Qlik Expands Unstructured Data Analysis Capabilities With Acquisition

Qlik is buying natural language processing and generative AI intellectual property, including patents and technology, from GenAI software developer Kyndi.

Qlik has acquired “pivotal intellectual property” – including natural language processing and GenAI patents and technology – that the data integration and analytics software developer will use to help customers derive analytical insights from unstructured data and provide advanced AI-driven business outcomes.

Qlik is purchasing the patents and technology assets from Kyndi, a San Mateo, Calif.-based developer of natural language processing (NLP), search and generative AI software, including a generative AI “answer engine,” that works with unstructured data.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Qlik said that Kyndi founder and CEO Ryan Welsh, along with the company’s “leading AI experts,” will join Qlik as part of the acquisition, Philadelphia-based Qlik said in a statement.

Qlik said the acquired technology “lays the groundwork for innovative future product announcements” it plans to make at its Qlik Connect conference in Orlando in June.

"The acquisition of Kyndi's assets represents a key step in Qlik’s AI vision, supporting our ability to deliver rich, trusted answers from complex business questions,” said James Fisher, Qlik chief strategy officer, in a statement. “It enhances our established leadership in AI, ensuring that Kyndi's innovative unstructured data processing combined with our powerful structured analytics will unlock richer and more actionable insights for our customers."

Qlik is a long-time leader in the data analytics and business intelligence space and is also a major provider of data management, replication, and integration software thanks to a series of acquisitions including Attunity in 2019, Blendr.io in 2020 and Talend in 2023. The company also expanded its machine learning capabilities with its acquisition of Big Squid in 2021.

Most data analysis is performed on structured data. But the volume of unstructured data, including documents, images and video, is exploding and businesses and organizations have sought easier ways to incorporate that into their data analysis initiatives. Providing those capabilities has been Kyndi’s focus with its NLP and generative AI technology.

Qlik said in a statement that by embracing Kyndi's expertise and proprietary technology, the company “steps forward in unlocking valuable insights from customers’ ever-growing reservoirs of unstructured data, integrating these insights seamlessly with structured data analytics.

“Qlik is perfectly positioned to deliver on the promise of generative AI,” Kyndi’s Welsh said in the statement. “We have a unique opportunity to enhance how AI-powered insights create value for customers. Introducing our innovations into Qlik's technology will enable the merging of structured and unstructured data, thereby empowering users with deeper insights and more informed decisions across a wide range of business scenarios."

Qlik's incorporation of Kyndi's technology into its cloud solutions “enriches decision intelligence by providing more comprehensive answers with enhanced context and relevance,” the company said. “This advancement strengthens the management and curation of enterprise data, fostering trust and consistency across organizations while upholding stringent governance and security standards.”