Snowflake to Acquire Natoma for AI Agent Governance as MCP Adoption Accelerates in Enterprises
Updated
Updated · InfoWorld · May 28
Snowflake to Acquire Natoma for AI Agent Governance as MCP Adoption Accelerates in Enterprises
10 articles · Updated · InfoWorld · May 28
Snowflake said it will buy U.S. startup Natoma to add governance, security and connectivity for AI agents as customers push agentic AI from pilots into production.
Natoma’s MCP-based platform will be folded into Snowflake to connect Cortex Agents, Snowflake Intelligence and Cortex Code with SaaS apps, cloud environments, VPCs and on-premises systems under centralized controls.
Analysts said that governed MCP matters because the protocol can standardize access across tools but also widen risk without identity-aware permissions, policy enforcement, audit trails and human approval for high-risk actions.
Most enterprises still are not ready for large-scale MCP use, with governance, identity, data-classification and access-control models lagging the productivity gains companies want from autonomous agents.
The deal underscores a broader race to own the AI control plane, though Snowflake did not disclose terms and still must prove it can integrate Natoma without adding operational complexity.
Can Snowflake's 'control plane' truly tame the 'shadow AI' risk from autonomous agents acting across the enterprise?
As AI agents proliferate, will a single vendor control their access, or will open identity standards prevail?
With new AI regulations in effect, who is liable when a 'governed' agent inevitably makes a costly mistake?
Snowflake’s Natoma Acquisition: Building the Control Plane for Enterprise AI Governance
Overview
Snowflake has made a strategic move by acquiring Natoma to strengthen its position in the fast-changing AI landscape. By integrating Natoma’s specialized features into its AI Data Cloud, Snowflake is expanding its governance framework beyond traditional data controls to include AI-driven actions and workflows. This helps address the risks of ungoverned AI, where autonomous agents can make decisions without oversight. As a result, Snowflake customers will soon benefit from advanced governance tools that ensure secure, compliant, and auditable AI operations, making it easier for organizations to confidently deploy and manage AI agents.