Pockets of toxicity - eventually it will poison the rest - Operations Databricks Employee Review

2.0
Nov 4, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pay well esp if youre an engineer The company is doing well financially, sales of product are strong Theres enough rah rah to attract good people, but I'm sure many won't be able to put up with the mess inside for long...

Cons

Basically everything else. Databricks is trying to grow up without a plan of how to do so well, and it's an extremely painful process to be a part of. The CEO still insists on being deeply involved in every decision no matter how minuscule which equates to disempowering any other employee below him (that means everyone). Change initiatives are so incredibly slow and often derailed at the 11th hour bc of some nit picky detail from the CEO or CFO demands even though its outside of their domain, clearly they don't trust anyone else to be the experts which makes everyone else basicaly minions to what is being dictated to them. Why hire senior people and pay them tons of cash if you don't trust them to do their job? Also, any of the teams outside of Eng and Sales are so understaffed (yet expectations/OKRs etc are not created to consider that) and so therefore teams are set-up to fail. There are no career paths, no recognition unless you're in engineering and pretty poor benefits if you're not employed in the US. Sorry non-US people, you'll be forgotten and HQ can easily look away so they don't actually have to address the problems. I don't really think they know how and won't admit it so you'll either be told for years that "it's being worked on" with no result or your problems will be completely dismissed bc the US has no empathy for international teams. Also, expect to get meeting invites in the middle of the night, for hiring so many smart people, not sure why they forget about a thing called time zones...

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Databricks Response
5y
Thank you for sharing your feedback. We are very sorry to hear about your experience. There are multiple initiatives going on to continually improve our internal processes as we scale as well as invest in our global benefit programs. We hope that this should help improve some of the items you mentioned, as creating a positive and consistent employee experience is a top priority at Databricks. We are always open to feedback and looking for ways to improve. Please feel free to contact me directly if you would like to provide any additional feedback.

Explore other reviews about Databricks

5.0
Jun 2, 2026
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CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits, pay, product team moves fast.

Cons

constant change, product and people

2.0
May 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great teams made up of smart, motivated people. Databricks is an exciting place to work because it is part of the growing data and AI tools space. The benefits and income are also good overall.

Cons

Databricks no longer feels like a startup. There are now multiple layers of bureaucracy, and leadership can feel territorial rather than collaborative. Over time, it can seem like business growth and internal politics have become stronger drivers than innovation or employee experience. For long-tenured employees, it may become harder to stay excited or feel challenged. Other companies may offer a more energizing environment.

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