Actian Named Data Catalog Solution of the Year

Actian is excited to share that we’ve been named Data Catalog Solution of the Year in the 2026 Data Breakthrough Awards. The Data Breakthrough Award program recognizes the most innovative companies and technologies across the data industry.

This recognition for the Actian Data Intelligence Platform reflects more than our product innovation. It validates our belief that your data strategy is your AI strategy, and reinforces the need for a fundamental shift in how organizations approach data in the age of AI.

From Metadata to Meaningful Data Intelligence

The challenge you face today is making data discoverable, trusted, and actionable in real time. This is especially important as AI systems demand faster, more reliable inputs to ensure quality outcomes.

Actian Data Intelligence Platform includes a powerful data catalog as part of a unified, end-to-end approach to data intelligence. It transforms the traditional data catalog into something far more powerful: a federated, intelligent layer that connects data, context, and governance across your enterprise.

Instead of forcing centralized control or creating new silos, the platform’s federated knowledge graph unifies visibility across business domains while preserving data ownership. That balance is critical because it allows teams to move quickly without sacrificing consistency, compliance, or trust.

Last year, Actian was recognized as Metadata Management Solution of the Year. This year’s award builds on that foundation by recognizing how Actian has evolved metadata into a dynamic, intelligence-driven layer.

Why Data Catalogs Matter More Than Ever

Modern AI initiatives don’t fail because of a lack of data. They fail because teams can’t find, understand, or trust the right data at the right moment.

That’s where the Actian platform stands out. By combining AI-powered natural language search, automated metadata management, and end-to-end data lineage, our platform enables you to:

• Search for data using natural language instead of technical queries.
• Understand how data flows across systems with full lineage visibility.
• Access governed data through a marketplace-style experience.
• Give AI semantic understanding, lineage, quality indicators, and business context.

This isn’t just about convenience. It’s about speed and confidence. Using the Actian platform, organizations can eliminate up to 80% of time spent searching for and validating data to accelerate decisions and improve AI reliability. 

Data Governance Without the Bottlenecks

One of the biggest barriers to organization-wide data adoption has always been governance. Too often, governance is seen as a gatekeeper that slows innovation, creates friction, and forces teams to choose between control and agility.

The Actian Data Intelligence Platform removes that tradeoff, giving you both speed and control.

By embedding governance and data observability directly into workflows through data contracts and automated controls, the Actian platform ensures that:

• Data quality issues are caught at the source.
• Policies are applied consistently across all data assets.
• Compliance requirements are mapped and enforced automatically.
• Teams can move quickly without introducing risk.

Governance becomes a built-in capability, not a barrier. This is critical as you scale AI.

Making Real-World Impact at Scale

The recognition from Data Breakthrough is about capabilities, but it’s also about outcomes.

Organizations using the Actian Data Intelligence Platform are transforming how they manage and use data across their companies.

For example:

• A global insurance leader used the Actian platform to govern more than 11,000 datasets and hundreds of thousands of data fields, turning governance from a compliance burden into a driver of innovation.
• A national employment agency leveraged our platform to catalog tens of thousands of datasets and achieve high user adoption. This enabled AI teams to optimize mission-critical algorithmic projects and empowered leadership teams to build highly reliable employment KPIs.
• A leading rail and mobility company centralized fragmented data across systems, improving collaboration and accelerating access to trusted data with the Actian platform.

The platform’s impact is consistent: better data access, stronger trust, and faster time to value.

Third-Party Validation Matters in the Age of AI

Awards don’t define innovation, but they do provide valuable validation. The Data Breakthrough Awards recognize organizations that are driving growth and enabling high-value outcomes.

For Actian, this award marks another recognition from an independent third party, validating the strength of our platform and the direction of our data intelligence strategy. The award also reflects the hard work of the teams behind the product and our innovative customers who continue to push us to solve real-world data challenges.

As organizations race to adopt AI, the conversation is shifting. It’s no longer about experimenting with models. It’s about delivering reliable, production-ready data to ensure trusted outcomes.

That requires data that’s discoverable, governed, contextualized, and trusted. The Actian Data Intelligence Platform delivers exactly that. If you’re ready to get started with data intelligence, take a tour of our platform.

About Author

About Actian Corporation

Actian empowers enterprises to confidently manage and govern data at scale. Organizations trust Actian data management and data intelligence solutions to streamline complex data environments and accelerate the delivery of AI-ready data. Designed to be flexible, Actian solutions integrate seamlessly and perform reliably across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments. Learn more about Actian, the data and AI division of HCLSoftware, at actian.com.