Datadog is doubling down on AI-powered observability. The cloud monitoring company has snapped up Boston-based Metaplane, a fast-rising startup known for its smart approach to monitoring data pipelines. Though the deal’s financial terms remain under wraps, the move marks Datadog’s second acquisition in 2025 and reinforces its broader plan to unify observability across applications and data systems—especially as AI workflows become more essential to everyday business operations.
Founded in 2020, Metaplane emerged from Y Combinator with a simple mission: help data teams detect issues early using AI. The platform’s strength lies in its ability to track anomalies and monitor data health in real time. It also offers powerful integrations with tools like Slack and PagerDuty, allowing teams to respond quickly when things go off track. Alerts can be marked as expected or unexpected, helping the system learn and fine-tune its accuracy with use.
Now rebranded as “Metaplane by Datadog,” the product will continue serving its user base under the Datadog umbrella. According to Datadog VP Michael Whetten, observability is no longer just a developer concern—it’s now critical for data teams, especially those managing complex AI infrastructure. Bringing app and data observability into one unified system, he noted, will make AI systems more trustworthy and reliable at scale.
Metaplane’s journey started with customer analytics before pivoting to data observability. The founding trio—MIT grad Kevin Hu, former HubSpot engineer Peter Casinelli, and ex-Appcues developer Guru Mahendran—raised $22.2 million in backing from investors like Khosla Ventures, Flybridge Capital, and prominent angels including Dharmesh Shah of HubSpot and Guillermo Rauch of Vercel.
CEO Kevin Hu sees the acquisition as a major step toward making trustworthy data the foundation of modern businesses. By combining their platform with Datadog’s ecosystem, he says they’ll be able to bridge gaps between software and data teams and elevate observability as a shared responsibility.
This latest deal builds on Datadog’s acquisition of Quickwit, an open-source log search platform, earlier in the year. With competition heating up from players like Monte Carlo, Observe, Coralogix, and Manta, Datadog is clearly pursuing a two-track strategy: acquisitions and internal product development. The company is also rolling out monitoring tools for data jobs and streaming pipelines, adding new capabilities to its suite.
Although Datadog has reported healthy profits, its 2025 revenue guidance came in below market expectations. That reality makes its expansion into high-growth markets like data observability even more critical. According to Grand View Research, this market was worth $2.14 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow by over 12% annually through 2030.
