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Zeta Global and Fireworks Unveil Athena Inference Model


Zeta Global and Fireworks Unveil Athena Inference Model
  • by: Business Wire
  • |
  • October 9, 2026

Zeta Global, the intelligent AI infrastructure company, today announced a strategic collaboration with Fireworks to develop the Athena Inference Model (AIM), a collection of specialized open-weight models powering specific AthenaOS use cases, designed to help customers generate insights faster, improve efficiency and scale specialized AI across the enterprise.

Quick Intel

  • Zeta Global has announced a strategic collaboration with Fireworks to develop the Athena Inference Model (AIM).

  • AIM is a collection of specialized open-weight models powering specific AthenaOS use cases.

  • It is built with NVIDIA Nemotron open models and fine-tuned using Fireworks infrastructure.

  • AIM works across enterprise data and Zeta's proprietary intelligence to connect changes in customer demand with business impact.

  • In early testing, AIM achieved accuracy on par with state-of-the-art industry leading models.

  • AIM is currently in development and will be part of the AthenaOS beta later this year.

Developed in collaboration with Fireworks and powered by NVIDIA Nemotron open models, AIM works across enterprise data and Zeta’s proprietary intelligence to connect changes in customer demand and what it means for the business. AIM will work alongside Zeta’s existing predictive models to help AthenaOS deliver more relevant intelligence and better recommendations, with each enterprise’s objectives guiding the action.

Leadership Perspectives

“The Athena Inference Model is critical in how we bring our intelligent AI infrastructure to life and advance data and AI sovereignty,” said David A. Steinberg, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Zeta Global. “Models are increasingly available, but context is owned. AIM helps organizations harness their most strategic assets securely and effectively, connecting their data and context to AI in a way that improves how decisions are made and work gets done. That is the advantage we are building for our customers.”

Built on NVIDIA Nemotron open models and fine-tuned using Fireworks infrastructure, AIM is designed for specialized AthenaOS tasks, including interpreting domain language and following brand voice, formatting and output requirements.

AIM supports enterprise data-control and sovereignty requirements, enabling customers to apply their first-party data in a governed environment while retaining control over how it is used. In early testing, AIM achieved accuracy on par with state-of-the-art industry leading models. Zeta expects AIM to help customers unlock faster insights, greater efficiency, and enterprise-wide scalability.

“General-purpose models provide the foundation, but open models unlock the proprietary data and specialization that drive the next leap in performance,” said Nate Yohannes, President of Data & AI Lab and Global Head of Research and Development at Zeta Global. “AIM give AthenaOS a more efficient way to understand enterprise context, apply specialized skills and deliver more useful recommendations across the business.”

“At Fireworks, we believe enterprises require specialized intelligence because data sensitivity cannot be an afterthought,” said Benny Chen, Co-Founder at Fireworks. “By combining Zeta’s proprietary intelligence with Fireworks’ infrastructure for training, tuning, and serving open models, AIM are more accurate, more efficient, and tailored to Zeta’s specific business needs.”

The announcement builds on Zeta’s continued investment in AthenaOS, the enterprise intelligence operating system that dynamically builds around a user’s objective and brings intelligence into the tools and applications where work already happens.

AIM is currently in development and will be part of the AthenaOS beta later this year.

About Zeta Global

Zeta Global is the intelligent AI infrastructure company helping enterprises transform proprietary data into enterprise intelligence. The Zeta Data Cloud and Athena by Zeta™ connect proprietary enterprise knowledge with advanced AI to enable better decisions, more effective customer engagement, and stronger business outcomes. With one of the industry's largest proprietary data assets, Zeta helps organizations accelerate AI transformation and build durable competitive advantage. Founded in 2007 by David A. Steinberg and John Sculley, Zeta is headquartered in New York City with offices worldwide.

  • Athena OSEnterprise AIAI InfrastructureData Sovereignty
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