Startups considering which future technology trends to track and build on for the businesses of tomorrow might be wise to take note of research coming out of the University of California at Berkeley.

The seven co-founders of Databricks Inc. were previously researchers at the school, motivated by a common mission to find value inside of data. The group created Apache Spark, built a new company based on a unified platform for data and AI, guided Databricks to a $28 billion valuation and is now positioned for an imminent IPO.

Chief Executive Ali Ghodsi has maintained his ties to UC Berkeley, and two of the Databricks co-founders recently published a research paper that highlighted the concept of “sky computing” as the next chapter in cloud. The core concept behind sky computing is that resources from multiple cloud providers can be leveraged to create large-scale distributed infrastructures.

“There is the cloud and then there is the sky above,” Ghodsi said. “That’s what multicloud is. I think you’re going to see much more innovation at the sky level than the compute level.”

Ghodsi spoke with John Furrier, co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during the opening keynote session of AWS Startup Showcase: The Next Big Things in AI, Security & Life Sciences. (* Disclosure below.)  He was joined by co-hosts Dave Vellante and Natalie Erlich, and they also interviewed Jeff Barr, vice president and chief evangelist at Amazon Web Services Inc., and S. Somasegar, managing director at Madrona Venture Group. The keynote discussion focused on future trends in cloud computing, data management and enterprise security.

Architect for the future

In the near term, Databricks is working with its customers to navigate the choices among cloud, edge and on-premises compute platforms. The firm’s approach is centered around its “lakehouse architecture,” which is designed to apply machine learning and data science to massive amounts of enterprise data and derive valuable business insight.

“This lakehouse paradigm is a cloud native way to organize your data. It’s different from what you had on-premises,” Ghodsi explained. “Don’t just mimic what you had on-prem in the cloud; architect it for the future. In the cloud, you can try before you buy.”

This same philosophy of experimentation and innovation has driven AWS and the public cloud giant’s approach to solving customer challenges. On Wednesday, the company announced general availability of AWS Wavelength on the Vodafone 4G/5G network, which is designed to let developers build ultra-low latency apps for mobile devices throughout the U.K.

It’s a builders’ culture, according to AWS’ Barr, similar to the experience when he ventures into a home improvement store. “I just let my creativity run wild,” Barr said. “If I had these different parts, what could I build with them? I suspect our customers are in the same mode. It’s all about putting power in customers’ hands.”

Cracking the enterprise code

The challenge for startup companies is in finding a way to create technology that will open the enterprise gates and propel growth.

Decision-making in the enterprise has become decentralized, with developers increasingly at the center of the workflow. Startups need to understand that, according to Somasegar, and build a product that is easy to use, where self-service really works.

“Think about what enterprises are wanting today,” Somasegar said. “The core thing that most enterprises care about is how to engage and sell with customers and doing that in the most optimal way. Stop thinking about technology and start thinking about a customer problem you want to help solve.”

Somasegar’s point was echoed by Ghodsi as well. Databricks is already looking ahead to the innovation it can create on its platform, mindful of what customers need based on tools in the cloud that have become integral to the business.

“How do you get multicloud disaster recovery?” Ghodsi asked. “How can you apply machine learning to machine learning? There is a lot of innovation there we haven’t announced yet.”

Watch the complete video interview below, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the AWS Startup Showcase: The Next Big Things in AI, Security & Life Sciences. (* Disclosure: This event was sponsored by participating companies. Neither AWS nor sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE