- The data company of $ 62 billion databricks would not exist without university networking. Now, as AI is reshaping learning and the labor market, CEO Ali Ghodsi says that education is more important than ever, inspiring a new investment of $ 100 million.
Higher education is under the microscope, with questions swirling around its value in the midst of concerns concerning politicization, cost and development of real world skills.
But, for a team of seven researchers at UC Berkeley, the college was a moment of exploration – and turned on a spark which transformed an idea for a new data analysis software in Databricks, now a company of $ 62 billion. And although the progress of AI has already started to replace the work of traditional graduates, such as software engineers and creative designers, this is not the time to reactivate diplomas. In fact, according to the CEO of Databricks, Ali Ghodsi, education is the key to the future.
“We are in a transitional era where generating AI and AI will probably completely transform society,” explains Ghodsi Fortune.
“One of the answers is, let’s educate everyone, at least on technology, so that they can use the new technology, so that they are set up for this new world in which we enter somehow.”
For generation Z and the millennials that spent tens, even hundreds of thousands to degrees, only to question their value, there are good news.
In an exclusive first to FortuneDatabricks has announced today an investment of $ 100 million in AI and updating data with the free launching of Databricks, which offers free access to its data intelligence platform and new technological training courses. In addition, this comes at a time when the demand for data skills increases: according to the American office of labor statistics, data scientists are among the fastest professions, median wages exceeding $ 112,000.
Of roommates at university to office comrades
Databricks’ bases began in 2009 with Matei Zaharia, now Databricks Technology Director, creating Spark, an open source data processing engine, as a researcher at the Berkeley Data Research Center. It was there that he came across Ghodsi and the other co -founders, and it was only after having realized that they realized the imminent need for companies to process large sets of data – a requirement that snow made snowball in the company foundation in 2013.
But Databricks is far from the first group of young adults to meet first in the dormitory before going to the conference room together. In fact, many of the largest technological companies in the world have roots in the best universities.
The founders of Reddit, Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, were roommates who studied IT at the University of Virginia when they started the Social Forum website. In addition, the co-founders of Google Sergey Brin and Larry Page met during their stay at the University of Stanford, something page called
Mark Zuckerberg also met Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes at Harvard University before co-founding Facebook (now known as Meta, worth 1.7 Billion of dollars). Zuckerberg returned to Cambridge in 2017 and pronounced the start address, and noticed that he did not expect to be the entrepreneurial group which would help to connect the whole world.
“The fact is that he never even came to my mind that someone could be us,” he said. “We were only college students. We didn’t know anything about this. There were all these large technological companies with resources. I just thought that one of them would do it. ”
“We have all started friendships for life here, and some of us families,” added Zuckerberg. “This is why I am so grateful to this place. Thank you, Harvard. “
Why continuous learning is important in the AI era
There is no doubt – the college is expensive. After all, the total cost of attendance for a 4 -year diploma in Berkeley will cost more than $ 200,000. And while Zaharia admits that the concerns about the university prize are valid, but in many cases, he says, the links established with students and teachers sharing the same ideas are unbeatable.
“People learn differently,” said Zaharia Fortune. “Some people just need a team around you, otherwise you won’t even start with your homework.”
This is partly why he and Ghodsi remain as university professors themselves in Berkeley – to better connect education to industry and help everyone grow. And thanks to AI, the colleges are about to undergo a huge youthful cure which could assert them the price.
“I think education will be completely revolutionized, and I think it will happen much faster than people think,” explains Ghodsi Fortune. The whole educational experience will be improved, he adds, by the ability to adapt the courses directly to the existing objectives and knowledge of students.
He adds that those who embrace AI and learning will be able to open doors that have not even been deemed possible a few years ago.
“Follow a passion, choose a subject, go deep now, you can learn faster than ever, and you know, the more you kiss this type of technology, you will also be a sort of somehow on the border,” said Ghodsi. “When an opportunity opens for new types of jobs that we do not even know today, you will be the first to enter.”
This state of mind is taken up by educators, who say that staying adaptable is essential. Arnold Castro, Deputy Doyenne of AI at the Mays business school at Texas A&M University – one of the more than 1,200 establishments in Databricks University Alliance – experiences students to remain clear.
“Stay up to date with developments in AI and Cloud technologies and be comfortable working in interdisciplinary teams,” advises Castro. “Above all, treat learning as a life for life, because in AI, which is peak today can be table issues tomorrow.”
This story was initially presented on Fortune.com
