Databricks and Microsoft have expanded their strategic partnership through the 2030s, with both companies strengthening collaboration on enterprise AI, Azure infrastructure and data platform integration.
As part of the agreement, Databricks will expand its use of Azure Databricks to run its core business operations and analytics while increasing adoption of Azure Cobalt, Microsoft’s Arm-based cloud infrastructure, to support AI and data-intensive workloads.
The companies said they will also deepen integration of the Databricks Data and AI Platform across Microsoft’s product portfolio, including Microsoft 365, Teams, Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft Purview and Copilot. The integration will also bring Databricks Genie, the company’s AI assistant, and Unity AI Gateway into Microsoft workflows to help enterprises build AI applications using their own business data.
According to the companies, the expanded partnership is aimed at addressing enterprise challenges around connecting AI models to trusted business data, governing AI systems and managing infrastructure costs.
“With Databricks Genie and Unity AI Gateway deeply integrated across Microsoft’s products, we’re helping enterprises unify their data and ground AI in business knowledge,” said Ali Ghodsi, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Databricks.
“The next generation of AI will be defined by how effectively organizations turn their unique knowledge into intelligence,” said Judson Althoff, Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft Commercial Business.
Databricks said it also plans to adopt Microsoft’s next-generation Azure Cobalt 200 infrastructure after currently using Cobalt 100, citing expected performance improvements for AI workloads. The companies added that thousands of organisations, including Banco Bradesco, Electrolux, SMBC and Unilever, currently use Azure Databricks for data analytics and AI deployments.