Data migrations reimagined: Introducing the AI-powered Datafold Migration Agent

Data migrations remain one of the most challenging bottlenecks for modern data teams. As organizations accumulate years of complex data transformation logic across thousands of tables, migrations between platforms or frameworks can take months — often years — of painstaking manual work.

We’ve worked with teams like Healthy Directions, Faire, and Eventbrite to accelerate their migrations by taking care of one of the toughest parts of the process: cross-database data validation. Now, we’re going even further.

Today we’re releasing an AI-powered Datafold Migration Agent (DMA) designed to fundamentally transform the way data teams manage migrations. When combined with our industry-leading Cross-Database Diffing, DMA creates the first-ever full-cycle, automated migration solution — handling everything from code translation to comprehensive validation and cutting migration timelines from months or years to weeks.

Reimagining data migrations

The DMA takes a fundamentally different approach to data migrations. Rather than relying on deterministic SQL transpilers with predefined grammars and rules, or expensive consultants who manually translate code, the DMA is powered by a state-of-the-art Large Language Model (LLM) that translates data transformation logic and automatically validates the data output to ensure data parity. Here’s what the DMA can do:

• Translate to and from any SQL dialect, handling queries of any complexity
• Translate between orchestration frameworks including stored procedures, Airflow, and dbt
• Translate GUI-based frameworks like Informatica, Microstrategy, and Matillion to SQL
• Continuously improve code translations until data parity is reached

When paired with Datafold's Cross-Database Diffing, teams get automated, value-level validation of their entire migration — ensuring every data point matches perfectly between source and target systems.

Fast, accurate results — guaranteed

Successful migrations require two key elements: accurate code translation and reliable validation. The Datafold Migration Agent brings these together through two powerful technologies that work in concert to deliver data parity fast.

While migrations projects historically drag on for years, some with unpredictable bill-by-the-hour costs, we deliver results in a fixed timeline that early adopters have typically found to be 5-10x faster.  That’s a big claim, but we’re so confident in our DMA that we’ll back it up with a contractual timeline guarantee.

How it works

While AI-powered translation isn't new, most attempts have created more problems than they solve. The difference lies in our specialization in validation. The Datafold Migration Agent reflects years of experience with SQL parsing and data validation, resulting in an AI system that truly understands the nuances of different data platforms and frameworks and won’t stop refining the code until your data reaches parity.

1. Intelligent translation: DMA analyzes your source code and automatically translates it to your target dialect or framework, handling complex SQL patterns and custom functions.
2. Continuous refinement: Unlike static transpilers, DMA learns from both compilation errors and data validation results, continuously improving translations until perfect parity is achieved.
3. Comprehensive validation: Cross-Database Diffing automatically compares data between source and target systems, providing detailed reports of any discrepancies.

Importantly, even with lift-and-shift migrations some changes need to be applied at scale. DMA supports flexible configuration to handle remapping and light remodeling.

Getting started

If you’re ready to get started, we are, too. We can help you evaluate the specific impact on your migration project with an assessment of how quickly Datafold’s migration solution can process and validate your data. Plus, we’ll outline potential time and cost savings so you can make a case to your stakeholders for the investment. Book time with our team to get your evaluation started.