The modern business has a lot of data, but turning it into something valuable can be a challenge. We caught up with Wand, to see how it’s using AI to turn data into insight in a matter of hours.

Today, organizations in all industries know the value of doing more with their data. But, actually putting data to work and turning it into the insights that matter can be a huge challenge. It’s expensive. It takes a lot of time. And after all that money and effort, 85% of data projects still fail. 

Wand is on a mission to change that.

Formed in 2022, the company provides a simple, SaaS-based drag and drop interface that democratizes AI data analytics, allowing everyone within the business to solve problems and create value faster. 

The platform allows users to upload structured and unstructured data from any source, and then automatically cleans, standardizes, and organizes that data before answering user queries. The result? Time to insight is reduced from months to hours. And for a fraction of the cost.

“A lot of people have access to data, but the power to create AI solutions normally sits with data scientists,” said Rotem Alaluf, Co-Founder and CEO at Wand. “Our goal is to bring the power to create AI analytics processes, at scale, to everyone. With Wand, non-technical users can build state-of-the-art AI solutions quickly and intuitively. Wand has customers of all sizes across all verticals.”

The platform at the heart of democratizing AI

Wand’s objective was nothing short of a step-change for AI analytics, and the company knew it would need a robust, reliable, fast, and scalable data cloud at the heart of its operations.

“We are fundamentally transforming the way AI is consumed,” said Philippe Chambadal, Co-Founder and CRO at Wand. “These processes would normally take twelve data scientists 18 months and cost millions. And you still wouldn’t be sure of the results. We provide better results at a lower cost in less time.”

To make sure this ambition was met, Snowflake has been powering the company’s bold new step in AI analytics since 2022.  

The platform’s capabilities allow users to upload any kind of data from any source into = Snowflake’s infinitely scalable platform. The data is then aggregated, cleansed, and enhanced by Wand within the Snowflake’s platform before it’s sent to WandML—the magic component in the Wand platform that does the work of several data scientists in a matter of hours.

For the end user, of course, all of this happens out of sight. It provides an intuitive and easy-to-use experience that allows them to explore and export detailed results and turn data into value at lightning speed.

“With Snowflake we have a centralized store of data from multiple sources, apps and cloud providers, which is in contrast with the current approach from most vendors,” said Chambadal. “Normally,  a custom use case is created to try and solve a specific problem. But that means you end up with dozens of bespoke deployments that don’t talk to each other. Our approach is completely different,  and changes the way you can consistently deploy models at scale—it’s true innovation.”

Value at the wave of a wand

Every AI activity begins with good data, and Snowflake’s data controls, centralization, and collaboration capabilities have simplified things for Wand, ensuring the company can rapidly leverage data without the need for multiple solutions and re-implementations.

“Time is money,” says Alaluf. “And sometimes, when you spend a lot of time developing things you can lose market share. With Snowflake we don’t have to develop a lot of tools, as multiple elements are taken care of for us.”

It’s not just simplicity that makes Snowflake so valuable to Wand, though. Alaluf cites the platform’s optimization for both analytics and data storage and the ability to work with semi-structured data as two other advantages that made it perfect for this deployment. Along with its seamless integration with other systems helping to avoid vendor lock-in.

“Snowflake really helps us to provide faster value to our customers,” said Alaluf. “And it also means we are able to develop things faster internally. It’s played a major part in helping us to bring a complex solution to market really quickly.”

In fact, Wand was able to create its unique AI solution in just six months, and it was met with instant success. An astounding 1,500 users—including half of the global 500—signed up in the first week. 

“Our sales cycle speaks for itself,” said  Chambadal. “Instead of taking several months, it lasts about two weeks. People just see that the platform works and they’re instantly on board.”

A future full of AI magic

The relationship between Snowflake and Wand has gone from strength to strength, and Wand will continue to rely on the platform to roll out new capabilities and develop its offering in the coming years.

“The support we get from Snowflake is exceptional,” said Alaluf. “Any time we’ve had an issue, we’ve got answers in minutes. For a company that wants to move quickly and aggressively in the market, that ability to quickly figure out how we can take the next step is invaluable.”

The platform has also provided some nice tangential benefits, like the ability to attract new talent eager to work with the latest technology.“ Using state of the art, cutting-edge technologies is something that will always help us bring in new people,” Alaluf said. “We hear a lot in interviews about how interested people are in working with this stack. Ultimately, Snowflake has helped us create a product people believe in, and they know they can create value with the tools we have.”