The arrival of ChatGPT in late 2022 and the ensuing cascade of large language models ensured that 2023 will forever be known as the year of generative AI (GenAI). With amazing speed, generative AI has rippled across the entire information technology landscape—from software development and devops tools, to data management platforms and analytics tools, to cloud security, compliance, and governance solutions.
We would expect our leading technology providers to jump on innovations like generative AI to make their products easier to use, more powerful, and more automated. And this is certainly true of this year’s candidates for InfoWorld’s Technology of the Year Awards. Among the 52 finalists and 20 winners of our 2023 awards, many are harnessing artificial intelligence to redefine their product categories.
The InfoWorld Technology of the Year Awards recognize the best and most innovative products in AI and machine learning, business intelligence (BI) and analytics, cloud computing, containers, data management, devops, and software development. Read on to meet our finalists and winners, or download the PDF edition below.
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Read about the year’s best and most innovative products in AI, analytics, cloud, containers, data management, databases, devops, and software development. Download our special awards issue PDF. InfoWorld
AI and Machine Learning: Development
Finalists
- Quantiphi baioniq
- SAS Viya
- Wallaroo.AI ML Workload Orchestration
Winner
SAS Viya
IDG
From the winner
SAS Viya is a cloud-native analytics and AI platform that not only fulfills the promise of AI, but also brings you speed and productivity you never imagined possible. SAS Viya enables you to scale cost-effectively, increase productivity, and innovate faster, backed by trust and transparency. It makes it possible to integrate teams and technology, enabling all users to work together successfully.
AI-based automation and embedded best practices align to the needs and talents of your team, connecting all aspects of the AI and analytics life cycle and helping turn critical questions into trusted decisions.
From the judges
Based on the provided benchmark data, SAS Viya used 87% less computing when running “like” models against linear, logistic, random forest, and gradient boosting algorithms.
When training models, SAS Viya appears ahead of the competition in enhanced efficiency, cost reduction, scalability of models, and closing the time-to-insights gap.
AI and Machine Learning: Applications
Finalists
- Algolia NeuralSearch
- Glean
- UiPath Business Automation Platform
Winner
Glean
IDG
From the winner
With workplace information fragmented across tools like chat, email, document repositories, bug tracking tools, customer support systems, and internal wikis, it’s no surprise that finding the right information you need to accomplish your goals can be time-consuming and difficult.
Glean is an AI-powered enterprise search platform that helps you find and discover exactly the information you need right when you need it. Glean searches all of your apps across your entire company, understanding context, language, behavior, and relationships with others to find personalized answers to your questions. It surfaces knowledge and makes connections with the people who can help, so you and your team never miss a thing.
From the judges
The context for large language models here (enterprise search, knowledge base creation) is novel and useful. … It’s a genuinely useful application for LLMs, using sources of data in enterprise settings as contextual hints (e.g., GitHub vs. Slack).
BI and Analytics
Finalists
- AnswerRocket Max
- Celonis Execution Management System
- Kyvos Insights
Winner
AnswerRocket Max
IDG
From the winner
AnswerRocket is an augmented analytics platform created on the idea that data and analytics should be accessible to all. By leveraging AI and ML technology, AnswerRocket empowers customers around the world to confidently explore, analyze, and generate insights from their enterprise data. AnswerRocket’s RocketSkills allows users to leverage purpose-built advanced analytics modules that automate analysis for common use cases such as customer churn, SKU rationalization, and brand performance in minutes. RocketSkills uses AI and ML to execute workflows, produce decks, and compose data stories. The platform eliminates information barriers and democratizes data analytics within organizations by providing easily understandable data analysis.
From the judges
A practical, highly capable use of GenAI that should deliver significant, tangible benefits by enabling business users to rapidly and easily gain analytical insights.
Cloud Compliance and Governance
Finalists
- Clumio Protect
- LightBeam PrivacyOps
- Noname Posture Management
Winner
Clumio Protect
IDG
From the winner
Every company in the world has some data that they simply cannot afford to lose. Clumio helps companies ensure that this data is safe, compliant, and access-controlled. Regardless of the source—databases powering applications, data lakes powering AI, or blocks and files powering business systems—Clumio helps its resident data stay immutable and resilient against cyberthreats, operational disruptions, and outages.
From the judges
Cloud-native backup with fast restore … highly granular restore operations for flexible business continuity.
Cloud Cost Management
Finalists
- Hyperglance
- Kubecost
- Unravel Platform
Winner
Kubecost
IDG
From the winner
Kubecost is a platform that provides real-time cost visibility and insights for developer and finops teams using Kubernetes. With Kubecost’s Kubernetes-related cloud cost monitoring, management, and optimization illuminating unnecessary overspend, Kubecost’s solution enables customers to reduce their cloud costs by as much as 70% in many cases—and keep those costs continually optimized. Importantly, customers reduce Kubernetes spending without impacting application performance. Kubecost is designed from the ground up for Kubernetes and the cloud-native ecosystem. It is tightly integrated within other technologies that are part of that ecosystem, and partnered with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure.
