Alation unveils agentic AI suite for governing critical data
CDE Manager includes agents that set standards and establish rules to help enterprises to connect data to key operations and govern such data to ensure it can be trusted.
Alation introduced Alation CDE Manager, an agentic AI-powered set of capabilities that enable enterprises to govern data directly related to critical operations such as reporting, risk management and regulatory compliance.
The new suite, now in beta testing but expected to be generally available before the end of 2025, was unveiled on Nov. 13 at revAlation London, an event for Alation customers in the United Kingdom. Pricing for CDE Manager, which will be part of Alation's data catalog, is based on usage.
With data volume continuing to increase, AI tools requiring copious amounts of high-quality data to be trusted while automating certain processes and regulations in constant flux, many organizations struggle to prioritize the data that matters most. In addition, with data teams and those overseeing risk and compliance often isolated from one another, operationalizing trusted data to power business systems and inform key decisions is a slow process that sometimes stalls before projects make it to production.
Prioritizing governance of critical data elements (CDEs) can help.
To improve the quality and scalability of governing CDEs, Alation CDE Manager deploys agents that set measurable data management standards, map CDEs across an organization's data ecosystem based on semantic relationships and monitor CDEs for compliance.
Because it directly addresses a problem many enterprises face, Alation CDE Manager is valuable for the vendor's users, according to Stephen Catanzano, an analyst at Informa TechTarget's Omdia.
"Alation CDE Manager [is] significant because it addresses the disconnect between business policy intent and technical implementation," he said. "By using AI agents to automatically translate business policies into measurable data standards and … monitor compliance, it enables organizations to govern CDEs without getting overwhelmed by the complexity that typically stalls governance initiatives."
Based in Redwood City, Calif., Alation's metadata management platform enables customers to integrate, organize and govern data so it can be used to inform AI tools and analytics applications. Competitors range from specialists such as Collibra and Informatica to tech giants that provide data catalog and metadata management capabilities, including AWS and IBM.
Improving governance
Beyond teams within the same enterprise sometimes working in silos, establishing CDEs and putting governance frameworks in place is labor-intensive. It involves collecting and analyzing highly specific metadata, including definitions, data lineage, ownership, quality metrics and controls, which, when done manually, takes substantial time and effort.
By using AI agents to automatically translate business policies into measurable data standards and … monitor compliance, it enables organizations to govern CDEs without getting overwhelmed by the complexity that typically stalls governance initiatives.
Stephen CatanzanoAnalyst, Omdia
Therefore, like the lack of communication, the process of establishing and managing CDEs sometimes stalls CDE governance projects before they ever get started.
Alation developed CDE Manager based on observing customer needs, according to GT Volpe, the vendor's senior director of product management.
Alation has worked with customers to manage critical data elements across various industries, he noted. In doing so, Alation recognized an opportunity to use agents to streamline time-consuming tasks while maintaining stringent governance.
"CDE Manager was born from that insight to take a proven framework that customers were already succeeding with in Alation and make it faster, more consistent and easier to scale through agentic automation," Volpe said. "CDE Manager eliminates one of the biggest bottlenecks in data governance -- the manual effort required to define, certify and maintain critical data."
Specific features of Alation CDE Manager include the following:
Purpose-built agents trained to understand an organization's business policies and risk controls so they can autonomously set measurable standards and establish rules that can be executed to govern CDEs.
AI agents that use semantic modeling to connect CDEs to data assets within an enterprise's data catalog, lineage and data quality layers to ensure that each CDE is properly contextualized and governed.
Continuous Compliance to automatically monitor quality and address problems in real time.
Unified View, which enables CDE Manager to connect policies, terms and data lineage to provide users with an audit-ready view of each CDE.
Perhaps Alation CDE Manager's most valuable features are agent-powered policy translation to set standards and semantics, according to Catanzano. Meanwhile, he noted that the overall construction of the suite is appropriate for accomplishing its aims.
"The feature set seems logically cohesive for governing CDEs at scale," Catanzano said. "The Policy-as-Code capability that translates business requirements into executable rules, combined with semantic mapping that identifies CDEs across the data ecosystem and continuous compliance monitoring, creates a comprehensive governance loop."
In addition, because of its narrow focus on helping customers more effectively govern critical data, Alation CDE Manager is perhaps a unique set of tools, according to Catanzano. Competing vendors, such as Collibra, Informatica and IBM, offer governance capabilities that include agents, but he noted that they don't specifically address CDEs.
"The specific focus on CDE governance with declarative AI agents appears differentiated," Catanzano said. "Alation's approach of using purpose-built agents specifically for translating policy intent into technical standards seems more targeted than the broader governance automation offered by competitors."
Looking ahead
Agentic AI has been a focal point for Alation throughout 2025.
In March, the vendor introduced agents that automate documentation and apply data quality rules. In October, Alation introduced Agent Builder, a set of features that enable customers to use structured data to build and deploy agents. CDE Manager continues that emphasis on agentic AI, which will continue into 2026, according to Volpe.
"Alation will continue to expand its agentic and declarative governance capabilities, allowing organizations to define desired business outcomes and have agents operationalize them automatically," he said. "Expect to see deeper integrations across structured data, enhanced AI-driven automation for curation and quality, and continued innovation to help enterprises scale trust and compliance."
Alation's focus on adding more agentic AI capabilities to better serve its customers and perhaps attract new ones is wise, according to Catanzano. With enterprises struggling to remain compliant as regulations change, agents that proactively address compliance could be particularly beneficial, he suggested.
"Alation could enhance user adoption by expanding the AI agents to handle more complex regulatory frameworks and develop predictive governance capabilities that anticipate compliance risks before they occur," Catanzano said. "[That could] potentially attract organizations in highly regulated industries seeking proactive rather than reactive governance approaches."
Eric Avidon is a senior news writer for Informa TechTarget and a journalist with more than 25 years of experience. He covers analytics and data management.
