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The Data Streaming Landscape 2026

Data streaming is now a core software category in modern data architecture. It powers real-time use cases like fraud prevention, personalization, supply chain optimization, and AI automation. What started with open source Apache Kafka and Flink has grown into a critical layer for business operations. The 2026 Data Streaming Landscape shows the most relevant Data Streaming Platform evolution. These platforms connect systems, process data in motion, enforce governance, and support mission-critical workloads at scale. Kafka is the standard protocol, but protocol support alone is not enough. Enterprises need full feature compatibility, 24/7 support, and expert guidance for security, resilience, and cloud strategy.
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Automotive Innovation with Data Streaming using Apache Kafka Flink Confluent at CARIAD Volkswagen Group VW
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CARIAD’s Unified Data Platform: A Data Streaming Automotive Success Story Behind Volkswagen’s Software-Defined Vehicles

The automotive industry transforms rapidly. Cars are now software-defined vehicles (SDVs) that demand constant, real-time data flow. This post highlights the CARIAD success story inside the Volkswagen Group. CARIAD tackled data fragmentation. It built the Unified Data Ecosystem (UDE). Learn how Confluent’s data streaming platform, powered by Apache Kafka and Flink, serves as the central nervous system. This platform connects millions of vehicles and cloud services globally. The event-driven architecture helps CARIAD achieve faster development, meet compliance (like the EU Data Act), and reduce costs. The platform unlocks high-value use cases, such as predictive maintenance and AI-powered fleet management.
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Data Streaming with Confluent Meets SAP and Databricks for Agentic AI at Sapphire in Madrid
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Data Streaming Meets the SAP Ecosystem and Databricks – Insights from SAP Sapphire Madrid

SAP Sapphire 2025 in Madrid brought together global SAP users, partners, and technology leaders to showcase the future of enterprise data strategy. Key themes included SAP’s Business Data Cloud (BDC) vision, Joule for Agentic AI, and the deepening SAP-Databricks partnership. A major topic throughout the event was the increasing need for real-time integration across SAP and non-SAP systems—highlighting the critical role of event-driven architectures and data streaming platforms like Confluent. This blog shares insights on how data streaming enhances SAP ecosystems, supports AI initiatives, and enables industry-specific use cases across transactional and analytical domains.
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Data Streaming Lake Warehouse and Lakehouse with Confluent Databricks Snowflake using Iceberg and Tableflow Delta Lake
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Databricks and Confluent Leading Data and AI Architectures – What About Snowflake, BigQuery, and Friends?

Confluent, Databricks, and Snowflake are trusted by thousands of enterprises to power critical workloads—each with a distinct focus: real-time streaming, large-scale analytics, and governed data sharing. Many customers use them in combination to build flexible, intelligent data architectures. This blog highlights how Erste Bank uses Confluent and Databricks to enable generative AI in customer service, while Siemens combines Confluent and Snowflake to optimize manufacturing and healthcare with a shift-left approach. Together, these examples show how a streaming-first foundation drives speed, scalability, and innovation across industries.
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Enterprise Application Integration with Confliuent and Databricks for Oracle SAP Salesforce Servicenow et al
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Databricks and Confluent in the World of Enterprise Software (with SAP as Example)

Enterprise data lives in complex ecosystems—SAP, Oracle, Salesforce, ServiceNow, IBM Mainframes, and more. This article explores how Confluent and Databricks integrate with SAP to bridge operational and analytical workloads in real time. It outlines architectural patterns, trade-offs, and use cases like supply chain optimization, predictive maintenance, and financial reporting, showing how modern data streaming unlocks agility, reuse, and AI-readiness across even the most SAP-centric environments.
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Shift Left Architecture with Confluent Data Streaming and Databricks Lakehouse Medallion
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Shift Left Architecture for AI and Analytics with Confluent and Databricks

Confluent and Databricks enable a modern data architecture that unifies real-time streaming and lakehouse analytics. By combining shift-left principles with the structured layers of the Medallion Architecture, teams can improve data quality, reduce pipeline complexity, and accelerate insights for both operational and analytical workloads. Technologies like Apache Kafka, Flink, and Delta Lake form the backbone of scalable, AI-ready pipelines across cloud and hybrid environments.
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Confluent and Databricks for Data Integration and Stream Processing
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Confluent Data Streaming Platform vs. Databricks Data Intelligence Platform for Data Integration and Processing

This blog explores how Confluent and Databricks address data integration and processing in modern architectures. Confluent provides real-time, event-driven pipelines connecting operational systems, APIs, and batch sources with consistent, governed data flows. Databricks specializes in large-scale batch processing, data enrichment, and AI model development. Together, they offer a unified approach that bridges operational and analytical workloads. Key topics include ingestion patterns, the role of Tableflow, the shift-left architecture for earlier data validation, and real-world examples like Uniper’s energy trading platform powered by Confluent and Databricks.
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Data Streaming and Lakehouse - Comparison of Confluent with Apache Kafka and Flink and Databricks with Spark
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The Past, Present, and Future of Confluent (The Kafka Company) and Databricks (The Spark Company)

Confluent and Databricks have redefined modern data architectures, growing beyond their Kafka and Spark roots. Confluent drives real-time operational workloads; Databricks powers analytical and AI-driven applications. As operational and analytical boundaries blur, native integrations like Tableflow and Delta Lake unify streaming and batch processing across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. This blog explores the platforms’ evolution and how, together, they enable enterprises to build scalable, data-driven architectures. The Michelin success story shows how combining real-time data and AI unlocks innovation and resilience.
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Lakehouse and Data Streaming - Competitor or Complementary
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How Microsoft Fabric Lakehouse Complements Data Streaming (Apache Kafka, Flink, et al.)

In today’s data-driven world, understanding data at rest versus data in motion is crucial for businesses. Data streaming frameworks like Apache Kafka and Apache Flink enable real-time data processing. Meanwhile, lakehouses like Snowflake, Databricks, and Microsoft Fabric excel in long-term data storage and detailed analysis, perfect for reports and AI training. This blog post explores how these technologies complement each other in enterprise architecture.
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Microsoft Fabric and OneLake Azure Lakehouse vs Databricks and Snowflake Cloud
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What is Microsoft Fabric for Azure Cloud (Beyond the Buzz) and how it Competes with Snowflake and Databricks

If you ask your favorite large language model, Microsoft Fabric appears to be the ultimate solution for any data challenge you can imagine. That’s also the impression many people get from Microsoft’s sales teams. But is it really the silver bullet it’s made out to be? This article takes a closer look exploring the glossy marketing and sales definition of the platform and then deconstructing it from a more practical perspective. Learn what Microsoft Fabric is truly built for, and how it fits into the wider data landscape, especially in comparison to other major players in the data analytics market like Databricks and Snowflake.
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