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Agentic Data Catalog
Is the Data Catalog Finally Dead?
A field guide to the agentic data catalog: how agents build context from evidence, read it at runtime, and close the loop, and where the…
Co-founder & operator
Prukalpa Sankar
Co-founder & Co-CEO · Atlan
Prukalpa Sankar is the co-founder of Atlan, the context layer for AI at organizations like Mastercard, Workday, General Motors, and Dropbox. She previously co-founded SocialCops, a world-leading data-for-good company named a New York Times Global Visionary and World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer, which worked with the UN, the Gates Foundation, and the Government of India.
/ Profile
About Prukalpa.
Prukalpa Sankar has spent over a decade building at the intersection of data and AI.
She is the co-founder of Atlan, the context layer for AI at organizations like Mastercard, Workday, General Motors, and Dropbox. Atlan grew out of the internal tooling her team built to find, trust, and collaborate around their own data. It solved the chaos of a real data team before becoming a product for everyone else.
Before Atlan, Prukalpa and Varun Banka co-founded SocialCops in 2012, a world-leading data-for-good company that worked with the United Nations, the Gates Foundation, and the Government of India on projects ranging from public health to urban planning. SocialCops was named a New York Times Global Visionary and a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer.
She is the founder of the Context and Chaos newsletter (formerly Metadata Weekly), where practitioners share what actually works in the trenches of data and AI. A Forbes 30 Under 30, Fortune 40 Under 40, Economic Times Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year, and TED speaker, Prukalpa holds a B.Eng from Nanyang Technological University.
Press, talks & code
Speaking & appearances
Industry recognition
- Forbes 30 Under 30
- Fortune 40 Under 40
- TED Speaker
- Economic Times Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year
Recent articles by Prukalpa Sankar.
8 showing
- 02Context
Just as the Data Warehouse Defined BI, Context Will Define AI
Why context is the missing layer between data and trustworthy AI. A primer on grounding enterprise AI in business meaning, governance, and trust.
- 03Enterprise Context Layer
What an Enterprise Context Layer Actually Is
A field guide to what the enterprise context layer is, what it isn't, and where it fits in today's AI architectures.
- 04Context Engineering
Activate 2026: Context Just Went From Hype to Reality
At Activate 2026, we stopped talking about context and showed it live, in front of thousands of data leaders. Here are the key takeaways.
- 05AI Readiness
Semantic Layers Failed. Context Graphs Are Next… Unless We Get It Right
Semantic layers failed. What does that mean for context graphs? Learn the 4 principles needed for survival, and why context graphs might be different after…
- 06AI
Context Graphs Are a Trillion-Dollar Opportunity. But Who Actually Captures It?
Context graphs give every AI agent a shared semantic spine, and the platforms that own that layer will capture the value vertical agents can't.
- 07Context layer
The Missing Line Item in Your 2026 AI Budget: Context Infrastructure
In this blog, Prukalpa reflects on how 2026 will reshape data leadership — as CDOs take on ownership for how AI understands the business.
- 08AI
Everyone's Building with AI. But How Many Are Actually Seeing Value?
AI momentum is real. But impact? Still rare. Explore the structural gap between hype and value — and how to finally cross it.
Transparency
Editorial relationship
Founder & operator
Prukalpa is a co-founder and co-CEO of Atlan. Articles published under her byline reflect her own analysis and perspective as a company leader. She reviews and approves every piece published under her byline before publication.
Reach Prukalpa