Data integration is one of the more promising uses for generative AI, although it doesn’t get as a much attention as search or content creation. SnapLogic is staking its claim by opening a waitlist for SnapGPT, which will integrate and automate business processes using natural language prompts. Removing that bottleneck could all sorts of floodgates, including some that might best remain shut.
I can’t bring myself to lead with yet another generative AI story, so we’ll start instead with this Forrester report for Airtable, which found that organizations have lots of software applications. The average is 367 in use at large organizations, with teams using an average of 45 daily and individuals using an average of 52 weekly. No surprise here but a good reminder of why data integration is so important.
When it comes to bad ideas, letting ChatGPT loose to read the entire Internet could rank with the worst. OpenAI has so far avoided that one, but they are offering controlled extensions of the system’s knowledge base by adding third-party plugins for data from selected partners. Initial sources include Expedia, FiscalNote, Instacart, KAYAK, Klarna, Milo, OpenTable, Shopify, Slack, Speak, Wolfram, and Zapier, which all sound pretty benign although Zapier could be a gateway to pretty much anything.
CDP and marketing cloud vendor Zeta Global announced an agreement to purchase LiveIntent, which helps companies do email-based advertising. The deal will let Zeta expand its identity graph, enter the publisher monetization business, and accelerate its mobile and retail media products. Zeta will pay $77.5 million in cash and $172.5 million in common stock, with potential for additional payments based on performance.