Microsoft Tears Down Its AI Data Wall

Microsoft’s biggest products have generally thrived by letting other companies build on top of them. So Microsoft’s decision to join Apache Ossie, a 1-year-old software industry group aiming to make it easier for AI tools to access data from applications and databases, might not seem like a big deal. But actually it is.

Just four months ago, Microsoft moved to block partners from connecting their data management tools to Microsoft’s Power BI, which companies use to analyze data in charts and graphs. In doing so, Microsoft appeared to be protecting its own data management product, Fabric, at the expense of rival firms such as Databricks and Snowflake. 

In other words, Microsoft was opening a new front in the AI data wars, part of traditional enterprise app firms’ efforts to stop customers from using AI from other companies to access data they store in traditional apps.

After our report in May, Microsoft took heat for its decision. We don’t know what’s happened behind the scenes since then, but the company must have had a change of heart. And its decision to join Ossie is in line with CEO Satya Nadella’s strategy of building products that worked those of rivals, such as developing a mobile version of Office for Apple iOS and Google’s Android operating systems over a decade ago.

Salesforce made a similar transition in the past couple of years and now is making it easy for customers to use AI tools such as Claude to access their Salesforce data—for a price.