Reltio CEO on the Role of Data and Processes in the Agentic Future

Manish Sood, CEO, Founder, and Chairman of Reltio
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Episode Summary

In this episode, Marcus sits down with Manish Sood, CEO, Founder, and Chairman of Reltio, to explore how enterprises can modernize their architecture through data unification, intelligent automation, and AI readiness. Drawing on Manish’s experience building cloud-native platforms and enabling data-driven transformation, they unpack the evolution of Master Data Management (MDM) and the critical need for an API-first, process-oriented approach. From breaking down data silos and improving data quality to leveraging AI agents and automating business workflows with tools like Reltio and Workato, this episode offers a strategic lens for leaders looking to future-proof their operations in an increasingly AI-powered landscape.

  • Key Takeaways

    Key Takeaways

    • Unify data to unlock its full value: Siloed systems hold back AI progress. An API-first approach and the use of entity graphs help organizations bring together data from multiple sources. When data is unified and accessible, it becomes far more valuable for business and AI applications.

    • Let AI do the heavy lifting on data quality: Most tools highlight data issues but don’t fix them. AI can go further by cleaning, disambiguating, and enriching data from unstructured sources. This keeps data accurate, reliable, and ready for action.

    • Think in processes, not schemas: Rigid data models limit agility. A process-oriented mindset helps integrate workflows across departments, increasing flexibility and speed. Tools like Reltio and Workato can help streamline these integrations.

    • Prepare for an AI-first application future: Applications are moving toward prompt-based and AI-driven interactions. Businesses should start getting their data ready and automating key processes. Those who do will be better positioned to compete in an AI-powered world.

  • About Manish

    About Manish

    Manish Sood is the CEO, Founder, and Chairman of Reltio. He was part of the team that developed and deployed the world's first Master Data Management (MDM) platform at Informatica. He founded Reltio in 2011 after spending his career architecting some of the largest and most widely used data management solutions used by most Fortune 500 companies today. Today, the world’s most successful companies rely on Reltio to fuel critical decisions and business processes.

  • Top Quotes

    Top Quotes

    “ I've never heard a business owner say they want to move slower. Everybody wants to move faster. Every business process, if they were able to do something in 30 days, they want to now do it in seven days. If they were able to do it in seven days, they want to do it in seven minutes. If they were able to do the same thing in seven minutes, they want to go down to seconds or milliseconds. And that's the natural progression that we will continue to see, where every business process needs to execute in a shorter timeframe, faster, without human intervention. And this is where agentic comes in.”

    “ Applications will not exist in the manner we know of them today. We have to think about data differently where we have to not only think of it as a strategic asset, core data that runs your business being available at every given point in time for any business process, any decision that needs to be made, or any analytical process that needs to be informed with it. And this bridge or divide between analytical and operational will disappear because it's the same information that needs to be used in both places.”