Weekly DaaS Roundup October 30

Welcome to the latest edition of the World of DaaS Roundup. This week, OpenAI connects ChatGPT to enterprise data, Atlassian’s CTO calls out the 4% of companies seeing real AI value, and banks race to rebuild data trust as the foundation of AI. Plus, Kolby.ai joins World of DaaS as a Verified Partner to help DaaS businesses scale smarter.

 📰 NEWS AND READS

Data trust becomes AI’s foundation in finance Silicon Angle

• A new Ataccama report finds most banks struggle to scale AI because of weak data governance, making trusted data the new competitive edge.

46ers, 55ers, 81ers, and today Auren Hoffman

• If you want to know what the most ambitious 20-year-olds today will be doing in 20 years, look to the AI-driven zeitgeist shaping them now.

Inside Atlassian’s view on realistic AI adoption TechZine

• Atlassian’s CTO says real adoption comes from clear use cases, not hype -emphasizing that just 4% of companies are seeing real value from AI today.

OpenAI connects ChatGPT to enterprise data AI News

• ChatGPT Enterprise now integrates with Slack, Drive, and GitHub, letting employees query company data directly and get contextual answers.

🎧 THE LATEST WORLD OF DAAS PODCAST

moneyball for CEOs, real estate data & buying sports teams

Mark Ein is the founder, chairman and CEO of Venturehouse Group and has been involved in the founding or early stages of six companies worth over $1 billion.

In this episode of World of DaaS, Mark and Auren discuss:

• Cross-sector investing advantages and pitfalls

• Office occupancy data and return-to-work trends

• The SPAC evolution and capital market disruptions

• Sports betting's impact on fan engagement and sports businesses the job o

🔥 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

M&A Funding Roundup

• Mercor – The AI talent and data-labeling platform fueling model training for companies like OpenAI and Anthropic raised $350 million at a $10 billion valuation to expand its global network of human trainers and data experts.

• Fireworks AI – The inference-optimization startup raised $254 million in Series C funding at a $4 billion valuation to help developers deploy and scale AI models more efficiently.

• Mem0 – The “memory infrastructure” startup for AI agents raised $24 million from Basis Set Ventures, Peak XV Partners, and others to help applications retain context and knowledge across sessions.

• Uptiq AI – The Texas-based fintech infrastructure company raised $12 million to scale Qore, its AI-driven platform for banks and wealth management firms.

• Polygraf AI – The Austin startup raised $9.5 million in Seed funding to develop lightweight language models for enterprise and defense clients focused on AI security and data compliance.

 Kolby.ai Joins as a Verified World of DaaS Partner

Kolby.ai helps Data-as-a-Service companies accelerate growth through GTM Engineering. Their team of former DaaS operators designs workflows that expert humans build and monitor to turn data into action across every stage of the funnel. Kolby.ai’s expertise spans:

• RevOps: Automate manual seller work (e.g. prepare account notes prior to a call, send follow-up emails based on call transcripts, update CRMs automatically, etc.)

• Growth: Automate demand gen and ABM (e.g. build personalized campaigns based on customized data that your DaaS business has about them).

• Customer success: Automate retention and expansion plays (e.g. analyze API usage to predict churn and send targeted re-engagement emails).

World of DaaS members receive preferred pricing on Kolby.ai’s GTM engineering services — helping your business grow faster, without adding headcount.

 💼 WORLD OF DAAS JOB BOARD

Showcasing open roles at companies led by members of our community. A few standout opportunities this week:

• Associate Director, Client Strategy at Morning Consult

• VP of Sales, B2B at Spokeo

• Director of Engineering at SentiLink

Looking to showcase an open role? The World of DaaS job board highlights opportunities from members across our community. Apply to join and get access to exclusive perks including job board postings, curated introductions, private events, and more.

🔍 REGISTER FOR 2026 WORLD OF DAAS SUMMIT

We’re headed back to D.C. next May for our flagship event, bringing together 160+ DaaS leaders for a day of candid conversations, curated roundtables, and private networking experiences. Join the leaders shaping the future of data.

Apply to become a World of DaaS Founding Member and secure your summit ticket for just $500.

🤖🎨 MACHINE-MADE MASTERPIECE

prompt: last Halloween image I promise :)