Ali Ghodsi on IPO

About Ali Ghodsi

Ali Ghodsi, cofounder and CEO of Databricks, has been speaking publicly about the company’s recent fundraising, product launches, and his views on the state of artificial intelligence. In July 2026, Ghodsi said on CNBC that Databricks was fundraising at a $188 billion valuation, driven by customer demand for open-source AI models such as Kimi and a resulting shortage of GPUs. He stated that the company’s Unity AI Gateway product, which allows customers to use both open-source and proprietary models, had seen explosive demand. At the company’s Data + AI Summit in June, Ghodsi announced the open-sourcing of a new project called Open Sharing, which he described as a superset of Delta Sharing that enables sharing of data, AI agents, skills, and models. He also noted that over 100,000 people had signed up for the event, making it the largest data and AI conference in the world. Ghodsi has repeatedly argued that artificial general intelligence (AGI) has already been achieved, stating that the current constraint on AI productivity is not intelligence but context. He said that AI models are already smart enough but lack the enterprise context—such as data, processes, and organizational knowledge—to be fully useful in the workplace. He described Databricks’ Lakehouse as a “system of record for agents” and highlighted new products including Customer Lake for marketing and Lake Watch for security. On the topic of an initial public offering, Ghodsi said he believes 2026 is a “terrible year” to go public due to macroeconomic uncertainty and the presence of several large IPOs, and that Databricks, which he said does not burn capital, can afford to wait for more stable conditions. He also noted that the company may raise additional private capital before going public.

Profile compiled from Ali Ghodsi's verified public interviews and appearances. See all quotes & transcripts →