Real-time AI is now essential for businesses, requiring robust data infrastructure beyond just a proficient model. A recent webinar featuring product leaders from Cockroach Labs and ClickHouse highlighted how combining distributed SQL and high-performance analytics through CockroachDB and ClickHouse can create scalable, resilient AI-powered applications. CockroachDB, known for handling high-throughput transactional workloads with strong consistency and global availability, pairs with ClickHouse, which excels in real-time analytics on large datasets. This integration supports architectures where operational systems maintain responsiveness and consistency while analytical systems provide real-time insights. Key characteristics necessary for modern real-time AI systems include data freshness, high performance, availability, and scalability. The integration involves CockroachDB's changefeed feature streaming data changes in real-time to a message broker, which ClickHouse then ingests for immediate querying. This architecture has been successfully implemented by companies like Kami, an AI-powered learning platform, which achieved significant performance improvements and scalability. For developers, architects, and operators, this setup offers reduced complexity, enhanced observability, and the ability to handle fast, scalable data operations effectively.