Palantir Foundry

What is Palantir Foundry?

Palantir Foundry is a platform for integrating an organization’s data and turning it into applications that people use in daily operations. Data engineers connect source systems such as ERP software, industrial sensors, spreadsheets and databases, then build pipelines that clean and combine the data. Instead of leaving the results as tables, Foundry maps them into the Palantir Ontology, a model of the organization’s real-world objects, such as aircraft, plants, orders or patients, along with the relationships between them and the actions users are allowed to take.

Different kinds of users then work in the same system. Analysts explore data with point-and-click analysis tools and a spreadsheet environment, data scientists build and deploy models, and application builders use low-code tools such as Workshop to create operational apps whose buttons write decisions back to the Ontology and to connected systems. Access controls travel with the data from its source into every downstream analysis, and lineage records show where each figure came from.

Palantir released Foundry in 2016 for large companies whose data problems resembled those of its government clients, and Palantir says all of its commercial customers now use it, as do many government customers, including health agencies in the United States and England. Since 2023 Foundry has also served as the foundation for Palantir AIP, which lets large language models and AI agents work with Ontology objects. Palantir markets Foundry as an operating system for the modern enterprise rather than as a data warehouse, though parts of it overlap with data platforms such as the Databricks platform.

Key features of Palantir Foundry

1. 01

   Data integration and pipelines

   Connectors and the visual Pipeline Builder ingest data from enterprise systems, files and streams, with batch and streaming transformations written in code or assembled graphically.

2. 02

   The Ontology

   Datasets are mapped to objects, properties, links and actions that mirror the business, so applications, analyses and AI agents all work from the same shared definitions and permissions.

3. 03

   Workshop application builder

   Low-code and no-code tools let teams build interactive operational applications, such as maintenance planners or supply chain control screens, that read from and write back to the Ontology.

4. 04

   Analytics and spreadsheets

   Point-and-click analysis tools, a spreadsheet environment and code workspaces let analysts and data scientists explore data and build models without exporting it to other systems.

5. 05

   Lineage and access control

   Every dataset carries lineage back to its sources, changes can be developed and tested on branches, and granular permissions follow data from source systems into shared analyses.

6. 06

   Ontology SDK

   Developers can build custom applications on top of Ontology objects and actions using the Ontology SDK, bringing Foundry’s governed data and business logic into their own software.

7. 07

   Industry ecosystems

   Shared Foundry deployments can connect organizations across an industry, such as Skywise, built with Airbus, which links airlines around aircraft operations and maintenance data.

Who uses Palantir Foundry?

• Aircraft makers and airlines combine production, maintenance and operations data to reduce delays and plan repairs and spare parts.
• Hospitals build Foundry-based applications to manage patient flow, staffing and bed capacity and to flag patients whose condition may be deteriorating.
• Energy and water companies monitor plant equipment and tune operations, for example to cut power use at treatment facilities.
• Government agencies combine records from several departments to administer programs, as the United Kingdom did for its Homes for Ukraine scheme.
• Medical researchers analyze large de-identified health records, as in the National COVID Cohort Collaborative supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

History of Palantir Foundry

Foundry grew out of Palantir’s early commercial work with banks and industrial companies, which the company found faced data problems much like those of its intelligence customers. It succeeded an earlier finance product called Palantir Metropolis, and Credit Suisse began using an early version for risk analysis in 2013. Palantir formally released Foundry as its second platform in 2016, when Airbus adopted it as its core data platform; in 2017 the partnership expanded into Skywise, an aviation data platform that had more than 100 airlines by 2020.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, England’s National Health Service used Foundry to analyze its response and vaccination program. In November 2023 NHS England awarded Palantir a seven-year contract to build and operate a Federated Data Platform, a decision criticized by doctors’ groups and privacy advocates. Since 2023 Foundry has also been the base for AIP, which layers language models and agents on top of the Ontology.

1. 2013

   Credit Suisse begins using an early version of Foundry to analyze compliance and market risks.

2. 2016

   Palantir releases Foundry as its second platform, and Airbus adopts it as its core data platform.

3. 2017

   Airbus and Palantir expand their partnership into Skywise, a Foundry-based platform for the aviation industry.

4. 2020

   England’s National Health Service uses Foundry as part of its COVID-19 response.

5. 2023

   NHS England awards Palantir a seven-year contract for its Federated Data Platform, and AIP launches on Foundry.

Palantir Foundry pricing

Palantir Foundry alternatives

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Palantir Foundry: frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Palantir Foundry palantir.com
2. Palantir Technologies registration statement on Form S-1, 2020 sec.gov
3. Palantir Technologies annual report on Form 10-K, 2025 sec.gov
4. Palantir, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org

Last reviewed September 17, 2026. Spotted an error? Send a correction.