ServiceNow Acquires Data.World to Enhance AI-Ready Data Management and Governance

On Wednesday, enterprise workflow management platform ServiceNow announced its second artificial intelligence (AI)-related acquisition this year, signing a definitive agreement to purchase Data.World, a cloud-native data catalog and governance solution provider. Founded in 2015 and based in Austin, Texas, Data.World has raised over $130 million in venture funding from investors including Alumni Ventures, Prologis Ventures, and Shasta Ventures, according to data from Crunchbase. Although the specific terms of the deal were not disclosed, Data.World was last valued at $350 million during its $50 million Series C funding round in 2022, as reported by PitchBook. Gaurav Rewari, ServiceNow's Senior Vice President and General Manager of Data Analytics, explained the strategic rationale behind the acquisition. "The path to AI heaven often involves navigating through data hell, and that’s the reality many businesses face," Rewari said. He highlighted that Data.World excels in organizing and making enterprise data searchable, which is crucial for preparing data for effective AI deployment. The integration of Data.World’s robust data governance tools will enable ServiceNow's customers to optimize their use of AI agents and other AI-driven automation solutions. "We evaluated several companies and were particularly impressed by Data.World's advanced metadata management and knowledge infrastructure, which can seamlessly catalog and govern data across large enterprises," Rewari noted. "This capability aligns perfectly with our goal to enhance our product portfolio and support customers in their journey to AI readiness." Once the acquisition is finalized, Data.World will begin integrating into ServiceNow’s ecosystem, with plans to offer its platform as a new product to ServiceNow customers in the near term. This move follows ServiceNow’s acquisition of Moveworks in March for $2.85 billion. Moveworks specializes in enterprise automation and AI tools, further strengthening ServiceNow’s AI capabilities. Both acquisitions are part of ServiceNow’s broader strategy to embrace and advance agentic AI, which involves autonomous AI systems that can proactively solve complex problems and manage workflows. Philip Kirk, ServiceNow’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Business Development, outlined this strategy in a March 2024 interview with TechCrunch. "Currently, we are playing a multi-faceted game, deciding whether to build, buy, or partner to enhance our AI offerings," Kirk said. "Our primary focus is on making decisions that benefit our customers in the long run and leverage our expertise in enterprise automation." The integration of Data.World and Moveworks underscores ServiceNow’s commitment to providing comprehensive AI solutions and supporting enterprises in leveraging data more effectively. By combining these technologies, ServiceNow aims to create a more seamless and powerful platform for data management and AI deployment, helping businesses achieve greater efficiency and innovation. It is worth noting that an earlier version of this article mistakenly referred to Data.World as "Declan." This error arose from an internal product name used by ServiceNow, which was inadvertently included in a blog post. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.