest user base, anyone within an organization – from business analysts to Sales and Marketing teams – can leverage our solutions to gain easy access to the data they care about for reporting, process optimization, and more.
On the OEM side, we allow software venders to expand their product offerings with native data integrations powered by CData. Product teams, CEOs, and CTOs can gain market advantage by providing their customers hundreds of critical connections to the tools they rely on – without the time and expense it takes to custom-build and maintain these integrations.
You recently developed a partnership with Salesforce. What’s the crux of this integration and how it benefits Salesforce customers?
CData is a trusted Salesforce partner, and our relationship with the organization is growing and developing rapidly. Salesforce leverages CData connectors within three of their flagship product offerings: Tableau, Tableau CRM, and now Salesforce Data Cloud.
The Tableau and Tableau CRM connectors allow Salesforce customers to directly access and analyze all their data from disparate systems across Salesforce, SharePoint, Google Ads, ServiceNow, Jira, and many more within their Tableau dashboards. Our Salesforce Data Cloud offering allows Salesforce users to ingest data from a variety of systems into the Salesforce Cloud platform to provide a holistic view of their enterprise and customer journey.
Third-party data connectivity pipelines are prone to cloud security and IT networking threats. Could you tell us how you mitigate these risks and secure your customers?
Our connectors are built on top of APIs exposed by the data source. They adhere to the same modern security protocols that allow users to access their bank information over the internet. The data at rest resides at the data source, and data in motion is encrypted with SSL, just like we access any information securely on the internet.
Since CData connectors are built on existing APIs, the user must confirm their identity to connect to the data source. To ensure the full protection of sensitive data, we support industry-leading SSO capabilities across our product offerings, ensuring that only those with specific permissions are able to access the data.
In fact, since CData is a real-time connectivity platform that obviates the need to move data for analysis, our users are in full control of where their data is hosted, making our offerings a more secure alternative to third-party data pipelines.
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How is edge computing transforming the enterprise cloud technology stacks? What role does CData and its partnership ecosystem play in improving enterprise data connectivity across multiple locations?
CData is allowing enterprises to do more with their data without exposing that data to risk by having to replicate and move it. CData Connect Clous, our Data Connectivity-as-a-Service offering, standardizes and centralizes connectivity across every tool, system, and database instead of requiring the data itself needs to be transported and centralized.
With CData Connect Cloud, organizational data stays in its native location, even as it is exposed in SaaS applications, BI analytics and reporting tools, and more. This tactic increases data security and flexibility while providing organizations with a modern, democratized data strategy. It’s a powerful paradigm that makes it easier for enterprises to operate in a hybrid world where data is on-premises and in the cloud.
What is the most fascinating aspect of working with data management and analytic technologies such as AI and automation tools? Do you have an AI roadmap in place for CData
We are excited by the breakthrough in LLM (Large Language Models). Models like GPT 3 and GPT 4 have an incredible ability to generate code. The capability of generating SQL from natural language will revolutionize our space. No-technical customers will be able to simply “speak” to our connectors to get the desired analysis. There is a lot to come soon, stay tuned.
Lighter notes:
- Burn the midnight candle or soak in the sun? My maxim: The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.
- Coffee, or Tea? Tea
- Your favorite CData offering that you want everyone to know about? CData Connect Cloud is revolutionizing how the industry thinks of data connectivity as a SaaS offering.
- First memorable experience in your career as a technology leader? We took our first investment round, a $20 Million Series A from Updata Partners, at the outset of Covid lockdowns, and followed that in 2021 with a $140 Million Series B round. In the face of economic turmoil, CData has remained scalable and profitable – something to be proud of.
- One thing you remember about your employee (s): I am surrounded by great people first, who are smarter than me.
- Most useful app that you currently use: Love to read the Economist on my phone first thing.
Thank you, Amit! That was fun and we hope to see you back on cioinfluence.com soon.
[To participate in our interview series, please write to us at sghosh@martechseries.com]
Amit Sharma, is the CEO and co-founder of CData, a provider of real-time data connectivity solutions. Amit has more than 20 years of experience in software engineering.
CData Software is the real-time data connectivity company. Its self-service data products and connectivity solutions provide universal access to live data from hundreds of popular on-premises and cloud applications. Millions of users worldwide rely on CData to enable advanced analytics, boost cloud adoption, streamline operations, and create a more connected business. Consumable by any user, accessible within any application, and built for all enterprises, CData is redefining data-driven business.
