In a sector full of buzz, hype and confusion, Databricks Inc. is still well-positioned as an industry leader. 

But given the rapid evolution in the space, will the company successfully execute the critical strategic decisions that loom in its future?

That question will be a key area of focus in what the company is dubbing “Generation AI” as the 2023 iteration of the Data + AI Summit kicks off in San Francisco June 26-29. 

“Emerging customer data requirements and market forces are conspiring in a way that we believe will cause modern data platform players generally and Databricks specifically to make some key directional decisions and perhaps even reinvent themselves,” according to theCUBE industry analyst Dave Vellante in an edition of his Breaking Analysis series, which included insights from George Gilbert, equities analyst, market analyst and principal at TechAlpha Partners.

Join theCUBE on June 30 for our exclusive coverage of the Data + AI Summit event, as industry analyst John Furrier, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestraming studio, discusses how Databricks is seeking to maintain its market leadership while developing generative AI use cases for enterprise. (* Disclosure below.)

Recent acquisitions and plans

In May, Databricks said it had acquired Okera Inc., a data governance platform with a focus on artificial intelligence. The goal, the company said, was to expand its own governance and compliance capabilities for machine learning and large language model AIs. It added that customers used to control access to their data using simple data controls that only needed to address one plane, such as a database.

“The rise of AI, in particular machine learning models and LLMs, is making this approach insufficient,” the Databricks team, including Chief Executive Ali Ghodsi, explained in the announcement. 

A month prior to that acquisition, the company released Dolly 2.0, the new edition of its open-source generative artificial intelligence model with ChatGPT-like capabilities. The company’s current momentum is impressive, according to Vellante, who analyzed data from ETR’s Emerging Technology Survey of private technology companies.

“We’ve previously reported that OpenAI LLC, which came on the scene this past quarter, leads all names, but Databricks is prominent, established and transacting deals, whereas OpenAI is a buzz machine right now,” Vellante wrote of the analytics, database and ML/AI sectors. “Note as well, ETR shows some open-source tools just for reference. But as far as firms go, Databricks is leading and impressively positioned.”

In comparing Databricks to some mainstream cohorts in the data space, how has the company achieved that level of success to this point? In Gilbert’s view, where Databricks is really strong is in the “predictive and prescriptive analytics space: building and training and serving machine learning models.”

He added: “They’ve tried to move into traditional business intelligence, the more traditional descriptive and diagnostic analytics, but they’re less mature there. So what that means is the reason you see Databricks and Snowflake kind of side-by-side, is there are many, many accounts that have both Snowflake for business intelligence and Databricks for AI machine learning.”

Still, critical decisions loom, especially in an increasingly changing world. TheCUBE will provide full coverage of the Data + AI Summit event to capture all the breaking news and provide analyst-driven commentary. You can follow theCUBE’s wall-to-wall coverage for firsthand insights.

TheCUBE event livestream

Don’t miss theCUBE’s coverage of the Data + AI Summit event on June 30. Plus, you can watch theCUBE’s event coverage on-demand after the live event.

How to watch theCUBE interviews

We offer you various ways to watch theCUBE’s coverage of the Data + AI Summit event, including theCUBE’s dedicated website and YouTube channel. You can also get all the coverage from this year’s events on SiliconANGLE.

TheCUBE Insights podcast

SiliconANGLE also has podcasts available of archived interview sessions, available on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify, which you can enjoy while on the go.

SiliconANGLE also has analyst deep dives in our Breaking Analysis podcast, available on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify.

Guests

Stay tuned for the complete guest lineup on theCUBE.

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Data + AI Summit event. Neither Databricks Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Image: SiliconANGLE