Zoho adds ontology and semantic layers to Analytics to give AI agents business context

Zoho is adding 30 data connectors to its existing catalogue of more than 500, including integrations with Zoho ERP, SAP, PayPal, Intercom and Adobe Commerce.

Zoho has upgraded its Zoho Analytics business intelligence platform with native ontology and semantic layers to help AI agents understand enterprise data in the context of an organisation’s structure, metrics and business rules.The Chennai-headquartered technology company said the new capabilities will help AI agents accurately interpret business information before making decisions or executing workflows.The ontology layer maps an organisation’s structure and relationships, while the semantic layer acts as a business glossary, defining metrics, dimensions and terminology.

Together, they provide a contextual foundation for AI agents to interpret data and generate relevant insights.

Zoho said businesses can create and edit multiple semantic models without coding or deploying a separate cloud data warehouse.“By engineering native semantic and ontology layers into Zoho Analytics alongside open standards, we are providing this critical structural context.

We are transforming the platform into a centralised intelligence layer that empowers organisations to bridge the gap between visualising data and confidently automating business outcomes,” said Clarence Rozario, Zoho BI and Analytics Platform, Director, Product Management.The upgrade enhances Ask Zia, Zoho's conversational business intelligence assistant, with a multi-agent architecture comprising six specialised agents for data analysis, modelling, visualisation, data preparation, coding and SQL generation.

Users can also build custom agents and connect them to internal or external systems through Model Context Protocol (MCP).Zoho is adding 30 data connectors to its existing catalogue of more than 500, including integrations with Zoho ERP, SAP, PayPal, Intercom and Adobe Commerce.

The announcement builds on Zoho's existing investments in AI-powered analytics, workflow automation and external agent connectivity, adding a stronger emphasis on business context and coordinated agent execution.