Azure-based Subsalt unlocks data for medical researchers and students

Subsalt enables healthcare organizations to rapidly accelerate research and AI initiatives through its HIPAA-compliant synthetic data sandbox. Built on Microsoft’s trusted cloud, the platform allows teams to quickly test hypotheses, prototype innovative solutions, and perform feasibility studies—ensuring seamless transitions from prototypes to real-world applications. 

Partnership with Microsoft

Subsalt’s platform is designed to run natively on Microsoft’s stack. Azure provides the secure, scalable infrastructure to generate and deliver production-grade synthetic data. With Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Subsalt simplifies deployment inside customer environments—reducing compliance risk and accelerating adoption. Because most healthcare organizations already operate on Azure, Subsalt plugs directly into existing ecosystems with minimal friction.

With Microsoft’s cloud as the foundation, Subsalt enables instant, HIPAA-compliant access to synthetic data in the environments customers already trust. Its Fabric-ready integration goes further by allowing direct generation of synthetic datasets from data already managed in Microsoft Fabric. Leveraging Azure Cloud Services, Azure Kubernetes Services, Azure Active Directory, Azure Storage, Azure Data Factory, and Microsoft Fabric, Subsalt built a solution that delivers faster, safer collaboration and analytics on sensitive healthcare data—combining Subsalt’s innovation with Microsoft’s scale, AI, and cloud leadership. 

Go-to-market impact

The Microsoft for Startups Pegasus Program has been instrumental in scaling Subsalt’s growth. Through Pegasus, Subsalt gained access to co-sell resources, marketplace support, and direct introductions into strategic enterprise accounts. This ecosystem support has accelerated sales cycles, created visibility at industry-leading events like HIMSS and JPM, and opened the door to some of Subsalt’s most important customers. The hands-on support—from partner success managers to account executives—has helped them scale their impact within regulated industries like healthcare and life sciences.

“What makes the Pegasus program so powerful is that it brings together every dimension of Microsoft’s partnership—world-class technical infrastructure, seamless GTM support, and a program designed for excellence. Together, we’re building a partnership that drives innovation, scales impact, and delivers meaningful value to the healthcare industry,” says Ben Winokur, Co-Founder & CEO at Subsalt.

One of those customers is UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW), a top academic research institute that partnered with Subsalt and Microsoft to transform how researchers and students gain access to sensitive health data. 

Customer success: UT Southwestern Medical Center

Researchers at UTSW faced long delays, sometimes months, for access to clinical data due to HIPAA compliance processes, IRB negotiations, and limited environments. The institution also wanted to give PhD and Health Informatics students access to real clinical data, but traditional de-identification methods were slow, manual, and restrictive.

By deploying Subsalt on Microsoft Azure, UTSW is now making data access faster, safer, and broader. Researchers and students can broaden access by safely working with high-value health data that was previously unavailable, accelerate exploration by testing hypotheses in hours instead of months, and minimize data movement by reducing risk with shared synthetic data instead of duplicated source data.

“At UT Southwestern, empowering our researchers with fast, secure access to valuable health data is critical—especially in an environment where efficiency matters more than ever. Partnering with Subsalt and Microsoft unlocks a breakthrough: minimizing data movement while making access permissive and fast, letting us accelerate the research that advances our mission," said Tammye Garrett, Associate Vice President and Chief Data Officer at UTSW.

Subsalt's Azure-built solution has been able to help UTSW cut data access time from months to days, accelerate clinical research outcomes by 50X, and guarantee HIPAA and internal compliance. Together, Microsoft and Subsalt are redefining healthcare data access—pairing enterprise-scale cloud infrastructure with next-generation synthetic data to accelerate research, protect privacy, and create transformative value for customers like UTSW.

Discover more about Subsalt on LinkedIn.