Accelerating AI innovation: Building the NetApp AI partner ecosystem

AI is no longer just a buzzword or a distant vision—it’s real, it’s here, and it’s changing the way we do business. Every day, I see organizations pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with AI, from predictive analytics to generative models and agentic AI. But as the possibilities expand, so do the challenges. Integrating, scaling, governing, and managing these complex solutions isn’t easy. That’s why I’m excited to share how NetApp is taking a bold, partnership-driven approach to help our customers succeed in this new era. 

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my years at NetApp, it’s this: Data is the heart of AI. Without a strong, secure, and agile data foundation, even the most sophisticated AI models will fall short. That’s why we’ve built a new generation of storage systems on a disaggregated architecture—delivering the performance and scale that modern AI workloads demand. NetApp^® AFX is a powerful new addition to our storage portfolio. 

But infrastructure is just the beginning. The new NetApp AI Data Engine is designed to simplify and accelerate the entire AI data lifecycle. It’s packed with features like: 

• An intelligent metadata engine for instant data discovery 
• Automated guardrails to keep your data compliant and secure 
• A dynamic policy engine for real-time, always-on data synchronization 
• A search service for your data that’s easily integrated with your large language model (LLM) 

This isn’t just about making things faster—it’s about making AI more accessible, more manageable, and more secure for everyone. 

Here’s the truth: No one can build great AI solutions alone. The most innovative breakthroughs happen when experts come together, bringing their unique strengths to the table. As AI keeps evolving, we need to go beyond just having the best tools—we need to make sure those tools work together seamlessly across the entire data pipeline. That’s where our ecosystem partners shine, making integration smooth from data ingestion all the way to inference. And with an open, scalable platform, we’re not boxing anyone into a single, proprietary system. That kind of flexibility? It’s what lets organizations move fast, innovate without limits, and truly harness the power of their data. 

For these reasons, we’re investing deeply in our AI ISV ecosystem, partnering with industry leaders like NVIDIA, Domino Data Lab, Dremio, Informatica, LangChain, Microsoft, Union, and Starburst. 

Together, we’re delivering seamless integrations with NetApp ONTAP^® software and our AI Data Engine, so data engineers and scientists can: 

• Spin up efficient data copies in seconds 
• Search and explore metadata with ease 
• Work with vectorized datasets—all within their existing workflows 

I love hearing from our partners about the impact we’re making together.

"Our partnership with NetApp delivers unified visibility, trusted access, and end-to-end governance across structured and unstructured data,” said Brett Roscoe, SVP, GM Data Governance and Cloud Ops. “By integrating Informatica’s governance with NetApp’s secure storage, we enable customers to discover, protect, and utilize high-quality, AI-ready data—driving faster, more reliable insights at scale." 

And Nick Elprin, co-founder and CEO of Domino Data Lab, adds: 

“AI teams move faster when they have access to the right data, in the right place, with the right controls. Our integration with NetApp makes that possible by giving enterprises a trusted foundation to scale AI with speed and confidence.” 

Our vision is simple: Create a secure, intelligent data foundation for AI innovation, anywhere your data lives. With AFX, the AI Data Engine, and our expanding ecosystem of partners, we’re making it possible to build and deploy AI applications on premises, in the cloud, or anywhere in between.  

"The Union.ai and NetApp partnership is a game-changer for safely using data to build AI,” said Haytham Abuelfutuh, CTO of Union.ai and co-creator of Flyte. “By keeping sensitive data safe on-premises while tapping into the cloud’s elastic compute, we unlock powerful hybrid AI workflows. With unified orchestration and operational simplicity, customers can innovate faster, without being limited by where their data lives."  

We know that every organization is different, and that’s why we’re focused on flexibility and choice. Our collaborations with partners like NVIDIA, Microsoft, and LangChain mean that you can use the tools and platforms you trust, backed by NetApp’s industry-leading data management. 

I believe the future of AI will be built by communities—by partnerships that bring together the best ideas, the best technology, and the best people. At NetApp, we’re committed to building the most capable and integrated AI ecosystem in the industry, so our customers can accelerate innovation, drive operational excellence, and stay ahead of the curve. 

If you’re ready to take your AI journey to the next level, I invite you to explore what we’re building with the NetApp AI partner ecosystem. Let’s innovate together. 

Explore more by visiting the NetApp AI ISV partners page.