Note: This blog was originally published in October 2025 when Data Rooms was introduced. It has been updated to reflect the next evolution, Data Activate.
Key Takeaways
- Data Activate is part of Commvault’s next-generation AI capabilities – alongside AI Protect and AI Studio – announced to help organizations activate AI safely, govern AI agents, and build agentic workflows from Commvault Cloud.
- Data Activate is designed so that you can transform backup data into trusted, AI-ready assets while also helping you maintain governance and compliance.
- The offering bridges data protection and AI activation without creating new security risks or requiring another platform.
- It integrates with existing AI ecosystems like Microsoft Azure and Snowflake using open standards such as Apache Parquet and Iceberg.
- Built-in governance helps enable protected data curation, classification, and sharing within a zero-trust architecture.
- By activating historical data, organizations can help accelerate AI innovation, analytics, and compliance workflows safely.
AI innovation depends on data – but not just any data. It depends on trusted, governed, and accessible data. Yet for most enterprises, the data that could fuel AI lives deep within backups, scattered across environments, and wrapped in compliance constraints. That’s where Commvault’s Data Activate offering, previously known as Data Rooms, comes in.
Accelerating AI, Safely
Data Activate is one of three AI capabilities Commvault announced as part of its next-generation AI platform – alongside AI Protect and AI Studio. As organizations race to adopt AI, many are running into a fundamental challenge: their data is fragmented and difficult to use. According to a recent survey, 68% of organizations cite data silos as their top concern.
Commvault’s Data Activate offering helps transform backup data – one of the most complete and trusted datasets an organization owns – into AI-ready assets. Data Activate helps enterprises safely connect their data to AI and analytics platforms, without creating new risks or complexity.
Unlike earlier bulk export approaches, Data Activate can regularly publish updated datasets, making it easier to keep AI pipelines in sync with the most current trusted data. Teams also can identify and exclude sensitive data – such as personally identifiable information – before activating datasets for analytics or model development.
The Data Activate offering is not another AI platform. It’s the bridge between data protection and data activation, designed to make your existing AI investments work faster and safer. It does this by creating governed, policy-controlled “rooms” inside Commvault Cloud – spaces where data can be classified, curated, and shared with AI and analytics tools without leaving the protection boundary.
Listening to Customers: No More Platform Proliferation
We heard customers loud and clear: You don’t need another AI platform. You need a protected, simple way to use the data you already maintain – across the AI tools and ecosystems you’ve already chosen.
That’s why Commvault built Data Activate to integrate with partners like Microsoft Azure and Snowflake using open-standard formats such as Apache Parquet and Iceberg. This helps you keep your data portable, policy-compliant, and ready for activation – wherever your AI strategy takes you.
Turning Data Protection into Data Activation
With Data Activate, authorized users can discover, classify, and prepare data directly from backup repositories – across on-premises and cloud environments. Built-in governance helps maintain control, allowing only approved datasets to be shared, with automated classification, sensitivity tagging, redaction, and audit trails applied every step of the way.
Data Activate acts as a governed, policy-controlled workspace inside Commvault Cloud – where data can be curated and made available to AI or analytics tools without leaving the protection boundary. This governed design provides a protected bridge between backup data and activation workflows, helping organizations unlock their information for innovation while being able to maintain compliance and control.
Data Activate can help you:
- Accelerate insights: Quickly find and export historical data in AI-friendly formats to train models or power analytics.
- Simplify operations: Eliminate brittle ETL pipelines with automated data discovery and curation.
- Maintain compliance: Keep governance intact with policy-based controls and traceability from backup to activation.
Trust as the Foundation for Responsible AI
In the rush to adopt AI, trust often becomes collateral damage. According to a recent study, roughly three-quarters of surveyed IT leaders said that using AI could make their organizations more vulnerable to cyberattacks. That’s why Commvault built Data Activate within Commvault Cloud’s zero-trust architecture, complete with encryption, RBAC, and compliance support.
By combining data protection, governance, and activation in one platform, Commvault enables enterprises to accelerate AI innovation without compromising data security, compliance, or control.
Accelerate Innovation Without Adding Risk
Commvault’s Data Activate offering helps organizations move faster by making data safely accessible to the tools that drive their business forward – from AI model training to analytics, eDiscovery, and compliance support automation. Because when backup data becomes usable data, enterprises unlock years of historical intelligence and context that most AI models simply don’t have.
As Pranay Ahlawat, Commvault’s Chief Technology and AI Officer, said: “Organizations are beginning to realize that their historical data is more than just insurance – it’s a powerful, untapped strategic asset. With Commvault Data Activate, enterprises can confidently export their secondary data and harness it with the AI platform of their choice to unlock new opportunities for intelligence, innovation, and business growth.”
Why It Matters Now
Commvault’s Data Activate offering redefines what’s possible for enterprises that want to innovate responsibly. They make it possible to move from protecting data to activating data – safely, flexibly, and at scale.
In short: Commvault isn’t building another AI platform. We’re building the foundation that lets every AI platform work better – because when data is protected, trusted, and ready for activation, innovation happens faster.
FAQs
Q: What is Commvault’s Data Activate offering?
A: Commvault Data Activate is a capability within Commvault Cloud that helps enterprises safely discover, classify, and activate backup data for AI and analytics. It supports open formats like Apache Iceberg and Parquet and is built on a zero-trust, governed architecture for controlled, self-service data access.
Q: How does Data Activate differ from other AI data solutions?
A: Most AI data prep tools work only on live or production data, creating compliance and cost challenges. Data Activate works from backup data – data that’s already protected and governed – bringing a unique balance of accessibility, compliance support, and trust. It’s built into Commvault Cloud’s policy-controlled environment, so it’s part of a unified cyber resilience platform. Data Activate also regularly publishes updated datasets – rather than relying on one-time bulk exports – helping keep AI pipelines current without manual intervention.
Q: What benefits do organizations gain from using Data Activate?
A: Organizations can accelerate AI and analytics insights, simplify data operations by reducing ETL complexity, and maintain compliance through automated classification, tagging, and auditing processes.
Q: How does Data Activate support data security and compliance?
A: Data Activate operates within Commvault Cloud’s zero-trust architecture, applying classification, redaction, and audit-friendly controls automatically. It helps maintain data privacy, traceability, and compliance throughout the data lifecycle, aligning with internal and regulatory governance standards.
Q: What types of AI or analytics platforms can connect with Data Activate?
A: Data Activate integrates with leading cloud and AI partners such as Microsoft Azure and Snowflake, supporting open-standard data formats like Apache Parquet and Iceberg for maximum flexibility and portability.
Q: Why is this offering important for enterprises today?
A: As organizations accelerate AI adoption, Data Activate enables them to responsibly unlock the value of historical, protected data – fueling innovation while helping maintain trust, compliance, and control.
Vir Choksi is Principal Product Marketing Manager at Commvault.
