There’s never been a better moment to embrace data transformation and seize the AI opportunity. And with Copilot and other advances in generative AI capabilities, businesses can drive greater value from their data, analytics and AI than ever before.

But before your organization can begin to realize the benefits of AI, it’s critical to have a strong data platform in place. That’s why it’s an exciting time to be at the 2024 Data + AI Summit, the flagship event from our close partners at Databricks.

Last week at the Summit, thousands of data practitioners and executives gathered to learn, explore and act on data transformation made possible by the Databricks platform and ecosystem. This year’s theme was “Data Intelligence for Al,” an ethos shared by Avanade as we help our client harness data to achieve greater heights of insight and value.

A big win: Celebrating six years of partner excellence with Databricks:
This week at the Summit, Avanade was named Databricks' 2024 Global Partner of the Year, alongside Accenture. This is the sixth consecutive year in a row that we’ve been honored with this recognition.

This award celebrates the incredible work we do alongside Databricks every day and solidifies our position as market leaders in the data and AI space. Avanade continues to invest, and drive clients to invest, in the Databricks lakehouse for more valuable data, and faster insights to fuel better business decision-making. And we’re continuing to expand our Databricks expertise through our Databricks Champions program, training and certification initiatives and more.

Avanade’s speaking sessions at Summit: Simplifying your data and accelerating AI readiness
At the Summit, Avanade executives showcased how to accelerate data modernization through five different speaking sessions.

1. I was joined by John Young from Databricks for a great discussion around driving data transformation in the AI era with Databricks and Microsoft Fabric. We shared how our clients can tackle their most persistent data challenges; how our teams work together to solve them; and the critical data foundations necessary to accelerate AI ambition and opportunity. Our session featured a special guest appearance from Microsoft data leader Jeeva Akr, who told the crowd that clients “can achieve more when they leverage two technologies that work together!”


2. Dr. Alan Dennis, Avanade data expert and Databricks champion, lead a session on using generative AI and Databricks to manage sensitive data. We dove into a full exploration of common data challenges with sensitive data using the Databricks platform and a discussion of novel solutions to ensure data remains protected throughout the data lifecycle.

Breakout Sessions:
In addition to two lightning talks, we had an additional three breakout session headlined by our data and AI leaders:

1. Eric Leduc, Daniel Materowski and Dr. Alan Dennis lead a session on how clients can unify their approach to data and AI governance and streamline their path to Databricks Unity Catalog while accelerating business value and AI readiness at enterprise scale.


2. Priyanka Shah shared insights on how organizations can realize the benefits of generative AI and advanced machine learning while maintaining data privacy and security with innovative strategies and best practices gleaned from our own client experiences.


3. Daniel Materowski and Mou Rakshit showcased how organization can keep pace in a world of rapid change by designing an intelligent data platform that addresses enterprise data needs, grows your generative AI capabilities and delivers meaningful business impact.

Avanade is the partner of choice to lead your data transformation
The importance of a data, analytics and AI platform is unquestionable. Through our award-winning work with Databricks and beyond, Avanade helps clients across the globe build a stronger data ecosystem through data modernization. But is your organization considering all the factors you need to be successful? Download our new POV guide, “Databricks and Microsoft Fabric: Get the best of both worlds for your data,” to ensure you’re matching the capabilities and value you need for data and AI transformation at your organization.

Watch the video below to learn more about the Databricks intelligence data platform and how it integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Fabric to maximize the value of your data for the AI era.

Let’s talk data transformation strategy
At the Data + AI Summit, this year, we’ve connected with clients; showcased some of our proprietary technology that helps clients accelerate data value faster; highlighted our unique POV on data platform modernization; and learned much from leaders and Databricks and others working to build the future with data innovation.

We would love to keep the conversation going and share even more highlights from the Summit.

If you’d like to explore what’s possible with a stronger data strategy in the AI era, download our new POV guide and visit our page to keep the conversation going.