The Precision of Search The Intelligence of AI with Elasticsearch

Kevin Murray, Group Vice President at Elastic, introduced the company’s evolution from its roots in search technology to its current role in AI-driven solutions. Elastic, founded in 2012, has grown to nearly 3,000 employees and operates in over 40 countries, serving more than half of the Fortune 500. The company’s core strength lies in its search capabilities, which have evolved from basic keyword search to more advanced, context-based search using vector databases and semantic search. Elastic’s search technology is now being applied to AI, particularly in areas like vector search and retrieval-augmented generation, which enhance the relevance and precision of search results. This combination of search precision and AI intelligence is central to Elastic’s offerings, and the company prides itself on its comprehensive approach to search excellence, including the use of embeddings and hybrid search techniques.

In addition to its core search capabilities, Elastic has expanded into the security and observability markets, offering out-of-the-box solutions that leverage its search technology. These solutions are designed to address the challenges of managing large volumes of data in these crowded and competitive fields. Elastic’s approach to security and observability is differentiated by its use of search to drive greater relevance and effectiveness. For example, in security, Elastic’s solutions focus on detection, diagnosis, and remediation, using machine learning-powered detection rules and anomaly detection to identify potential threats. The company recently introduced “attack discovery,” a feature that uses generative AI to recommend remediation steps tailored to an organization’s specific data and context, significantly reducing the time to resolve security incidents.

Elastic’s platform continues to evolve with new features like automatic data import and ESQL, a query language designed to simplify data management and visualization. The company’s architecture is built around its core search capabilities, with shared services for visualization and automation, and solutions for security and observability layered on top. Elastic remains committed to innovation in search technology, working closely with its developer community and large enterprise customers to address scalability challenges and drive better outcomes. As the company continues to grow, it aims to maintain its leadership in both search and AI-driven solutions, helping organizations manage, visualize, and protect their data more effectively.