The $62 billion data software company Databricks would not exist without college networking. Now, as AI is reshaping learning and the job market, CEO Ali Ghodsi says education is more important than ever, inspiring a new $100 million investment.
Higher education is under the microscope, with questions swirling around its value amid concerns over politicization, cost, and real-world skill development.
But, for a team of seven researchers at UC Berkeley, college was a time for exploration—and kindled a spark that transformed an idea for a new data analysis software into Databricks, now a $62 billion company. And while AI advancements have already started replacing traditional grad jobs, like software engineers and creative designers, now is not the time to turn back on degrees. In fact, according to Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi, education is key to the future.
“We’re in a transition era where generative AI and AI probably will transform society completely,” Ghodsi tells Fortune.
“One of the answers is, let’s educate everyone, at least on what the technology is like, so that they can use the new technology, so that they are set up for this new world that we’re sort of entering.”
For Gen Z and millennials who’ve spent tens or even hundreds of thousands on degrees, only to question their value, there’s some good news.
In an exclusive first to Fortune, Databricks announced today a $100 million investment in AI and data upskilling with the launch Databricks Free Edition, which offers free access to its data intelligence platform and new tech training courses. What’s more, it comes at a time when demand for data skills is surging: according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, data scientists are among the fastest-growing professions, with median salaries topping $112,000.
From college roommates to office deskmates
The groundwork for Databricks began in 2009 with Matei Zaharia, now Databricks’ chief technology officer, creating Spark, an open source data processing engine, as a researcher at Berkeley’s data research center AMPLab. That’s where he ran into Ghodsi and the other co-founders, and only after coming together did they realize the impending need for businesses to process large datasets—a demand that snowballed into the company’s founding in 2013.
But Databricks are far from the first group of young adults to first meet in the dormroom before heading to the boardroom together. In fact, many of the world’s largest tech companies have roots in top universities.
The founders of Reddit, Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, were roommates studying computer science at the University of Virginia when they started the social forum website. Moreover, Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page met each other during their time at Stanford University, something Page has called
Mark Zuckerberg also famously met Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes at Harvard University before co-founding Facebook (now known as Meta, now worth over $1.7 trillion). Zuckerberg returned to Cambridge in 2017 and gave the commencement address, and remarked that he never expected to be the entrepreneurial group that would help connect the whole world.
“The thing is, it never even occurred to me that someone might be us,” he said. “We were just college kids. We didn’t know anything about that. There were all these big technology companies with resources. I just assumed one of them would do it.”
“We’ve all started lifelong friendships here, and some of us even families,” Zuckerberg added. “That’s why I’m so grateful to this place. Thanks, Harvard.”
Why continued learning matters in the age of AI
There’s no question—college is expensive. After all, the total cost of attendance for a 4-year degree at Berkeley will run over $200,000. And while Zaharia admits that concerns over the price of university are valid, but in many cases, he says, the connections built with like-minded students and faculty are unbeatable.
“People learn differently,” Zaharia tells Fortune. “Some people just need a team around you, otherwise you won’t even start on your homework.”
That’s partly why both he and Ghodsi remain as college professors themselves at Berkeley—to better connect education with industry, and help each of them grow. And thanks to AI, colleges are about to undergo a huge makeover that may make them worth the price tag.
“I think that education will be completely revolutionized, and I think it’s going to happen much faster than people think,” Ghodsi tells Fortune. The entire educational experience will be improved, he adds, by the ability to tailor coursework directly to the objectives and existing knowledge of students.
He adds those who embrace AI and learning will be able to open doors that weren’t even deemed possible just years ago.
“Follow a passion, pick a subject, go deep now, you can learn faster than ever, and you know, and the more you embrace this kind of technology, you’ll be also more kind of at the frontier,” Ghodsi says. “When an opportunity opens up for new types of jobs that we don’t even know about today, you’ll be the first to go into those.”
This mindset is echoed by educators, who say staying adaptable is key. Arnold Castro, assistant dean for AI at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School—one of more than 1,200 institutions in the Databricks University Alliance—urges students to stay sharp.
“Stay current with developments in AI and cloud technologies and be comfortable working in interdisciplinary teams,” Castro advises. “Most of all, treat learning as a lifelong pursuit, because in AI, what’s cutting-edge today may be table stakes tomorrow.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
