Data infrastructure consolidation continues as Fivetran, dbt Labs merge

Data infrastructure vendor Fivetran signed a definitive agreement this week to merge in an all-stock deal with dbt Labs. It is the third merger or acquisition for Fivetran in the last five months.

The combined company aims to deliver an open data infrastructure — unifying data movement, transformation, metadata and activation — while preserving freedom of choice for analytic compute and AI, according to the announcement. 

The company’s vision for an open data infrastructure will reduce engineering complexity by automating data management end-to-end, and work across any compute engine, catalog, BI tool or AI model.

The data layer is becoming increasingly crucial for businesses that aim to deliver personalized experiences or deploy AI agents. Data needs to be accurate and readily available to help ensure agents don’t stray from the intended path and experiences don’t fall short. 

Fivetran’s previous acquisitions in 2025 include Census, which it acquired in May, and Tobiko Data, the company behind SQLMesh and SQLGlot, which it bought in September.

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More open source data tools get acquired

Among the things Census, SQLMesh, SQL Glot and dbt Core have in common is their open-source nature. 

In a statement announcing the merger, Fivetran reaffirmed its commitment to an open data infrastructure.

“As part of this transaction, the company is committed to keeping dbt Core open under its current license and maintaining it with and for the community, ensuring its development remains vibrant,” the statement said. 

dbt Labs CEO and co-founder Tristan Handy echoed that sentiment in a blog post announcing the merger. 

“I know that at least some of you reading this will be concerned that Fivetran’s historical focus on building proprietary software might make its way into the ethos of dbt, but we anticipate quite the opposite,” Handy wrote.

At this point, not everyone is convinced. Not only are open-source options being acquired, but consolidation is also leading to fewer choices and shrinking the analytics engineering ecosystem.

Fivetran CEO George Fraser will serve as CEO of the unified company, and Handy will serve as co-founder and president. Finalization of the merger remains subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. Until then, Fivetran and dbt Labs will continue to operate as separate, independent companies.