diff --git a/haystack/tracing/datadog.py b/haystack/tracing/datadog.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..10d796a07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/haystack/tracing/datadog.py
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import contextlib
+from typing import Optional, Dict, Any, Iterator
+
+from haystack.lazy_imports import LazyImport
+from haystack.tracing import Tracer, Span
+from haystack.tracing import utils as tracing_utils
+
+with LazyImport("Run 'pip install ddtrace'") as ddtrace_import:
+    import ddtrace
+
+
+class DatadogSpan(Span):
+    def __init__(self, span: "ddtrace.Span") -> None:
+        self._span = span
+
+    def set_tag(self, key: str, value: Any) -> None:
+        coerced_value = tracing_utils.coerce_tag_value(value)
+        self._span.set_tag(key, coerced_value)
+
+    def raw_span(self) -> Any:
+        return self._span
+
+
+class DatadogTracer(Tracer):
+    def __init__(self, tracer: "ddtrace.Tracer") -> None:
+        ddtrace_import.check()
+        self._tracer = tracer
+
+    @contextlib.contextmanager
+    def trace(self, operation_name: str, tags: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None) -> Iterator[Span]:
+        with self._tracer.trace(operation_name) as span:
+            span = DatadogSpan(span)
+            if tags:
+                span.set_tags(tags)
+
+            yield span
+
+    def current_span(self) -> Optional[Span]:
+        current_span = self._tracer.current_span()
+        if current_span is None:
+            return None
+
+        return DatadogSpan(current_span)
diff --git a/haystack/tracing/tracer.py b/haystack/tracing/tracer.py
index 64878afc0..8e320ed3b 100644
--- a/haystack/tracing/tracer.py
+++ b/haystack/tracing/tracer.py
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ def auto_enable_tracing() -> None:
     if is_tracing_enabled():
         return  # tracing already enabled
 
-    tracer = _auto_configured_opentelemetry_tracer()
+    tracer = _auto_configured_opentelemetry_tracer() or _auto_configured_datadog_tracer()
     if tracer:
         enable_tracing(tracer)
         logger.info("Tracing enabled via '%s'", tracer.__class__.__name__)
@@ -165,4 +165,18 @@ def _auto_configured_opentelemetry_tracer() -> Optional[Tracer]:
     return None
 
 
+def _auto_configured_datadog_tracer() -> Optional[Tracer]:
+    # we implement this here and not in the `datadog` module to avoid import warnings when Datadog is not installed
+    try:
+        from ddtrace import tracer
+        from haystack.tracing.datadog import DatadogTracer
+
+        if tracer.enabled:
+            return DatadogTracer(tracer=tracer)
+    except ImportError:
+        pass
+
+    return None
+
+
 auto_enable_tracing()
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/datadog-tracer-b084cf64fcc575c6.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/datadog-tracer-b084cf64fcc575c6.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..58d24fe53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/datadog-tracer-b084cf64fcc575c6.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    Added out-of-the-box support for the Datadog Tracer. This allows you to instrument pipeline and component
+    runs using Datadog and send traces to your preferred backend.
+
+    To use the Datadog Tracer you need to have the `ddtrace` package installed in your environment.
+    To instruct Haystack to use the Datadog tracer, you have multiple options:
+
+    * Run your Haystack application using the `ddtrace` command line tool as described in the
+      the [ddtrace documentation](https://ddtrace.readthedocs.io/en/stable/installation_quickstart.html#tracing).
+      This behavior can be disabled by setting the `HAYSTACK_AUTO_TRACE_ENABLED_ENV_VAR` environment variable to `false`.
+    * Configure the tracer manually in your code using the `ddtrace` package:
+      ```python
+      from haystack.tracing import DatadogTracer
+      import haystack.tracing
+      import ddtrace
+
+      tracer = ddtrace.tracer
+      tracing.enable_tracing(DatadogTracer(tracer))
+      ```
diff --git a/test/test_requirements.txt b/test/test_requirements.txt
index 33576782c..2e1626729 100644
--- a/test/test_requirements.txt
+++ b/test/test_requirements.txt
@@ -27,3 +27,4 @@ jsonschema
 
