Enterprises are pushing past AI experiments and demanding production-grade deployments, but fragmented data and poorly scoped agents are stalling progress. The question is no longer whether AI agents can execute tasks \u2014 it\u2019s whether the underlying\u00a0data fabric can give them enough context to execute the right ones.<\/p>\n
That context problem sits at the center of how process-centric AI<\/a> is being built at Appian Corp., which is betting that a governed AI data fabric \u2014 not raw model power \u2014 is what separates useful agents from unpredictable ones, according to Mark Talbot<\/a> (pictured), director of AI architecture at Appian.<\/p>\n \u201cWith your AI architecture, the salient components are first the data \u2014 the context that you provide to the AI \u2014 and that all exists in our data fabric,\u201d Talbot said. \u201cWith our data fabric, you can draw out relations between your support cases [or] between your knowledge base articles that you have for a support application. You also have your tools that are in place.\u00a0Agents need tools to do work. Your tools are your existing actions and your existing processes.\u201d<\/p>\n Talbot spoke with theCUBE\u2019s Dave Vellante<\/a> and Alison Kosik<\/a> at Appian World 2026<\/a>, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media\u2019s livestreaming studio. They discussed how Appian\u2019s AI data fabric powers agentic AI, the boundaries between agents and workflow and real-world customer adoption patterns. (* Disclosure below.)<\/p>\n AI data fabric as the connective tissue for agentic workflows<\/p>\n Appian\u2019s AI data fabric functions as more than a catalog \u2014 it is the application platform around which workflows, agents and human tasks are organized. Rather than migrating data, Appian synchronizes it in place, building a knowledge graph that maps relationships across systems such as Salesforce Inc. and SAP SE without requiring a lift-and-shift, Talbot explained.<\/p>\n \u201cProcurement data lives in many different systems,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we do with data fabric is we synchronize that data within Appian so you can work with that to perform your semantic search \u2014 to perform your AI-powered decisions with our agent technology.\u201d<\/p>\n That approach is already showing up in the field. Working with a wealth management firm in Australia, Appian\u2019s team conducted a task audit to identify which human-driven IT support steps could be handed to an AI agent. The agent was given a goal, a set of instructions and access to the AI data fabric, then handled first-level triage autonomously \u2014 searching prior support tickets and knowledge base articles without human involvement. That pool of enterprise context is only growing: Appian\u2019s recently announced partnership with Snowflake Inc.<\/a> extends the data fabric\u2019s reach further across enterprise systems. But wider context doesn\u2019t mean looser control \u2014 where errors are costly or compliance is involved, deterministic workflows stay in charge.<\/p>\n \u201cThese multi-agent platforms need to be governed by workflows, especially when the cost of error is high,\u201d Talbot said. \u201cYou need an overarching workflow process that delegates work to the individual agents. For example, you might have an individual agent that reads a report from a physician, interprets if it\u2019s high risk or low risk, and then a human still in the loop is part of your overarching process to review that.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE\u2019s and theCUBE\u2019s coverage of Appian World 2026<\/a>:<\/p>\n (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Appian World. Neither Appian, the sponsor of theCUBE\u2019s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)<\/p>\n Photo: SiliconANGLE<\/p>\n Support our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE\u2019s Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities.<\/p>\n 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more About SiliconANGLE Media<\/p>\n SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE<\/a>, theCUBE Network<\/a>, theCUBE Research<\/a>, CUBE365<\/a>, theCUBE AI<\/a> and theCUBE SuperStudios \u2014 with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange \u2014 SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI.<\/p>\n Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Our new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Enterprises are pushing past AI experiments and demanding production-grade deployments, but fragmented data and poorly scoped agents are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[179,7493,15146,4808,396],"class_list":{"0":"post-21704","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-agentic-ai","8":"tag-agentic-ai","9":"tag-agentic-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-fragmented-data-is-stalling-enterprise-ai-deployments-before-they-ever-ship","11":"tag-kelly-knight","12":"tag-siliconangle"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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