From the judges
Kubecost has firmly established itself as the de facto standard for measuring the cost of Kubernetes infrastructure, from start-ups to large corporations. There isn’t a clear alternative.”
Cloud Security
Finalists
- CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security
- Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud
- Sysdig Secure
Winner
Sysdig Secure
IDG
From the winner
The industry has been overwhelmed with fragmented solutions and theories on how to approach cloud security—until Sysdig Secure. Sysdig is a game-changing cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) solution that is designed to provide companies with comprehensive security for cloud-native applications, containers, and orchestration platforms. Sysdig is the first CNAPP solution to use insight from run time to make better-informed decisions during the build/prevention phase through production. Sysdig offers a unified platform that combines multiple security functionalities, enabling enhanced security postures and unrivaled vulnerability prioritization, as well as real-time visibility into environments to proactively detect and respond to security threats, anomalies, and potential breaches.
From the judges
Interesting technology offering security at run time and using that to inform security earlier in the development life cycle.
Containers
Finalists
- D2iQ DKP
- io Gloo Platform
- Spectro Cloud Palette
Winner
Gloo Platform
IDG
From the winner
Gloo Platform is the industry’s leading application networking platform, combining service mesh, API gateway, and multicloud networking into a unified platform that can enable microservice applications across any cloud. Devops and platform engineering teams strive to reduce complexity to enable greater productivity. Gloo Platform addresses that complexity reduction through the integration of leading open-source technologies into a single modular platform that addresses API management, zero-trust security, scaling microservices, multicloud networking, and industry compliance. Gloo Platform delivers a unified platform that seamlessly integrates into existing devops and platform engineering environments through a unified control plane, unified API, and highly automated operations framework.
From the judges
Gloo provides an excellent API and microservices management solution that is an essential part of any modern development organization. The overall functionality of the product is quite good and provides features that fit nearly all customers’ needs.
Data Management: Governance
Finalists
- Fivetran Metadata API
- Integral Platform
- Teleskope
Winner
Teleskope
IDG
From the winner
Teleskope is a modern data protection platform that automates data security, privacy, and compliance at scale to help organizations comply with regulations like GDPR and CCPA. The high-performance platform can, within minutes, seamlessly monitor cloud and SaaS data stores to provide a comprehensive inventory of assets—including hidden ones—as well as their security and compliance risks. Its advanced classification engine, powered by a large language model and rules engine, is able to adapt to reach unique data stores—identifying sensitive data and its associated personas such as employees or customers.
From the judges
Teleskope can help companies that are most exposed to compliance mandates better cope with regulatory requirements, thanks to innovative use of LLM technology.
Data Management: Integration
Finalists
- Airbyte Open Source and Airbyte Cloud
- Cleo Integration Cloud
- SnapLogic Intelligent Integration Platform
Winner
SnapLogic Intelligent Integration Platform
IDG
From the winner
Our vision is to continually remove the friction from integration by significantly improving the ease and speed of integration via SnapGPT, the industry’s first and only generative AI-driven integration solution. SnapGPT accelerates business transformation by enabling citizen developers and IT professionals to streamline data pipeline and integration workflow development using a natural language, ChatGPT-like interface. SnapGPT allows users to generate fully functional integrations, synthetic test data, and complex SQL queries. The solution also offers the ability to fine-tune data mapping and transformations. Users can ask SnapGPT for help creating integrations, choosing connectors, pre-built templates, or patterns for their use case, or describing/documenting existing integrations.
From the judges
Nice use of generative AI. Linking systems together is complex and therefore making this easier is a bonus. This will drive results.
Data Management: Pipelines
Finalists
- Acceldata Data Observability Platform
- Ascend Data Pipeline Automation Platform
- Matillion Data Productivity Cloud
Winner
Acceldata Data Observability Platform
IDG
From the winner
The Acceldata Data Observability Platform is an enterprise data observability platform for the modern data stack. The platform provides comprehensive visibility, giving data teams the real-time information they need to identify and prevent issues and make data stacks reliable. The Acceldata Data Observability Platform supports a wide range of data sources such as Snowflake, Databricks, Hadoop, Amazon Athena, Amazon Redshift, Azure Data Lake, Google BigQuery, MySQL, and PostgreSQL. The Acceldata platform provides insights into compute and infrastructure, reliability, pipelines, and users.
From the judges
Support for a broad variety of data platforms. … powerful analysis of events and behavior in multi-stage pipelines. … some open-source components.”
Data Management: Streaming
Finalists
Winner
Confluent Cloud
IDG
From the winner
Confluent Cloud is the only fully managed, cloud-native data streaming platform. Built and operated by the original creators of Apache Kafka, Confluent Cloud makes running Kafka almost effortless, whether companies are running a few applications or using it as a central nervous system that acts as the source of truth for all data. Confluent Cloud enables customers to shift away from point-in-time batch processing, allowing them to utilize real-time data from a continuous stream of events. With Confluent Cloud, organizations can harness the full power of Apache Kafka while avoiding the headaches of infrastructure management and can focus on what matters most: driving business value for customers and stakeholders.
From the judges
The ability to simplify that task of managing an open-source system is achieved with Confluent Cloud and done while still allowing the solution to be managed and scalable.
