IBM buys ‘data lineage’ firm, aims to improve AI ‘trust and transparency’

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Can you really trust data sourced to artificial intelligence? IBM is taking steps to address that question with the acquisition announced Wednesday of Europe-based Manta Software.

How? Manta provides a “data lineage platform.” Here’s how IBM defines data lineage:

“Data lineage is the process of tracking the flow of data over time, providing a clear understanding of where the data originated, how it has changed, and its ultimate destination within the data pipeline.”

Big Blue says Manta’s platform will help IBM services such as Watson.ai deliver for customers data and products that “are built on principles of trust and transparency.”

Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

“As businesses integrate AI into their workflows and data becomes more complex, data quality and explainability are increasingly important to their strategies and systems,” IBM says. “In fact, IBM’s 2023 CEO study found the number one barrier to generative AI adoption is concerns about the lineage or provenance of data. Businesses are seeking ways to better understand the data that is feeding their intelligent systems.”

IBM says it and Manta have worked together since June of 2022. Manta launched in 2016 and is based in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

So far in 2023 IBM has acquired eight companies and more than 30 firms since Arvind Krishna was named CEO in April 2020.

The tech giant owns Raleigh-based Red Hat and employs thousands of people across North Carolina.