New Relic unveils AI-powered log analytics for faster insights
New Relic has introduced a range of new features called Logs Intelligence aimed at improving the analysis and management of log data for engineering teams through the application of artificial intelligence (AI).
Logs Intelligence details
The newly released capabilities are designed to automate analysis, reduce mean time to resolution (MTTR), and enable quicker extraction of critical insights from ever-growing volumes of system logs. The functionality, included within the New Relic Intelligent Observability Platform, is intended to shift some core analytical tasks from engineers to AI tools, streamlining operations for businesses dealing with large-scale and complex digital environments.
Logs have long been used by site reliability engineers (SREs) and platform teams to troubleshoot production issues. However, as distributed systems and AI models have proliferated, the scale and complexity of log data have increased significantly. New Relic's Logs Intelligence is framed as a solution for making sense of this volume through automation.
"Modern distributed systems and AI tools generate logs at an unprecedented rate," said New Relic CTO Siva Padisetty. "Traditional log management, the backbone of troubleshooting but a source of immense complexity and manual effort, becomes infinitely challenging at this scale. With Logs Intelligence, New Relic turns the wall of unstructured data into actionable insights - accelerating incident response, reducing MTTR, and freeing teams to focus on higher-value work."
According to New Relic, it is not uncommon for a single 100-node cluster to produce over 50GB of logs in a single day, with some transactions involving over 10,000 log lines. AI workloads generate additional logs due to model inference steps. Instead of requiring engineers to manually correlate and interpret this data, intelligent observability tools are now able to identify patterns, anticipate possible faults, and provide contextual information for incident response.
AI Log Alerts Summarisation
One feature included with Logs Intelligence is AI Log Alerts Summarisation. This tool activates when an alert is triggered from log data, automatically analysing relevant logs and highlighting dominant error trends. It then generates a summary aimed at clarifying the cause of technical issues, providing an actionable hypothesis for teams to start resolution efforts.
Rather than simply notifying engineering teams of an incident, the system offers a concise explanation as to why the incident occurred and presents this assessment directly within their usual workflow. The goal is to help engineers resolve issues more quickly by minimising the time spent trawling through extensive logs during urgent periods.
New Relic says by handing off analytical burdens to AI, engineering time and attention can be directed towards applying fixes and maintaining system performance, instead of manual data review.
"In today's complex, distributed systems, the volume and velocity of log data can quickly overwhelm even the most experienced engineering teams," said IDC Group Vice President Stephen Elliot. "AI-driven solutions that can automatically surface the root cause behind alerts and transform raw logs into actionable insights are critical for reducing downtime, accelerating incident response, and enabling teams to focus on higher-value work."
Scheduled Search automation
Another component of the release is Scheduled Search, which allows teams to set up automated log queries and receive reports containing actionable insights in places such as email or Slack. This is intended to relieve engineers from the task of performing repetitive queries and collating information, ensuring that important patterns or anomalies in log data are not missed.
Unlike some systems that only generate static dashboards, Scheduled Search reports include interactive links, enabling engineers to respond promptly and take action as issues emerge. This approach is expected to reduce decision delays and help teams avoid unnecessary downtime.
Fine-grain access control
The new suite also introduces Fine Grain Access Control, which enables organisations to manage permissions for log data access more precisely. This feature is intended to help companies align their log data visibility with compliance and internal policy requirements, while still permitting effective troubleshooting for engineers where necessary.
Security and compliance teams can use this control to set and enforce granular policies, supporting efforts to protect sensitive data in line with operational needs.
Availability
AI Log Alerts Summarisation, Scheduled Search, and Fine Grain Access Control are initially available in limited preview as part of the overall Intelligent Observability Platform. New Relic plans to make these capabilities more broadly accessible following customer feedback and further development.
