Technical documentation
FEATURE
Zero-copyintegrations
Give AI and applications trusted access to key systems of record without rebuilding pipelines or semantic models.
Preserve context to power more accurate AI outcomes
Curated data from key systems of record retains the business meaning, semantics and relationships that AI models, agents and applications need to deliver relevant results.
No rebuilding business data structures and logic from scratch
Teams move directly from data access to AI application development, spending time on outcomes instead of rebuilding what already exists.
Create one trusted foundation for connecting key enterprise systems
End-to-end lineage and governance visibility are preserved as data powers AI. One access pattern strengthens control and eliminates duplicated copies.
Key Benefits
Turn systems of record into AI assets
Move data both ways
Build AI and applications grounded in trusted enterprise data
- Unify business data with SAP, Salesforce and Workday* with Snowflake in near real-time.
Integrate rich semantically modeled data bidirectionally across SAP S/4HANA records, Salesforce customer interactions and Workday HR or financial objects without losing any context or logic.
Power predictive supply chains, intelligent financial planning and personalized customer experiences.
AI models and agents have complete enterprise context, so they can respond with high accuracy.
Ship AI sooner
Get to AI outcomes faster, with less overhead
- Skip months of pipeline work. Teams move directly from data access to AI application development, spending more time on valuable outcomes.
- Eliminate costly ETL pipelines and unnecessary data duplication with bidirectional zero-copy integration for relevant partnerships.
- Built-in Snowflake CoCo skills automatically manage the full zero-copy integration lifecycle, including configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting — cutting setup time from hours to minutes.
Extend your guardrails
Access enterprise systems securely
- Preserve business semantics and data lineage with enterprise-ready Snowflake Horizon Catalog, applying your existing policies uniformly, even to external systems of record.
Safeguard your data, applications and models with built-in features such as unified role-based access control (RBAC) and attribute-based access control (ABAC), network policies, monitoring and encryption.
Move from integration work to business outcomes faster with governed access to semantically rich enterprise data.
Stay open
Build on open standards without lock-in
Your data remains interoperable. No proprietary lock-in or format conversion. Just open standards that work with the tools you already use.
Whether Snowflake partners use Apache Iceberg, Delta or another format, the AI Data Cloud interoperates using public, open protocols, and on the Snowflake side, it’s always an externally managed Iceberg table. Same architecture, same experience, every time.
Zero-Copy IntegrationPartners
Zero-Copy Integration
Frequently Asked Questions
Get answers to common questions about connecting enterprise systems to Snowflake with zero-copy integration.
What is zero-copy integration?
Zero-copy integration connects Snowflake directly to key systems of record like SAP Business Data Cloud, Salesforce Data as a Service, APIs and Workday Data Cloud.* Data stays where it lives with no ETL pipelines and no duplication. You query live data and push AI-driven insights back to the source system.
What does bidirectional mean in this context?
Bidirectional means data and insights are made available both ways. The data physically stays in and is governed by the source system. Snowflake exposes it as catalog-linked databases and Semantic Views so you can instantly query and join it with the rest of your Snowflake data.
How does Snowflake govern data accessed through zero-copy integration?
Snowflake Horizon provides end-to-end lineage, cataloging and compliance visibility across all connected sources. Role-based access, column-level security and audit logging apply to zero-copy data the same way they apply to native Snowflake tables.
Is zero-copy integration available for all three partner systems today?
The Salesforce integration has been generally available for over two years. A reimagining of the experience for Salesforce Data 360 to Snowflake that uses the Zero-Copy connector is coming soon. SAP is now generally available for all customers. The Workday Data Cloud integration is currently in private preview, with general availability planned for later in 2026.
Can I use zero-copy integration with my existing Snowflake account?
Yes. If you already use Snowflake, you can connect SAP, Workday or Salesforce through zero-copy integration without provisioning new infrastructure. Data surfaces as queryable tables in your existing environment.
