Zenlytic at Snowflake Summit 2025 Recap: Live from San Francisco
Snowflake Summit 2025 took over the Moscone Center in San Francisco last week, and Zenlytic was right in the middle of all the action. Whether you met us on the expo floor or over a glass of sparkling champagne at Zoë Bar, one thing was clear: the AI analytics wave isn’t just coming... It’s here. And Zoë is the differentiator.
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Zenlytic at Snowflake Summit 2025 Recap: Live from San Francisco
5 Key Themes and Takeaways from the Summit
After talking with everyone from founders to field markers, consultants to curious minds, here's what stood out.
1. AI Everywhere… But Not Always Grounded
Every booth had something AI-branded, from agents to copilots to "data whisperers." But beyond the buzzwords, very few had real, actionable use cases. The result? Lots of repetition. Nearly every booth claimed “trusted AI insights” or “accelerated decisions with GenAI,” but few could show how.
2. Conversational Analytics Is Having a Moment
Many platforms, including Aible, DataChat, and newer entrants, pitched themselves as “AI analysts” or “data agents.” The rise of natural language interfaces was undeniable. However, most platforms are trying to push analyst compatibility, but at Zenlytic, we're focused on ensuring that Zoë can help the everyday business user and stakeholders.
3. Data Apps Dominate the Talk Track
Building data apps on top of warehouse-native models was a breakout theme from Sigma to smaller startups. This pushes toward actionability, bridging analysis with execution, and signals where buyers want AI to go: from dashboards to decisions.
Zenlytic is already there.
4. Rise of the Semantic Layers
A growing category of vendors now positions themselves as the infrastructure behind the hype, helping others build, scale, and monitor AI solutions. Technical buyers are beginning to recognize the importance of incorporating a semantic layer into their models. However, they’re plagued with the hard work it takes to build one.
Given our years of expertise with the semantic layer, we’ve got something in store to accelerate this process accurately and safely.
5. Spotlight on Specific Angles
Snowflake Cortex focused on the analyst experience, making sure there’s a trail of SQL to check and verify the query.
ThoughtSpot leaned heavily into “data to decisions,” focusing on research-backed, executive-ready outcomes.
Sigma tied AI to application logic, focusing on composability and workflows.
Omni emphasized business intelligence and embedded experiences.
Zenlytic (that’s us 😉) stood out by actually demoing real use cases with Zoë delivering governed, explainable, conversational answers to real business questions.
Booth Highlights & Conversations: AI That Actually Works
The Moscone floor was buzzing, but our booth quickly became a magnet for teams tired of clunky dashboards and hallucinating chatbots as an afterthought. Beyond the buzz, we had meaningful conversations with data leaders across every industry, from fast-growing SaaS startups to enterprise giants.
- Live Zoë Demos: Attendees put Zoë to the test and left convinced. She handled layered, ad hoc questions quickly and accurately. Several visitors got to ask questions and watched Zoë return accurate, contextual answers live. There was no prep, just results. It’s a “must-see to believe” moment, and we had plenty!
- Swag Drop Frenzy: Our now-iconic Modern Data Sack and ever-popular socks were the hottest merchandise at the Summit, and yes, we ran out.
- Customer Stories IRL: Existing Zenlytic users shared how Zoë transforms their teams, enabling marketers, sales ops, and execs to get answers instantly, without waiting for analysts or wading through dashboards.
- A-Ha Moments for Analysts: Many data professionals came curious (and a little skeptical), and left seeing Zoë not as a threat, but as a powerful 24/7 coworker.
Breakout Session: How Stanley Black & Decker Is Turning Data Into Decisions with AI
In the Snowflake Session at the Basecamp North Theater, Prakash Holalkere, Senior Director of Enterprise Architecture & Strategy, Data & AI at Stanley Black & Decker, joined Paul Blankley, our co-founder and CTO, to discuss how the company is embedding intelligence across its operations to boost agility, efficiency, and customer experience.
In today's fast-moving business environment, speed and clarity in decision-making can mean the difference between leading and lagging. That’s why Stanley Black & Decker is transforming its operations with the power of AI. It is moving from slow, manual reporting cycles to intelligent, real-time insights that drive action in minutes, not days.
Stanley Black & Decker is leveraging AI not just for dashboarding, but as a proactive partner in decision-making. Prakash shared how they’re using AI-driven insights and automation to:
- Optimize the supply chain with faster, more accurate forecasting
- Accelerate innovation by cutting through data complexity.
- Empower teams with self-serve analytics that don’t require SQL or data scientists
- Deliver better customer experiences through real-time operational visibility.
By embedding AI at the core of their analytics strategy, they’re making data a driver of agility, not a bottleneck.
As Paul noted, “The best time to invest in AI for data was yesterday. The second-best time is today.” Businesses can no longer afford to wait days for reports or rely on gut feel. Stanley Black & Decker’s forward-thinking approach shows how combining governed data with explainable AI can unlock powerful outcomes.
👉 Watch the full 20-minute talk here
Wrapping Up from SF
San Francisco gave us its fog, energy, and a whole lot of love for AI done right. Snowflake Summit 2025 was a milestone not just for Zenlytic but also for how teams think about data access, trust, and speed.
Whether you met us at Moscone, chatted at various after-parties, or followed along online. Thank you, let’s keep the conversation going. Just ask
