

January 22, 2026 – Qlik, the powerhouse in data integration, quality, analytics, and AI, just scored a big win by adding Mark Relph, Director at Amazon Web Services (AWS), to its influential AI Council. This strategic move amps up guidance for companies racing to deploy AI with data that’s not just clean and governed, but truly battle-ready for high-stakes action.
The AI Council, kicked off in 2024, skips the hype to deliver no-nonsense advice on weaving AI into operations. Relph rubs shoulders with heavyweights like AI governance expert Nina Schick, responsible AI pioneer Dr. Rumman Chowdhury, policy pro Kelly Forbes, and academic star Professor Michael Bronstein. Together, they’re steering Qlik toward products and playbooks that make AI practical, not experimental.
Relph’s track record screams scalability. At AWS, he’s collaborated with partners and teams to turn market demands into plug-and-play solutions, powering launches of 32+ services like AWS Lambda, API Gateway, Amazon Bedrock, and Amazon Q. It’s the kind of ecosystem know-how that bridges cloud dreams to enterprise reality.
“AI isn’t about flashy prototypes—it’s about thriving in live ecosystems where trust is everything,” said Qlik CEO Mike Capone. “Mark’s knack for crafting repeatable paths from partner and customer needs keeps us laser-focused on deployable, safe AI at scale.”
Relph echoed the urgency: “I’ve watched teams sprint from AI curiosity to ‘show me results’ pressure, hitting walls like messy data and siloed tools. Qlik cuts through that—post my chats at Qlik Connect 2025, I’m pumped to fuel AI that runs on data you can bet the farm on.”
This comes hot on martech’s AI wave, mirroring buzz from Sitecore’s global AI reseller blitz, SALESmanago‘s 2026 eCommerce overhaul, and collabs like Atento-Omilia‘s conversational AI push or Zinnia’s Snowflake analytics tie-up. Qlik’s council refresh tackles the governance crunch head-on.
In conclusion, Relph’s infusion of AWS cloud muscle supercharges Qlik’s mission, handing martech pros the tools to conquer data fragmentation and unleash AI that delivers loyalty, growth, and real ROI in 2026’s cutthroat arena.