AI Talent Is Expensive: Databricks Value Hits $100 Billion --- Data-analytics firm predicts annual revenue run rate will exceed $4 billion

 

 

“Databricks, one of Silicon Valley's most-valuable private companies, said its annual revenue run rate will be more than $4 billion going forward as of July. That figure is up 50% year over year.

 

The forecast came as the company closed its latest round of financing on Monday.

 

The company is raising $1 billion from investors including Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Insight Partners and United Arab Emirates state-backed investor MGX at a $100 billion valuation.

 

The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported the new financing and valuation.

 

Databricks, which stores, catalogs and processes large data sets, has reaped the rewards of the artificial-intelligence boom.

 

Sales of AI products will generate a $1 billion revenue run rate going forward, the company said.

 

Data scientists at its client companies use its software to analyze large volumes of information they collect.

 

New customers this year include Honda Motor, Peet's Coffee and Princeton University, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Ali Ghodsi said in an interview.

 

Roughly 650 customers currently each pay Databricks $1 million a year for the company's products and services, he said.

 

Ghodsi said the company had positive free cash flow in the past 12 months, though he declined to share operating costs.

 

"We are going to continue to keep this profile where we don't burn any cash on an annual basis," he said.

 

Companies like Databricks have reached soaring valuations, surpassing even the most successful tech initial public offerings in recent years.

 

OpenAI is in early talks on a secondary stock sale that would value the AI behemoth at $500 billion, while SpaceX's recent tender offer valued the company at $400 billion.

 

Databricks secured $10 billion from investors last December.

 

Also, the company announced in January $5.3 billion in debt financing from a list of big banks.

 

The latest round of financing will add to the company's war chest for employee recruitment and retention to help it in the escalating AI talent wars.

 

"The vast majority of our costs goes to wages, and it's definitely expensive to spend on AI talent," Ghodsi said.” [1]

 

1. Databricks Value Hits $100 Billion --- Data-analytics firm predicts annual revenue run rate will exceed $4 billion. Au-Yeung, Angel.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 09 Sep 2025: B4.