Alation Acquires Numbers Station to Bridge AI and Enterprise Data with Scalable Agents

In a strategic move to advance AI-native enterprise tools, Alation has acquired Numbers Station, a startup focused on building AI agents that operate directly on structured data. The acquisition marks a notable push by Alation to make large language models (LLMs) more useful — and reliable — within enterprise environments.

Though the financial details remain undisclosed, the deal brings together two companies with deeply aligned visions for the future of data intelligence and automation.

Why This Acquisition Matters

At its core, the deal addresses one of the biggest unsolved challenges in enterprise AI: how to make LLMs interact meaningfully — and safely — with structured business data.

“LLMs are the new interface for knowledge consumption,” said Alation CEO and co-founder Satyen Sangani. “But without a robust translation layer between the model and a company’s actual data, they’re just guessing. That’s a non-starter for the enterprise.”

This is where Numbers Station comes in. The company — a Series A startup backed by Norwest, Madrona, Factory, and others — specializes in building AI agents that translate natural language into structured database operations, allowing LLMs to ask and answer questions based on real, grounded enterprise data. It's a functionality that has eluded many of the major players due to the high risk of LLM hallucinations.

A Natural Fit

Alation, known for its data catalog and governance solutions, sees Numbers Station as a perfect fit — both technically and culturally. Sangani highlighted that the architecture of the two companies' platforms was so complementary that integration could be completed as early as the end of this quarter.

Also noteworthy: Venky Ganti, a former Alation co-founder, has spent years working with Numbers Station — a relationship that likely helped facilitate trust and shared direction.

The Bigger Picture: AI Agents for the Enterprise

This acquisition underscores a broader trend in the enterprise AI space: companies don’t just want generic AI tools — they want domain-specific agents that are tightly integrated with their existing systems.

By merging with Numbers Station, Alation is positioning itself to be more than just a data catalog. It's aiming to become a foundational layer for LLM-based automation — a control point between the raw databases and the AI agents interpreting them.

Sangani puts it succinctly:

“Giving LLMs the ability to talk to the core databases that actually run the enterprise — that’s the key to making this technology scale.”

What to Expect Next

Alation plans to begin integrating Numbers Station's capabilities immediately, with the first wave of new features expected before the end of the quarter. Expect tools that allow enterprise users to query structured datasets in plain English, generate reliable insights, and trigger data workflows — all grounded in real-time information, not probabilistic guesses.

With enterprises cautious about LLMs due to reliability and governance concerns, this integration could be the missing piece that finally unlocks large-scale AI adoption in data-driven businesses.