Bringing Context
to Life for AI Agents

For months, the industry has talked about context.

We’ve given it many names: context graphs, semantic layers, systems of context. But for most teams, context has remained abstract, debated in blogs yet rarely operationalized.

From our inception in 2018, Atlan was never built as a catalog.

We were built around a broader idea: that metadata is context — and context is what allows teams to work together at scale.

That’s why, from the beginning, we went far beyond discovery. We built deep connectors not just into data platforms, but into operational tools, BI tools, communication systems, and developer workflows — because context doesn’t live in one place, and it doesn’t get used in one interface.

We helped enterprises connect lineage, ownership, and policies across some of the world’s most complex data estates. And we built the foundations for governance that actually works with data products, domains, policies, approval workflows, and more.

When the first wave of generative AI arrived in 2021, we saw what was coming.

AI wouldn’t just consume data. It would need to create, reason over, and act on context — continuously, and at scale. So we began rebuilding Atlan for that future: investing in platform primitives like an Iceberg-native Metadata Lakehouse, our App Framework, and the MCP server.

Atlan is now the unified context layer for humans and AI agents.

At Activate 2026, we’re showcasing new capabilities, and massive updates to recently announced ones, that bring the context layer to life:
• Context Studio, to make enterprise context usable by AI agents
• Agentic Data Stewards, to automatically generate and maintain context at scale
• How teams are using Data Quality Studio to make business-first data quality a reality
• How Metadata Lakehouse and MCP Server are helping enterprises to power real-time, context-driven automations and AI agents
• How partners are using the App Framework to build connectors, agents, and automations at ease with speed

It’s time to take the context layer from theory to reality. See you at Activate!

— Prukalpa & Varun
Co-founders, Atlan