Interview with EDB

Find out more about our sponsor EDB

Any views or opinions represented or expressed in this interview belong solely to the interviewee and do not necessarily represent those of the 2025 organization, PostgreSQL Europe, or the wider PostgreSQL community, unless explicitly stated.

EDB is committed to building Postgres for the AI generation by providing a modern Postgres data platform for operators, developers, data engineers, and AI builders powering mission-critical workloads.

How do you see AI changing the database world over the next few years?

AI is transforming the database from a passive system of record into an active system of intelligence. In the next few years, databases will need to act as orchestration layers for generative and agentic AI (storing embeddings, retrieving context, and triggering real-time inference directly from SQL).

PostgreSQL’s extensibility is the differentiator here. Its ability to integrate new data types, indexing methods, and procedural languages means AI capabilities can be built directly into the database without sacrificing reliability. That allows AI logic to live alongside transactional data in one trusted system, reducing complexity and letting teams move from raw data to AI-driven insight without stitching together a dozen separate tools.

How does your company contribute to and benefit from PostgreSQL?

We are the largest single contributor to the vitality of PostgreSQL, with engineers working year-round on core performance, scalability, security, and standards compliance. In PostgreSQL 18, 18 EDB engineers delivered more than 30 patches, and in PostgreSQL 17, 19 of our engineers contributed 24 features, including built-in incremental backup, major transaction subsystem performance gains, and enhanced JSON functionality. These upstream improvements benefit everyone, not just our customers, and help ensure Postgres remains the most advanced open source database in the world.

Because our teams are directly involved in building and maintaining the core code, we are uniquely positioned to help customers when they encounter challenges or need to take advantage of new features. Their investment in EDB is also an investment back into the future of Postgres.

In turn, we build enterprise features, tools, and support around that same core Postgres so organizations can confidently run mission-critical workloads with these additional capabilities—without rewriting applications that already run on Postgres or giving up the openness that makes Postgres thrive.

What is your PostgreSQL centered product or service?

EDB Postgres AI is the first enterprise-grade, sovereign data and AI platform built on PostgreSQL. It unifies four core capabilities: A fully hardened Database for mission-critical workloads; Hybrid Management for unified control across environments; AI Factory for building and running GenAI and agentic AI applications; and Analytics Accelerator for high-speed queries on operational data.

The result is a single governed environment where organizations can scale Postgres to billions of transactions, train and serve AI models directly on live data, and meet strict sovereignty requirements without sacrificing performance or control.

Why did you choose to sponsor PGDay UK 2025?

PostgreSQL thrives because of its community, and events like PGDay UK give that community the space to connect, exchange ideas, and push the technology forward. Sponsoring means we’re helping make that possible.

For us, it’s also a chance to be in the room with contributors, partners, and customers who are shaping how Postgres is used in everything from mission-critical systems to AI-driven applications. The UK has a vibrant Postgres ecosystem, and we see the innovation coming out of it influencing global adoption patterns. Supporting PGDay UK is part of our commitment to keep that momentum going and to make sure Postgres remains the most advanced, reliable, and adaptable database in the world.

Which contribution to PostgreSQL from your company are you most excited about?

One of the most impactful recent contributions is built-in incremental backup, introduced in PostgreSQL 17 with major engineering from PostgreSQL major contributor and committer and EDB VP, Chief Database Scientist Robert Haas. This moves incremental backup logic into core Postgres, eliminating the need for third-party tools and dramatically improving recovery time, storage efficiency, and operational simplicity.

For enterprises managing large, frequently updated databases, it means backups can happen faster and use less space without compromising reliability. It’s the kind of foundational changethat benefits the entire Postgres community and makes disaster recovery planning far more predictable.

What do you think are the next biggest challenges for PostgreSQL in the future?

PostgreSQL is no longer “just” a relational database but the backbone of mission-critical systems. It’s the source code base that powers petabyte-scale analytics, real-time AI pipelines, and ultra-low-latency workloads across industries. In our recent research, 35% of enterprises said they are evaluating PostgreSQL for their most critical workloads, and among the leaders who have committed to sovereign data and AI platforms, we’ve seen ROI that’s up to 227% higher than their peers. That tells us the future is already arriving on Postgres.

The next challenge is scale. AI factories that demand unified transactional and analytical data, workloads that stretch across hybrid estates, and global applications that cannot tolerate downtime or lock-in. The key will be evolving to meet these demands while preserving the very qualities that made Postgres indispensable in the first place—simplicity, trust, and true portability.

If we get this balance right, Postgres won’t just adapt to the AI era. It will define it as the sovereign data and AI platform enterprises rely on to build their future.