Confluent unveils new AI integration and stream processing capabilities for enterprises

Confluent, a data streaming company, has revealed new capabilities aimed at simplifying artificial intelligence (AI) integration and extending stream processing accessibility across various workloads. 

The upcoming feature, AI Model Inference, is set to debut on Confluent Cloud for Apache Flink. This feature is designed to facilitate the seamless integration of machine learning into data pipelines for teams. Additionally, Confluent has introduced the Confluent Platform for Apache Flink, providing a Flink distribution to enable stream processing in on-premises or hybrid environments, supported by the company's Flink experts. 

Moreover, the introduction of Freight clusters on Confluent Cloud offers a cost-effective solution for handling large-volume use cases like logging or telemetry data. 

AI Model Inference simplifies the development and deployment of AI and machine 
learning applications. By utilizing simple SQL statements within Apache Flink, organisations can now make calls to various AI engines, including OpenAI, AWS SageMaker, GCP Vertex, and Microsoft Azure, all within the Confluent Cloud environment. This allows for the orchestration of data cleaning and processing tasks on a unified platform, the company said.

“Apache Kafka and Flink are the critical links to fuel machine learning and artificial intelligence applications with the most timely and accurate data,” said Shaun Clowes, Chief Product Officer at Confluent. “Confluent’s AI Model Inference removes the complexity involved when using streaming data for AI development by enabling organizations to innovate faster and deliver powerful customer experiences.”  

The benefits of AI Model Inference include simplifying AI development through familiar SQL syntax, seamless coordination between data processing and AI workflows, and enabling real-time AI-driven decision-making using fresh streaming data. Currently, support for AI Model Inference is available in early access to select customers. 

Confluent Platform for Apache Flink offers additional advantages such as minimising risk with unified Flink and Kafka support, expert guidance from industry-leading streaming data experts, timely assistance in troubleshooting and issue resolution, and ensuring the security and up-to-date status of stream processing applications.