Databricks has unveiled Lakebase, a fully-managed Postgres database designed to bridge the gap between analytics and operations for AI-driven applications. This innovative database is now part of the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform, allowing developers and enterprises to create data applications and AI agents with greater speed and efficiency on a unified multi-cloud platform. Currently, Lakebase is available in Public Preview.
Transforming Operational Databases
The operational database market, valued at over 0 billion, has long relied on legacy architectures that struggle to meet the demands of modern applications. These outdated systems often lead to management challenges, high costs, and vendor lock-in. With the rise of AI, the need for fast, reliable data has intensified, necessitating a convergence of operational and analytical systems to minimize latency and enable real-time decision-making.
Lakebase addresses these challenges by leveraging Neon technology, which integrates operational data into the lakehouse architecture. This approach facilitates continuous autoscaling of compute resources, enabling seamless support for agent workloads while unifying operational and analytical data streams. Developers can now build applications more rapidly, scale effortlessly, and deliver the next generation of intelligent solutions.
According to Ali Ghodsi, Co-founder and CEO of Databricks, “With Lakebase, we’re creating a new category in the database market: a modern Postgres database, deeply integrated with the lakehouse and today’s development stacks. As AI agents reshape how businesses operate, Fortune 500 companies are ready to replace outdated systems.”
Key Features of Lakebase
Lakebase is engineered for the evolving landscape of application development, offering several key advantages:
- Separated Compute and Storage: Built on Neon technology, Lakebase features a cloud-native architecture that allows for independent scaling of compute and storage, ensuring low latency (under 10 ms), high concurrency (over 10,000 queries per second), and robust transactional capabilities.
- Open Source Foundation: Utilizing Postgres, a widely adopted open-source engine, Lakebase benefits from a rich ecosystem of community extensions, making it ideal for workflows reliant on AI agents.
- AI-Optimized: Lakebase enables rapid deployment, allowing users to launch instances in under a second and only pay for what they consume. Its unique branching capability supports low-risk development through copy-on-write database clones.
- Lakehouse Integration: The system automatically synchronizes data with lakehouse tables and includes an online feature store for model serving, seamlessly integrating with Databricks Apps and Unity Catalog.
- Enterprise-Ready: Fully managed by Databricks, Lakebase is built on secure infrastructure, ensuring encrypted data at rest, high availability, and compliance with enterprise security standards.
Adoption and Impact
Early adopters of Lakebase are already recognizing its potential to unify operational and analytical workloads. Hundreds of enterprises have participated in the Private Preview, utilizing Lakebase across various sectors to enhance personalized product recommendations, streamline shopping experiences powered by AI agents, and manage clinical trial workflows.
Jelle Van Etten, Head of Global Data Platform at Heineken, remarked, “Databricks has long been our foundation for analytics. Our analytical data platform is now evolving into an operational AI data platform, delivering insights at low latency.”
Anjan Kundavaram, Chief Product Officer at Fivetran, added, “Lakebase alleviates the operational burden of managing transactional databases, allowing our customers to concentrate on application development.”
David Menninger, Executive Director at ISG Software Research, emphasized the importance of integrating analytical insights into operational processes, stating, “Databricks is providing a unified, developer-friendly stack that reduces complexity and accelerates innovation.”
Partner Ecosystem
Lakebase is supported by a robust partner network, enabling customers to collaborate with System Integrators and leverage existing enterprise tools for data integration, business intelligence, and governance. Notable launch partners include Accenture, Airbyte, Alation, and many others.
Public Preview Availability
Lakebase is now available in Public Preview, with significant enhancements planned for the coming months. Customers can access the preview directly from their Databricks workspace or visit the Databricks website for more information.
Databricks continues to lead the way in the Data and AI landscape, with over 15,000 organizations, including a significant portion of the Fortune 500, relying on its Data Intelligence Platform to harness the power of their data. Founded by the original creators of Lakehouse, Apache Spark™, Delta Lake, MLflow, and Unity Catalog, Databricks is poised to shape the future of data-driven innovation.
