
AWS for Software Companies Podcast Ep197: From Dashboards to Agents: How Qlik Is Reinventing Data Analytics with AI
Mar 10, 2026
20:07
CTO Sam Pierson explains how Qlik’s associative engine and agentic AI are transforming the way businesses uncover insights and what’s next on the data frontier.
Topics Include:
- Qlik is a 30-year-old data analytics and AI company with global customers.
- Qlik's associative engine surfaces insights from data you aren't even examining.
- A paper manufacturer optimized supply chain routing and navigated tariff complexity.
- Generative AI can't easily query databases — Qlik's engine bridges that gap.
- Qlik built an agentic layer enabling natural language conversations with your data.
- MCP integration lets users access Qlik insights directly from tools like Claude Desktop.
- Qlik runs entirely on AWS, with global regions built around local compliance requirements.
- The AWS partnership prioritizes mutual success over transactional service relationships.
- Agents will mature in 2026; some agentic bets will succeed, others will be refactored.
- Fine-tuned, smaller language models will grow in importance alongside larger ones.
- AI adoption requires restructuring workflows end-to-end, from product spec to go-to-market.
- Qlik is hiring for curiosity and agency — people who experiment without waiting for permission.
Participants:
- Sam Pierson – Chief Technology Officer, Qlik
See how Amazon Web Services gives you the freedom to migrate, innovate, and scale your software company at https://aws.amazon.com/isv/
