Sources: 
As 2025 progresses, generative AI (Gen AI) is driving a profound business transformation, especially among startups scaling data to power AI applications. Traditional legacy systems with rigid schemas and siloed data are failing under new demands, prompting a shift to real-time streaming, cloud-native platforms, and autonomous databases.
A recent roundtable hosted by Inc42 and Couchbase gathered nine technology leaders from sectors including foodtech, medtech, ecommerce, and cloud computing to discuss these challenges. They emphasized the critical need for flexible and scalable data stacks that support real-time AI workloads, as older architectures cannot keep pace.
"Gen AI is no longer a promising experiment or an emerging landscape. It is a full-fledged transformation engine," noted participants, highlighting how AI is reshaping workflows and software development to make systems faster, smarter, and more adaptive.
This new data backbone enables startups to harness AI's potential fully, facilitating business agility and innovation. The move to cloud-native and autonomous databases ensures scalability and accessibility, essential for mission-critical AI applications.
"Legacy systems — rigid schemas, siloed data repositories and batch-based analytics — are cracking under the pressure of mission-critical requirements," the roundtable concluded, underscoring the urgency for startups to adopt modern data infrastructures.
Overall, the discussion reflects a pivotal moment where Gen AI is not just a tool but a core driver of business transformation, with startups leading the charge by scaling data effectively to power AI-driven innovation.
Sources: In 2025, startups are transforming businesses by scaling data with generative AI, moving beyond legacy systems to real-time, cloud-native platforms. Industry leaders highlight the need for flexible, scalable data stacks to support AI applications, marking Gen AI as a key driver of operational innovation across sectors.
