Snowflake Inc. said that it’s buying a database startup called Crunchy Data Solutions Inc. in a $250 million deal that’s expected to close imminently, bolstering its agentic AI capabilities. The startup has developed a cloud-based database platform that makes it simple for businesses and government agencies to use PostgreSQL without having to manage the underlying infrastructure. Executive Vice President of Product Christian Kleinerman and Crunchy Data founder and Chief Executive Paul Laurence explained that the upcoming Snowflake Postgres platform will “simplify how developers build, deploy and scale agents and apps.” They were referring to AI agents, which are widely expected to become the next big thing after generative AI, taking actions on behalf of humans to automate complex work with minimal human supervision. When it launches as a technology preview in the coming weeks, Snowflake Postgres will be an enterprise-grade PostgreSQL offering that will give developers the full power and flexibility found in the original, open-source Postgres database, together with the superior operational standards, governance, security and flexibility of Snowflake’s cloud data warehouse. According to Snowflake, it will help developers to speed up the development of new AI agents and simplify the way they access data. “Access to a PostgreSQL database directly within Snowflake has the potential to be incredibly impactful for our team and our customers, as it would allow us to securely deploy our Snowflake Native App, LandingLens, into our customers’ account,” said Dan Maloney, CEO of Snowflake customer LandingAI Inc. “This integration is a key building block in making it simpler to build, deploy and run AI applications directly on the Snowflake platform.” The advantage of having a PostgreSQL offering is that it is flexible enough to be the underlying database for AI agents that leverage data from their respective cloud platforms.