Microsoft Acquires Seattle’s Osmos to Enhance Data Engineering Automation
Microsoft has made a strategic move in the data engineering space by acquiring Osmos, a Seattle-based startup specializing in automated data engineering solutions. The acquisition, announced on January 5, 2026, will integrate Osmos’ innovative technology into Microsoft Fabric, the company’s comprehensive data and analytics platform launched in 2023. While financial details remain undisclosed, this acquisition represents a significant development in Microsoft’s ongoing efforts to streamline data processes for businesses. The Osmos team, led by CEO Kirat Pandya, will join Microsoft’s engineering organization to accelerate the development of autonomous data engineering capabilities within the Fabric ecosystem.
Osmos began its journey in 2019 with a focus on external data ingestion, helping companies efficiently incorporate data from various external sources including customers, suppliers, and partners. As the company evolved, it began exploring the integration of large language models directly into data engineering workflows, marking a forward-thinking approach to data management. This innovative direction eventually led Osmos to build products within Microsoft Fabric, leveraging the platform’s extensibility features. The acquisition represents a natural progression for Osmos, transforming from a company selling tools alongside data platforms to one whose technology will be embedded within one of the industry’s most comprehensive data platforms. As Pandya explained in his blog post, “By bringing Osmos’ technology and team into Microsoft, we have the opportunity to accelerate what we’ve been building and deliver it to a far broader audience — directly where customers already operate their data platforms.”
The integration of Osmos into Microsoft Fabric addresses a significant pain point in the data management industry. According to Bogdan Crivat, who leads Microsoft’s Azure Data Analytics team, “Many teams spend most of their time preparing data instead of analyzing it.” This observation highlights a common challenge faced by organizations: the excessive time and resources devoted to data preparation rather than extracting valuable insights. Microsoft Fabric already serves as a unified environment for data engineering, data science, real-time analytics, and business intelligence. With the addition of Osmos’ technology, the platform will enhance its ability to transform raw data into “analytics- and AI-ready assets,” potentially saving organizations significant time and resources while improving the quality and usability of their data.
As part of the acquisition agreement, Osmos will be winding down its standalone offerings as the team focuses on integrating their technology into the Microsoft ecosystem. Current Osmos products, including Uploaders, Pipelines, and Datasets, as well as data agents for Databricks and Fabric, will begin sunsetting in January 2026. This transition period gives existing Osmos customers time to adapt while the company works on incorporating its capabilities into Microsoft Fabric. The acquisition represents a significant milestone for Osmos, which had previously raised $13 million in a funding round led by Lightspeed in 2021, with additional investments from CRV, Pear, and SV Angel.
The leadership team behind Osmos brings valuable experience to Microsoft. CEO Kirat Pandya previously worked at both Google and Microsoft, bringing a deep understanding of both companies’ approaches to data management. Co-founder Naresh Venkat also has an impressive background, having worked at Google, Trend Micro, and Dell. This wealth of industry experience, combined with Osmos’ team of less than 20 employees according to LinkedIn, suggests a focused, expertise-driven approach to data engineering that Microsoft clearly values. The acquisition demonstrates Microsoft’s continued commitment to enhancing its data and analytics capabilities through strategic investments in innovative startups.
This acquisition fits into the broader industry trend of major technology companies strengthening their data management and artificial intelligence offerings. As businesses across sectors increasingly rely on data-driven decision-making, the demand for more efficient, automated data engineering solutions has grown substantially. Microsoft’s acquisition of Osmos positions the company to better serve these needs through enhanced automation capabilities within Microsoft Fabric. By streamlining the process of preparing data for analysis and AI applications, Microsoft aims to help organizations unlock greater value from their data assets while reducing the technical burden on their teams. The move also reflects the growing importance of integrating AI capabilities directly into data workflows, a vision that Osmos had already begun to implement through their work with large language models in data engineering processes.
