Databricks
Large (~7,000)
Granola
Small (~50)
Best For
Databricks
Best for: Data engineers who want strong comp and deep technical pedigree at scale
Granola
Best for: Craft-focused generalists who love native macOS development and want to build a consumer-quality AI product people genuinely love
Ratings
DatabricksGranola
4.1
4.8
Overall
3.9
4.5
Work-Life Balance
4.0
5.0
Culture & Values
4.3
4.5
Comp & Benefits
3.8
5.0
Senior Mgmt
3.9
4.7
Career Opps
👍 82% Recommend
👤 88% CEO Approval (Ali Ghodsi)
👍 100% Recommend
👤 100% CEO Approval (Sam Stephenson)
Culture Values
Databricks only
🌱 Learning & Growth🌈 Diverse & Inclusive
Granola only
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🧩 Wears Many Hats
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven💎 Strong Comp & Equity🎯 Direct Product Impact
Pros & Cons
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
Granola
- Users absolutely love the product — everyone at Granola genuinely cares about quality
- Plenty of opportunities to work on things that make a real difference on a small team
- 5 days in office by default (with flexibility for life circumstances)
- Small team, so things can be busy — you'll wear many hats
Bottom Line
Databricks
Choose Databricks if you want elite data infrastructure work with strong equity — but brace for constant org changes.
Granola
Choose Granola if you want to work on one of the most loved AI products with a small, London-based, in-office team obsessed with craft — but note the 5-days-in-office policy is explicit and non-negotiable.
Open Roles
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
Granola — 16 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
6
💻 Engineering
4
📣 Marketing
2
🎨 Design
1
👤 HR / People
1
⚖️ Legal
1
⚙️ Operations
1
Summary
Databricks scores 4.1/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.9 work-life balance rating. Granola scores 4.8/5.0 overall with a 4.5 WLB. That’s a 0.7-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Strong Comp & Equity, Direct Product Impact. Databricks also emphasizes Learning & Growth, Diverse & Inclusive. Granola also emphasizes Ship Fast & Iterate, Wears Many Hats.
On the hiring front, Databricks has 842 open roles and Granola has 16 open roles.