NetApp®, the intelligent data infrastructure company, announced the strategic acquisition of DataPelago, a California-based innovator specializing in AI data infrastructure solutions. Known for its advanced methodologies in eliminating computational bottlenecks for deep analytics, the acquisition positions NetApp to deliver GPU-accelerated data processing natively embedded within the storage framework, making zero-copy data activation a reality for modern enterprise artificial intelligence.
As global enterprises undergo a massive generational shift toward generative AI, data engineering teams are facing a severe operational hurdle: the inability to prepare, govern, and pipeline vast proprietary data reserves quickly enough to sustain production environments. Resolving this delay requires a structural pivot toward bringing accelerated computing resources directly to the data source. DataPelago addresses this architecture gap by rethinking the boundary between storage and compute, embedding processing engines directly inside the data environment rather than forcing data migrations to external clusters.
“As AI models and the chips that power them get ever more effective, enterprises need data infrastructure that is just as intelligent and powerful to harness the potential of their data,” said George Kurian, Chief Executive Officer at NetApp. “NetApp is leading the industry in helping customers drive innovation and generate business value by giving them full command of their most important asset: their data. With DataPelago, we are extending our ability to help customers understand and process their data with the agility required to unleash competitive advantage.”
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Eliminating Tool Sprawl and Infrastructure Costs via the Nucleus Engine
The technological foundation of the acquisition centers on Nucleus, DataPelago’s universal data processing software engine. The architecture leverages heterogeneous computing capabilities across both CPU and GPU hardware to analyze complex structures exactly where they reside. By optimizing operational pipelines without shifting files to external staging environments, the engine slashes underlying infrastructure expenditures by up to 80% while accelerating execution speeds up to ten times faster than legacy methodologies.
By removing the standard requirement to duplicate large data structures from transactional environments into secondary AI systems, NetApp eliminates the primary compliance and security friction point slowing down modern corporate machine learning rollouts. The technology is already demonstrating distinct commercial validity, stabilizing high-throughput workloads for multi-national corporations while maximizing hardware utilization across diverse environments.
“DataPelago is on a mission to eliminate the data processing bottlenecks that prevent AI innovation from reaching its full potential,” said Rajan Goyal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DataPelago. “Joining NetApp gives us the opportunity to combine our breakthrough processing technology with the industry’s best data infrastructure portfolio. Enterprises have invested billions in GPUs and AI models, but their data remains fragmented, leaving valuable computing resources to sit idle rather than putting these investments to work. Together, we’re positioned to help customers simplify and accelerate AI deployment at scale.”
Driving Zero-Copy Enterprise Data Activation
By collapsing fragmented operations into an optimized, software-defined framework, the combined entity provides enterprise engineering teams with a secure, highly auditable layout to govern raw datasets before model ingestion. This capability allows Chief Information Officers to extract rapid insights from dark data reserves without incurring steep egress fees or violating strict data sovereignty laws.
“DataPelago’s Nucleus engine brings software-defined acceleration directly to the storage layer, processing data across CPUs and GPUs so enterprises can prepare, govern, and activate their data for AI without moving it. This is true zero-copy activation,” said Syam Nair, Chief Product Officer at NetApp. “NetApp manages more enterprise data across more environments than anyone in the industry. The next phase of AI will be won by those who make that data work at the source, and the DataPelago team brings the technical depth and velocity to get us there faster.”
Following the closing of the transaction, DataPelago will maintain its operational momentum as a wholly owned subsidiary of NetApp. The integration marks a continuation of NetApp’s broader market expansion strategy, following recently finalized cloud and network ecosystem alliances with Cisco, Google Cloud, Red Hat, and SK Telecom.
The integrated GPU-accelerated infrastructure capabilities are actively being positioned for product rollout. Enterprise data architects, AI engineering directors, and cloud infrastructure operations leads can evaluate technical whitepapers, analyze performance benchmarks, and explore hybrid-cloud deployment models by visiting NetApp’s digital media and corporate technology hub.