Confluent has introduced Confluent Intelligence, a new unified platform within Confluent Cloud designed to help enterprises develop real-time, context-aware AI systems. Positioned as a major step forward in merging data streaming with artificial intelligence, the platform aims to close what the company calls the “AI context gap”—a persistent challenge caused by the absence of continuous and dependable data streams needed for production-grade AI.
Built on Apache Kafka and Apache Flink, Confluent Intelligence brings together the company’s data streaming expertise with advanced AI capabilities. At its core is a Real-Time Context Engine, which continuously streams structured, high-quality data to AI models via the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This ensures that AI systems have access to up-to-date, contextually rich information rather than relying on static, outdated datasets.
The platform also includes built-in machine learning (ML) functions for key operational needs such as anomaly detection, predictive analytics, and forecasting—capabilities that enable organizations to take proactive actions based on live data. By integrating these ML components directly into the data stream, Confluent Intelligence eliminates the traditional lag between data generation, processing, and decision-making.
A major highlight of the announcement is Confluent’s integration of Claude, Anthropic’s large language model (LLM), as the default AI assistant for its Streaming Agents. This integration empowers businesses to build adaptive, real-time AI decision systems capable of understanding evolving data patterns and responding intelligently to new information as it flows through enterprise systems.
According to Confluent CEO Jay Kreps, the new platform represents a significant evolution in the convergence of AI and data streaming. “The platform bridges data streaming and AI to deliver continuous, business-ready intelligence,” he said, emphasizing how enterprises can now operationalize AI more effectively by ensuring models are always informed by the latest contextual data.
With Confluent Intelligence, the company is positioning itself as a central enabler of real-time AI infrastructure, allowing organizations to seamlessly blend live data processing with generative and predictive intelligence. This move strengthens Confluent’s strategic focus on empowering enterprises to build dynamic, continuously learning AI systems that can scale securely and reliably in production environments.
