With only 28% of AI initiatives delivering ROI, DataStrike and Brainforge bring together the data infrastructure and AI implementation expertise mid-market companies need to turn AI vision into business value

PITTSBURGH, June 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- DataStrike, a managed data infrastructure services company, and Brainforge, a data analytics and AI consultancy, today announced a strategic partnership to help mid-market organizations close the AI execution gap and turn AI initiatives into measurable business results.

The announcement coincides with both companies attending Snowflake Summit 2026, where AI governance, observability, infrastructure readiness, and operational accountability continue to shape enterprise AI conversations. 

The timing reflects a broader challenge the industry has struggled to resolve. According to a Gartner survey of 782 IT infrastructure and operations leaders, only 28% of AI initiatives fully succeed and meet ROI expectations, while 20% fail outright. For mid-market companies, where teams are smaller, budgets tighter, and failed experiments more costly, those numbers carry real weight.

The partnership addresses a gap most mid-market organizations cannot solve on their own: finding both the AI expertise to build solutions and the operational expertise to support them long term. Brainforge leads AI strategy, use case development and implementation. DataStrike provides the database, cloud, and analytics expertise required to support AI in production. 

"AI runs on data," said DataStrike CEO Buddy Flerl. "The model conversation is just the starting point. The organizations getting value from AI are the ones who've built the operational layer around it — observability, governance, security, and cost management. It's not glamorous, but it's what keeps AI running at scale, and it's what we've spent decades helping customers get right. Brainforge brings the AI expertise. We bring the operational backbone. Together, that's how you turn AI vision into business value."

Building AI and operating AI are often treated as separate challenges. The partnership brings those capabilities together.

"We're not here to sell AI," said Uttam Kumaran, CEO of Brainforge. "We're here to make AI work for the customer. It starts with an honest assessment of what's ready, what isn't, and where the real value is. Then it takes the right foundation, governance, and operational support to keep it running. Most firms hand that off. We built this partnership, so we don't have to. The customer gets both, from day one." 

The AI Discovery Sprint is the first offering under the partnership, with additional joint services and resources planned as the collaboration evolves. Read more about the DataStrike-Brainforge offer.

Customer Resources 

• Clean Data for Smarter Sales Ops – 60% faster quote turnaround and 95% cost estimation accuracy for a major steel fabricator
• How Brainforge Saved a Retailer $300K+ – Turning unpredictable shipping costs into a controllable line item 
• DataStrike + 84 Lumber – Stabilizing and modernizing core data systems
• DataStrike + Leading Integrated Payments Company – Scaling a high-volume, 24x7 transaction platform 

About Brainforge
Brainforge builds custom context infrastructure for AI-native companies. We connect your data, docs, workflows, and tools into a trusted company brain, then use it to power agents, dashboards, automations, and decisions that your team can rely on. Brainforge delivers outcomes in weeks across data engineering, product analytics, automation, and AI implementation. Learn more at brainforge.ai. 

About DataStrike
DataStrike is a 100% onshore managed data services company that keeps the data infrastructure behind mid-market businesses running. From SQL Server and Oracle to Snowflake, Databricks, and Microsoft Fabric — plus cloud environments, analytics, and AI readiness — DataStrike covers the entire data estate under a single fractional contract with no lock-in. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., DataStrike supports more than 200 clients across North America. Learn more at datastrike.com. 

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SOURCE DataStrike