 # Tracing
 opentelemetry-sdk
+ddtrace
diff --git a/test/tracing/test_datadog.py b/test/tracing/test_datadog.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d7e647ae0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tracing/test_datadog.py
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+import functools
+import json
+from typing import List, Dict
+
+import ddtrace
+import pytest
+from _pytest.capture import CaptureFixture
+from _pytest.monkeypatch import MonkeyPatch
+
+from haystack.tracing.datadog import DatadogTracer
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def datadog_tracer(monkeypatch: MonkeyPatch) -> ddtrace.Tracer:
+    # For the purpose of the tests we want to use the log writer
+    monkeypatch.setattr(ddtrace.Tracer, ddtrace.Tracer._use_log_writer.__name__, lambda *_: True)
+
+    tracer = ddtrace.Tracer()
+
+    # monkeypatch.setattr(ddtrace, "tracer", tracer)
+
+    return tracer
+
+
+def get_traces_from_console(capfd: CaptureFixture) -> List[Dict]:
+    output = capfd.readouterr().out
+    parsed = json.loads(output)
+    nested_traces = parsed["traces"]
+    flattened = list(functools.reduce(lambda x, y: x + y, nested_traces, []))
+
+    return flattened
+
+
+class TestDatadogTracer:
+    def test_opentelemetry_tracer(self, datadog_tracer: ddtrace.Tracer, capfd: CaptureFixture) -> None:
+        tracer = DatadogTracer(datadog_tracer)
+
+        with tracer.trace("test") as span:
+            span.set_tag("key", "value")
+
+        traces = get_traces_from_console(capfd)
+        assert len(traces) == 1
+
+        trace = traces[0]
+
+        assert trace["name"] == "test"
+
+    def test_tagging(self, datadog_tracer: ddtrace.Tracer, capfd: CaptureFixture) -> None:
+        tracer = DatadogTracer(datadog_tracer)
+
+        with tracer.trace("test", tags={"key1": "value1"}) as span:
+            span.set_tag("key2", "value2")
+
+        spans = get_traces_from_console(capfd)
+        assert len(spans) == 1
+        assert spans[0]["meta"]["key1"] == "value1"
+        assert spans[0]["meta"]["key2"] == "value2"
+
+    def test_current_span(self, datadog_tracer: ddtrace.Tracer, capfd: CaptureFixture) -> None:
+        tracer = DatadogTracer(datadog_tracer)
+
+        with tracer.trace("test"):
+            current_span = tracer.current_span()
+            assert tracer.current_span() is not None
+
+            current_span.set_tag("key1", "value1")
+
+            raw_span = current_span.raw_span()
+            assert raw_span is not None
+            assert isinstance(raw_span, ddtrace.Span)
+
+            raw_span.set_tag("key2", "value2")
+
+        spans = get_traces_from_console(capfd)
+        assert len(spans) == 1
+        assert spans[0]["meta"]["key1"] == "value1"
+        assert spans[0]["meta"]["key2"] == "value2"
+
+    def test_tracing_complex_values(self, datadog_tracer: ddtrace.Tracer, capfd: CaptureFixture) -> None:
+        tracer = DatadogTracer(datadog_tracer)
+
+        with tracer.trace("test") as span:
+            span.set_tag("key", {"a": 1, "b": [2, 3, 4]})
+
+        spans = get_traces_from_console(capfd)
+        assert len(spans) == 1
+        assert spans[0]["meta"]["key"] == '{"a": 1, "b": [2, 3, 4]}'
diff --git a/test/tracing/test_tracer.py b/test/tracing/test_tracer.py
index 93b317546..3d82acde5 100644
--- a/test/tracing/test_tracer.py
+++ b/test/tracing/test_tracer.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import builtins
 import sys
 from unittest.mock import Mock
 
+import ddtrace
 import opentelemetry.trace
 import pytest
 from _pytest.monkeypatch import MonkeyPatch
@@ -10,6 +11,7 @@ from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.export import SimpleSpanProcessor
 from opentelemetry.sdk.trace import TracerProvider
 from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.export.in_memory_span_exporter import InMemorySpanExporter
 
+from haystack.tracing.datadog import DatadogTracer
 from haystack.tracing.opentelemetry import OpenTelemetryTracer
 from haystack.tracing.tracer import (
     NullTracer,
@@ -93,6 +95,10 @@ class TestAutoEnableTracer:
         opentelemetry.trace._TRACER_PROVIDER = None
         disable_tracing()
 
+    @pytest.fixture()
+    def uninstalled_ddtrace_package(self, monkeypatch: MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+        monkeypatch.setattr(ddtrace.tracer, "enabled", False)
+
     def test_skip_auto_enable_tracer_if_already_configured(self) -> None:
         my_tracker = Mock(spec=Tracer)  # anything else than `NullTracer` works for this test
         enable_tracing(my_tracker)
@@ -127,3 +133,19 @@ class TestAutoEnableTracer:
         activated_tracer = tracer.actual_tracer
         assert isinstance(activated_tracer, NullTracer)
         assert not is_tracing_enabled()
+
+    def test_skip_add_datadog_tracer_if_import_error(self, monkeypatch: MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+        monkeypatch.delitem(sys.modules, "ddtrace", raising=False)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(builtins, "__import__", Mock(side_effect=ImportError))
+        auto_enable_tracing()
+
+        activated_tracer = tracer.actual_tracer
+        assert isinstance(activated_tracer, NullTracer)
+        assert not is_tracing_enabled()
+
+    def test_add_datadog_tracer(self) -> None:
+        auto_enable_tracing()
+
+        activated_tracer = tracer.actual_tracer
+        assert isinstance(activated_tracer, DatadogTracer)
+        assert is_tracing_enabled()