CData co-founder and CEO Amit Sharma explained that one important aspect of future-proofing data virtualization is making it accessible to line-of-business users, not just data engineers. He emphasized the importance of simplicity in connecting disparate data sources using a standardized SQL interface. CData's Connect Cloud has achieved this by providing easy-to-use integration tools for accessing live data from various cloud servers and SaaS applications. Sharma also highlighted the secret sauce of CData - its ability to provide access to a wide variety of data sources in a common SQL-based access layer. Meanwhile, Nathan Thompson, VP of Financial Planning and Analysis at Scorpion, shared his experience with CData Connect Cloud, which helped his company streamline their financial reporting process and make strategic decisions based on real-time insights from live financial data. Bruce Sandell, Partner Solutions Architect at Google Cloud, demonstrated how CData Connect Cloud expands Looker's ability to integrate seamlessly with data from any source, allowing customers to analyze live data within one visual dashboard. Finally, Noel Yuhanna, Forrester Research Vice President and Principal Analyst, emphasized the critical role of data virtualization in modern data architecture, highlighting its potential to streamline data management processes and provide accurate insights from consistent and trusted data across applications.