NetApp has introduced new capabilities that let AI agents work with enterprise data in place, without copying or moving it first, alongside an expanded partnership with Commvault aimed at faster ransomware recovery.
NetApp said most enterprise data estates were built for human-paced workflows — fragmented across file, object, cloud, on-premises and sovereign environments, governed through inconsistent controls, and activated through pipelines that copy, move and transform data before it can be used. As AI agents move from experimentation into production, that approach creates latency, cost, compliance risk and answers that may already be stale by the time they reach a model or agent.
“The agentic enterprise will be defined by how quickly and safely organizations can turn their data into intelligence,” said Asad Khan, Senior Vice President and General Manager, AI at NetApp. “For too long, AI initiatives have depended on complex pipelines that move data away from where it is created, governed, and protected. NetApp is taking a different approach: activating data in place with the governance, resiliency, and openness enterprises require.”
Finding and governing data where it sits
NetApp AI Data Engine (AIDE) now discovers and understands data across NetApp ONTAP, StorageGRID and non-NetApp storage, working across NFS, SMB and S3 repositories. NetApp said the update helps customers uncover data, reduce security risk, optimise storage, accelerate migrations and identify which data is AI-ready — without moving it first. The company is also previewing further AIDE updates, including deeper governance intelligence, open analytics integrations with engines such as Starburst and Onehouse.AI, and new agentic services meant to turn data into actionable AI context at scale.
Faster, cleaner recovery from ransomware
The expanded joint solution with Commvault connects NetApp’s autonomous ransomware protection signals on primary storage directly to Commvault’s recovery workflows, delivering near-real-time threat detection, deeper scans for evasive threats, and cleanroom validation in an isolated environment. NetApp said the goal is to let joint customers recover in minutes rather than days or weeks, without reintroducing infection.
“As AI-driven threats compress response times, organizations need a faster path to trusted recovery,” said Pranay Ahlawat, Chief Technology and AI Officer at Commvault. “By integrating NetApp’s ransomware detection and immutable data protection with Commvault’s clean recovery capabilities, we help customers accelerate response, restore trusted data with confidence, and reduce mean time to clean recover.”
“Agentic AI raises the bar for enterprise data infrastructure, because agents need access to current, trusted, and governed data rather than another copy of yesterday’s dataset,” said Shari Lava, GVP of AI Research at IDC. “NetApp’s approach is a useful example of this shift: connecting data discovery, understanding, governance, activation, and cyber resilience at the storage layer… without the risk, cost, and complexity that often come with large-scale data movement.”
