DSP Archives - Kai Waehner

Data Streaming Trends for 2026 with Apache Kafka Flink Diskless Cloud Agentic AI

6.1K views
9 minute read

Top Trends for Data Streaming with Apache Kafka and Flink in 2026

ByKai Waehner
10. December 2025

Each year brings new momentum to the data streaming space. In 2026, six key trends stand out. Platforms and vendors are consolidating. Diskless Kafka and Apache Iceberg are reshaping storage. Real-time analytics is moving into the stream. Enterprises demand zero data loss and regional compliance. Streaming is now powering operational AI with real-time context. Data streaming has evolved. It is now strategic infrastructure at the heart of modern enterprise systems.

6.8K views
16 minute read

The Data Streaming Landscape 2026

ByKai Waehner
5. December 2025

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.