Exclusive: Meta acquires AI data platform Sundial
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Meta has acquired Sundial, an AI-powered data analytics platform founded by two former Meta employees, a spokesperson confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: Meta is investing more in its data and analytics team as AI creates massive demand for insights.
Zoom in: Sundial will be folded into Meta's new data analytics organization, according to a LinkedIn post by Alex Schultz, who leads the unit.
- Sundial co-founders Julie Zhuo and Chandra Narayanan will join Meta. Zhuo was previously Meta's vice president of product design. Narayanan was analytics chief at Sequoia Capital and Instagram, and director of analytics at Facebook.
- Other Sundial employees, including several Meta alumni, will also join the company, bringing their AI analytics technology. Sundial will stop serving external customers when the deal closes.
- Schultz said Narayanan will lead Meta's data analytics tooling and agents work.
How it works: Sundial's platform gives businesses quick access to reliable data analysis.
- It turns natural-language questions and complex data into simple, actionable insights accessible through a chatbot plugin.
- Teams across organizations can analyze data themselves without relying on a centralized data unit, which can take longer to respond.
Catch up quick: Meta named Schultz, its former marketing chief, as its first-ever chief data officer in July. He oversees the newly formed Data Analytics Tooling & Agents unit, nicknamed DATA.
- DATA is responsible for descriptive analysis, including identifying questions the company hasn't yet asked, and experimentation to test and improve its data and AI products.
- It also monitors the company's critical AI systems and issues alerts.
The bottom line: "AI has created effectively unlimited demand for insights, and we want to define the future of AI analytics," Schultz wrote.
