Databricks opens European Hub

Databricks has announced a new regional hub in London for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region by opening the doors to a new office in the Fitzrovia neighbourhood. The state-of-the-art, 29,885-square-foot workspace has been designed with innovation, customer collaboration, employee engagement and further growth in mind as more UK organisations look to invest in data and AI with the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform.

Driving customer adoption of the Data Intelligence Platform

Databricks has over 400 employees in the UK and its UK business has experienced over 60% annualised growth over the past three years. This growth is fuelled by demand for the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform from organisations such as Gousto, Heathrow, Rolls Royce, SEGA Europe, Shell, and Virgin Atlantic. Built on an open lakehouse architecture, the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform provides a unified foundation for all data and governance, combined with AI models tuned to an organisation's unique characteristics.

"The Databricks Data Intelligence Platform has been pivotal in transforming the customer experience at Virgin Atlantic," said Richard Masters, Vice President of Data and AI, Virgin Atlantic. "Nowadays customers expect more tailored incentives and rewards, and having a consistent view of the customer across all touchpoints requires joining up data sources and breaking down silos. This is where the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform has come into its own. We enjoy working with the Databricks team in the UK and tapping into local expertise to help make Virgin Atlantic a truly data-driven company."

“At SEGA Europe, we generate over 50,000 data events on players’ behaviour and in-game interactions every second. As such, it’s vital that we have the right tools in place to maximise the value of our data and deliver more impactful, personalised gaming experiences. The Databricks Data Intelligence Platform has empowered us to do just that, by democratising our data for analytics and machine learning,” said Felix Baker, Head of Data Services at SEGA Europe.

Upskilling with data and AI competencies

As part of its commitment to growth in the UK, Databricks has also formed partnerships with over 35 universities across the country including BPP University, London School of Economics (LSE), Newcastle University, University of Edinburgh, University of Oxford and Queen Mary University as part of its global University Alliance Program, which equips data science students with skills in big data programming and analytics.

“The UK is an incredibly important market for Databricks and this office in the heart of London reflects our ambitions to support even more local businesses to innovate with data and AI,” said Michael Green, VP Northern Europe, Databricks. “We want this new space to be a true destination for our team, customers, partners and the data and AI community to come together to solve some of the toughest challenges with data intelligence.”

Harnessing data for intelligent design, collaboration and innovation

Both customer success and data analysis sit at the heart of the new EMEA headquarters. In a global first for the company, the office includes a live demo area where clients and prospects can see data come to life in real-time, showcasing Databricks’ innovative approach to client engagement.

“I am always impressed at the pace of innovation coming out of Databricks in the UK and throughout EMEA, and the strong ecosystem of local partners and customers who recognise the tangible business outcomes that come from scaling data intelligence initiatives. I hope that our vibrant new hub will only serve to inspire more collaboration, innovation and skills development as the data and AI market grows,” said Samuel Bonamigo, SVP and GM, EMEA, Databricks.

Driving momentum with the Data and AI World Tour in EMEA

The announcement of Databricks’ EMEA hub follows the company’s sold-out Data + AI World Tour London. Over 2,000 data and AI participants attended the event at ExCeL and heard from customer speakers, including Asda, ASOS, BBC, Boots, bp, Co-Op Group, GSK, Rolls Royce, SEGA Europe, SSE, and many more.