Snowflake pushes interoperability-first vision as Apache Iceberg gains enterprise momentum

As AI adoption accelerates, open data architectures are becoming essential to help organizations access and share data across platforms. Apache Iceberg interoperability and other open standards are increasingly viewed as the key to reducing complexity and unlocking greater value from enterprise data.

Interoperability without compromise reflects a vision of creating an open, connected data ecosystem that extends from the underlying data foundation to how information and products are shared across and within organizations. At the core of that approach is Apache Iceberg, according to James (JRJ) Rowland-Jones (pictured, left), director of product management at Snowflake Inc.

“As you come up through that stack, what you’re trying to achieve is an ecosystem where any engine can both read and write to that data, whether that’s a human or an agent being able to get direct access to that data,” Rowland-Jones said. “In this AI-powered era, that’s what’s so important, is being able to open that ecosystem up as much as humanly possible.”

Rowland-Jones and Russell Spitzer (right), principal engineer at Snowflake Inc., spoke with theCUBE’s Dave Vellante and Rebecca Knight at Snowflake Summit 2026, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the rise of open, interoperable data architectures and the growing importance of Apache Iceberg interoperability in enabling seamless data access, governance and sharing across the AI ecosystem. (* Disclosure below.)

Apache Iceberg interoperability reaches tipping point

What was once a niche and often-debated technology has matured into a trusted standard, with Apache Iceberg interoperability and related open-data initiatives gaining broad industry acceptance. Snowflake’s embrace of Apache Iceberg was driven by growing customer demand for access to data stored in different formats and governed outside the Snowflake ecosystem, creating a need for more open and interoperable data architectures, according to Spitzer.

“It’s been great for both Snowflake and for all of those users, because now we have this whole section of people in the community who previously just couldn’t even try any of the cool stuff that we’re doing inside of Snowflake,” Spitzer said. “Now, there’s direct access to all of that.”

Snowflake found that customers were eager to adopt its platform once it embraced Apache Iceberg and open interoperability standards. As Iceberg has matured into a widely accepted standard, organizations have gained the flexibility to use new tools, libraries and engines without creating friction or moving data, according to Spitzer.

“Of course now when we have agents and new AI things sprouting up all over the place, you have one foundational place where your data can be stored without any copies and you can access it from anywhere,” Spitzer said. “It’s a win-win for pretty much everyone.”

Adoption of Apache Iceberg followed a classic inflection-point pattern: progress was gradual at first, but accelerated rapidly once the industry recognized its value. After reaching that tipping point, momentum built quickly as organizations increasingly aligned around a common interoperable data standard, according to Spitzer.

“It becomes obvious you’re on the right direction, everyone is going in that way, and you’re getting a lot of benefit from it,” Spitzer said. “Then all your naysayers are stepping back, because now that’s obviously where everyone is going, and it’s time to get on board.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Snowflake Summit 2026:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Snowflake Summit event. Neither Snowflake, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE