dbt Labs: Redefining enterprise data transformation for the age of AI

dbt Labs, the data transformation platform used by more than 5,400 customers across 43 countries, has been shortlisted for SaaS Company of the Year at the UK Business Tech Awards. This nomination highlights dbt Labs’  growing influence as enterprises work to better structure and manage data at scale – an essential foundation for AI adoption. 

dbt Labs pioneered the field of analytics engineering – the practice of transforming raw data into clean, structured datasets ready for business intelligence and AI applications. Founded in 2016 by data analysts frustrated with clunky, inefficient, and unscalable transformation tools, the company set out to create a better solution. Today, dbt Labs is the global standard in analytics engineering, empowering over 60,000 data teams worldwide. 

As organisations invest more heavily in AI and advanced analytics, improving data quality, consistency, and governance has become a top priority. In fact, dbt Labs’ recent State of Analytics Engineering Report reveals AI adoption in analytics has surged to 80% – up from just 30% last year. Yet, data quality remains the single biggest challenge facing data teams, cited by 56% of respondents.

Real-world impact – Trusted data, faster insights

dbt Labs’ award entry showcased how leading organisations are using its platform not only to speed up analytics, but to build stronger data foundations for AI. Customers like Siemens, Secret Escapes, and Car and Classic rely on dbt to deliver trusted, well-structured data that fuels better decision-making and future-ready systems. 

At Secret Escapes, the UK-based luxury travel platform, business teams previously relied on engineers to access and model data, creating delays and workflow bottlenecks. With dbt, analysts gained the ability to model customer data and build performance dashboards themselves. Tasks that once took three months were completed in just three weeks, dramatically accelerating insight delivery and improving agility across teams. “With dbt Cloud, you can give analysts autonomy, while maintaining data governance. Our analysts have taken to it like ducks to water,” said Robin Patel, Head of Data & Analytics Engineering, Secret Escapes.

For Car and Classic, Europe’s leading classic car marketplace, the impact was equally significant. The company saw a 10x improvement in report load times and saved eight hours a week on data incident investigations. “Trust in data is a lot higher,” said James Sharwin, Head of Data. “As a result, our team is using data to drive the business forward.”

Continued innovation with dbt Fusion Engine

The introduction of the dbt Fusion engine in May 2025 represents the company’s latest platform expansion, addressing growing enterprise requirements for speed and security in data transformation processes.

“AI is completely changing the way we interact with data, and dbt is in a prime position to drive the next phase of innovation in the market,” said Tristan Handy, founder and CEO, dbt Labs. “Fusion is the most significant evolution of dbt in its history. It gives enterprise data teams the control, speed, and intelligence they need to scale analytics and AI responsibly while keeping costs down.”

New capabilities include lightning-fast parse times, up to 30x faster than dbt Core, allowing large dbt projects to execute in milliseconds instead of minutes. Instant feedback loops and live error detection now uncover and surface parse, compilation, and logic errors as code is being written – and before running code against the warehouse – optimising both developer efficiency and data platform costs.

Fusion also introduces a set of features designed to empower data teams and business users alike – natural language querying, a visual editing interface, and a cost management dashboard, all of which bring new usability and transparency to data operations.

Importance of AI-ready data to businesses

For dbt Labs, being shortlisted for SaaS Company of the Year is more than just a milestone. It’s an important acknowledgment of the team’s work, not only in building great technology, but in shaping the future of enterprise data strategy.

The UK Business Tech Awards ceremony takes place Wednesday, 10^th September 2025 in London, with winners announced across multiple categories.