Cognition
Medium (~300)
Databricks
Large (~7,000)
Best For
Cognition
Best for: Elite engineers who want to build frontier AI coding agents and own a meaningful equity stake
Databricks
Best for: Data engineers who want strong comp and deep technical pedigree at scale
Ratings
CognitionDatabricks
3.8
4.1
Overall
3.2
3.9
Work-Life Balance
3.9
4.0
Culture & Values
3.8
4.3
Comp & Benefits
3.6
3.8
Senior Mgmt
3.6
3.9
Career Opps
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Scott Wu)
👍 82% Recommend
👤 88% CEO Approval (Ali Ghodsi)
Culture Values
Cognition only
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate
Databricks only
🌱 Learning & Growth🌈 Diverse & Inclusive
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven💎 Strong Comp & Equity🎯 Direct Product Impact
Pros & Cons
Cognition
- Elite engineering team with strong equity
- Cutting-edge AI agent work
- High-intensity startup pace
- In-person SF expectations
Databricks
- Engineers who built Spark, Delta Lake, MLflow — deep technical pedigree
- Strong compensation and equity packages consistently above market
- Hypergrowth means org changes are constant — teams restructure frequently
- Some legacy Spark-era tech debt that can slow down new features
Bottom Line
Cognition
Choose Cognition if you want world-class AI agent research (makers of Devin) with strong equity upside — but expect top-tier intensity and mandatory in-person in San Francisco.
Databricks
Choose Databricks if you want elite data infrastructure work with strong equity — but brace for constant org changes.
Open Roles
Cognition — 62 jobs
💻 Engineering
21
💼 Sales / GTM
10
📊 Data
3
⚖️ Legal
2
⚙️ Operations
2
💰 Finance
1
👤 HR / People
1
📣 Marketing
1
🧠 ML / AI
1
Databricks — 842 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
353
💻 Engineering
284
📋 Product
39
📣 Marketing
34
📊 Data
22
👤 HR / People
12
🧠 ML / AI
12
⚙️ Operations
11
🎨 Design
6
💰 Finance
5
⚖️ Legal
5
Summary
Cognition scores 3.8/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.2 work-life balance rating. Databricks scores 4.1/5.0 overall with a 3.9 WLB. That’s a 0.3-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Strong Comp & Equity, Direct Product Impact. Cognition also emphasizes Ship Fast & Iterate. Databricks also emphasizes Learning & Growth, Diverse & Inclusive.
On the hiring front, Cognition has 62 open roles and Databricks has 842 open roles.