MongoDB Launches ‘One-Stop-Shop' Program For Building Advanced GenAI Applications

With its own MongoDB Atlas development platform at the core, the new MAAP initiative pulls together expertise and technology from cloud hyperscalers, leading GenAI tech providers such as Anthropic and LangChain, and MongoDB consulting/SI partners.

MongoDB has launched a program that provides a complete technology stack, services and other resources to help businesses develop and deploy at scale applications with advanced generative AI capabilities.

The new MongoDB AI Applications Program (MAAP), with the MongoDB Atlas cloud database and development platform at its core, includes reference architectures and technology from a who’s who in the AI space including the cloud platform giants, LLM (large language model) tech developers Cohere and Anthropic, and a number of AI development tool companies including Fireworks.ai, LlamaIndex and Credal.ai.

The new program also includes strategic advisory and professional services from MongoDB and from a number of the company’s systems integrator and consulting partners.

“So many of these enterprise customers are struggling. They're trying to figure out how to best get an ROI with AI,” said Alan Chhabra, MongoDB executive vice president of worldwide partners, in an interview with CRN.

Many businesses, while recognizing “the transformative potential of GenAI,” are “facing challenges even getting started due to the rapidly evolving landscape, a lack of in-house AI development expertise, and the perceived risk of integrating all these fragmented vendor solutions,” said Greg Maxson, MongoDB senior director and global lead, AI go-to-market and strategic partnerships, during an online press conference prior to today’s announcement.

MongoDB executives on the press call cited the results of an Accenture survey (published in Forbes earlier this year) that found that only 27 percent of C-suite executives said their organizations were ready to scale up generative AI initiatives.

MongoDB is a major player in the AI universe with its popular MongoDB Atlas cloud development platform and MongoDB Atlas Vector Search database for enterprise developers and ISVs. The Atlas Vector Search and Atlas Search Nodes offerings became generally available in December.

The New York-based company also has strategic alliances with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud – all of whom are major players in the AI and GenAI space with their own AI tools and systems as well as providing the cloud platforms for many AI initiatives. MongoDB’s Atlas Vector Search, for example, its integrated with AWS’ Amazon Bedrock generative AI platform.

Maxson described MAAP as “a one-stop shop of the essential tools and expertise addressing these development challenges” and that “brings together each part of the stack that an enterprise would need in order to build a complete GenAI application.”

Helping customers use Retrieval Augmented Generation (a framework for pulling data into LLMs) is a focus for the new program, Maxson said, as is helping them govern and secure data used by GenAI applications.

In addition to the technical aspects of building GenAI applications, program participants will work with customers upfront to develop comprehensive strategies and roadmaps for building, deploying and scaling generative AI applications. That includes identifying business problems and revenue-generating opportunities where GenAI applications would be applicable.

In addition to MongoDB’s own cloud database platform and MongoDB Professional Services, the program brings together consultants, foundation model developers, cloud infrastructure providers, and generative AI framework and model hosting service providers.

MAAP launch partners include cloud hyperscalers AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure; foundation model developers Anthropic, Cohere and Nomic; and AI framework and model hosting companies Anyscale, Fireworks.ai, and Together AI. Also participating are LLM data framework provider LlamaIndex, development platform company LangChain, and AI development and security tool company Credal.ai.

"Deploying accurate and reliable AI solutions is a top priority for enterprises today. Through our participation in MongoDB's AI Applications Program, more businesses will harness the power of Anthropic's industry-leading Claude 3 model family to develop tailored solutions that drive real business impact," said Kate Jensen, head of revenue at Anthropic, in a statement. "By integrating Anthropic's powerful foundation models with MongoDB's cutting-edge technology and expertise, more enterprises in regulated industries such as financial services and healthcare will confidently deploy customized AI solutions that meet their standards on safety and security."

Also participating in the MAAP launch are a number of “boutique systems integrators” that MongoDB has previously invested in including PeerIslands, Pureinsights and Gravity 9.

“So you can think of MAAP as a combination of all of the technology components, as well as the professional services, required to get an enterprise up and running with a generative AI app that they can then take and own and run with confidence without needing ongoing continuous support,” Maxson said.

MAAP, slated to be generally available in July, will also have a strong focus on specific vertical industries including automotive, retail and financial services, given the unique AI needs of each, according to Chhabra. He said MongoDB also will take on a more unified support role for GenAI implementations built using the MAAP ecosystem.