A new startup is aiming to solve one of the biggest challenges in big data: getting the right information to the right people in a timely manner. Isotopes, founded by Scale AI’s former CTO Arun Murthy, has raised $20 million in seed funding to build an AI agent that can answer business questions using data from multiple sources.

The problem with big data isn’t that companies don’t have enough of it. The issue is that most organizations struggle to make sense of their data, much less use it to drive decision-making. According to a recent survey by Gartner, only 32% of companies say they are “very effective” at using data and analytics to make decisions. The rest are either “somewhat effective” (47%) or “not effective” (21%).

Part of the problem is that data is often siloed in different systems, making it difficult to access and analyze. Another issue is that many business users don’t have the technical skills to query databases or use data visualization tools. As a result, they rely on data analysts and IT teams to provide them with the information they need, which can be time-consuming and inefficient.

Isotopes’ solution is an AI agent called Aidnn (pronounced “Aiden”) that can understand natural language questions and provide answers using data from a variety of sources, including Salesforce, Snowflake, ERP systems, CRM systems, and cloud storage platforms. Aidnn can also generate reports, dashboards, and other visualizations to help users better understand the data.

“Our vision is to make data accessible to everyone in the organization, regardless of their technical skills,” Murthy said in an interview. “With Aidnn, business users can ask questions in plain English and get answers in seconds. They don’t have to rely on data analysts or IT teams to get the information they need.”

Murthy should know a thing or two about big data. He was one of the original developers of Hadoop, the open-source framework for storing and processing large datasets. He also co-founded Hortonworks, one of the leading providers of Hadoop-based software and services. Hortonworks went public in 2014 and was later acquired by Cloudera in 2019.

After leaving Cloudera, Murthy joined Scale AI as CTO. Scale AI is a startup that provides data annotation and labeling services for AI and machine learning applications. Murthy left Scale AI in 2024 to start Isotopes.

Isotopes’ seed funding round was led by NTT Ventures, with participation from other investors, including Dell Technologies Capital, Intel Capital, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Pathfinder. The company plans to use the funds to expand its team and develop its product.

Isotopes isn’t the only startup trying to solve the big data problem with AI. Other companies, such as DataRobot, H2O.ai, and Alteryx, are also offering AI-powered data analytics platforms. However, Murthy believes Isotopes has an edge because of its focus on natural language processing and its ability to integrate with a wide range of data sources.

“We’re not just another data analytics platform,” Murthy said. “We’re an AI agent that can understand natural language questions and provide answers using data from any source. That’s a game-changer for businesses.”

Isotopes is currently in private beta, but the company plans to launch its product publicly later this year. In the meantime, the company is working with a handful of customers to test and refine its product.

“We’re excited about the potential of Aidnn to transform the way businesses use data,” Murthy said. “We believe that by making data more accessible and actionable, we can help companies make better decisions and drive growth.”