Kumo Wins Fast Company's Next Big Things in Tech Award for Advancing AI on Enterprise Data

Fast Company’s list celebrates innovations making a difference in the way we work and live.

Kumo, a leader in predictive AI, has been named to Fast Company’s fifth annual Next Big Things in Tech list. Kumo joins a distinguished group of 137 honorees across 31 categories, including companies such as Google, GitHub, and Snap.

Kumo was recognized in the Foundational AI category, which celebrates organizations advancing the core technologies that power the next generation of intelligent systems.

This recognition highlights Kumo’s accomplishment in bringing relational databases into the age of AI. Before Kumo, generating predictions from relational data, the backbone of business operations like customer records and transactions, relied on machine learning methods dating back decades.

With KumoRFM, the first foundation model built for relational data, users can connect their enterprise databases and instantly generate predictions on key outcomes such as fraud detection or customer churn. The model delivers results in seconds, offering up to 20× faster time to value and 30–50% higher accuracy than traditional approaches.

“We are honored to be recognized by Fast Company for being one of the most significant players in foundational AI,” said Dr. Vanja Josifovski, CEO and Co-Founder of Kumo. “We’ve been proud to work with leading organizations like Databricks, Snowflake, Reddit, and DoorDash — proof that enterprises across the board stand to gain from the value within their relational data.”

“Next Big Things in Tech is both a snapshot of the most interesting tech of the moment and a crystal ball that predicts the next several years,” said Brendan Vaughan, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “We’re excited to share this list with our readers, and we congratulate the winners for their vision and innovation.”

Kumo, which has raised $37 million, was founded by Dr. Vanja Josifovski, Dr. Jure Leskovec, and Dr. Hema Raghavan, who have dedicated their careers to unlocking the value within enterprise data through AI. Each served in top leadership roles at LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Airbnb, where they helped shape the AI systems that power some of the world’s most influential platforms. That same caliber of leadership and innovation now drives Kumo — a clear standout on Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech list.

For more information or to view the complete list of honorees, visit Fast Company’s feature.