en.Wedoany.com Report on Mar 25th, MariaDB plc announced the completion of its acquisition of GridGain Systems, Inc., a pioneer in in-memory computing and a driving force behind the Apache Ignite project. This strategic acquisition marks a key step for MariaDB in building an AI-ready operational platform designed to meet the high-speed data processing demands of autonomous AI agents.
As enterprises transition from basic AI assistants to agent systems capable of autonomous reasoning and action, traditional data layers are facing challenges. By integrating GridGain's in-memory technology, MariaDB now offers a unified, high-speed, and persistent foundational layer that supports the entire AI lifecycle, from real-time data ingestion to complex reasoning.
Rohit de Souza, CEO of MariaDB, stated, "For the past 18 months, we have been building MariaDB for the agent era. By bringing GridGain into the fold, we are delivering a unified platform that takes on the heavy lifting for enterprises. We eliminate the friction of manual data assembly and define the high-speed foundational layer that AI agents need to be truly useful—all backed by the integrated support of a single company."
The launch of this platform is supported by industry trends. Gartner predicts that by 2026, 40% of enterprise applications will be equipped with task-specific AI agents, up from less than 5% in 2025. IDC warns that by 2027, companies failing to establish a high-quality, AI-ready data foundation could suffer a 15% productivity loss due to failures in generative and agent systems.
MariaDB's new platform addresses this challenge by integrating previously disparate layers, including unified transactional and analytical processing, in-memory speed, native AI-ready capabilities, and global scale support. This reduces complexity, lowers total cost of ownership, and allows developers to focus on building agent logic.
Vikas Mathur, Chief Product Officer of MariaDB plc, said, "At AI speeds, the response window shrinks. Data platforms like MariaDB must deliver answers to agents in single-digit milliseconds. By providing a platform with a built-in, high-speed in-memory 'substrate,' we eliminate the friction of manual assembly. We give developers a unified foundational layer capable of handling the massive scale these agents require."
Looking ahead, GridGain's technology lays the groundwork for the next phase of MariaDB's evolution: a globally distributed data layer. As AI agents become autonomous and decentralized, the data they rely on must be resilient and localized. By extending its distributed architecture, MariaDB ensures the foundational layer can scale across any region while maintaining sub-millisecond speeds.
