Arsalan Tavakoli-Shiraji

Cofounder, Databricks

Search every verified Arsalan Tavakoli-Shiraji interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Arsalan Tavakoli-shiraji, cofounder and senior vice president of field engineering at Databricks, appeared at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 and an Endeavor event in October 2026 to discuss enterprise AI adoption and sales strategy. At Disrupt, he said that most companies are "not very far at all" in using AI, describing a five-phase adoption curve where asking ChatGPT a question does not count as using AI. He argued that enterprise AI deals often fail because startups focus on technology rather than people and processes, and he predicted that gross margins in the industry will come under pressure as lower building costs and easier switching enable competition. At the Endeavor fireside chat, Tavakoli-shiraji discussed Databricks' origins as an open source project from Berkeley's AMP Lab and its growth to over $7 billion in revenue with an 80% year-over-year increase. He said that while many companies have spent money on AI and done coding projects, roughly 90% have not broadly implemented it, and he noted that Databricks engages both top-down with CEOs and bottom-up with technical teams. He also reflected on the company's founding, saying the seven cofounders each fell into senior roles they would be qualified for elsewhere, which helped the team function effectively.