Databricks
Large (~7,000)
Perplexity AI
Mid (~500)
Best For
Databricks
Best for: Data engineers who want strong comp and deep technical pedigree at scale
Perplexity AI
Best for: Builders who thrive on speed and want massive user-facing impact at a rocketship
Ratings
DatabricksPerplexity AI
4.1
4.7
Overall
3.9
3.3
Work-Life Balance
4.0
4.8
Culture & Values
4.3
4.5
Comp & Benefits
3.8
4.5
Senior Mgmt
3.9
4.2
Career Opps
👍 82% Recommend
👤 88% CEO Approval (Ali Ghodsi)
👍 92% Recommend
👤 95% CEO Approval (Aravind Srinivas)
Culture Values
Databricks only
🌈 Diverse & Inclusive
Perplexity AI only
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🌱 Learning & Growth💎 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
Perplexity AI
- Fastest-growing AI product — real users, real revenue, genuine product-market fit
- Small team, massive impact per engineer — your work ships to millions quickly
- Startup intensity — expect long hours and high expectations
- Growing pains as the team scales — roles and responsibilities shift frequently
Bottom Line
Databricks
Choose Databricks if you want elite data infrastructure work with strong equity — but brace for constant org changes.
Perplexity AI
Choose Perplexity if you want the fastest-growing AI product and huge per-engineer impact — but expect startup intensity.
Open Roles
Databricks — 789 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
319
💻 Engineering
258
📋 Product
52
📊 Data
23
⚙️ Operations
17
🧠 ML / AI
15
💰 Finance
12
📣 Marketing
11
👤 HR / People
9
⚖️ Legal
5
🎨 Design
4
🎧 Support
1
Perplexity AI — 81 jobs
💻 Engineering
44
🧠 ML / AI
7
📊 Data
5
⚖️ Legal
5
💼 Sales / GTM
4
📣 Marketing
3
💰 Finance
1
👤 HR / People
1
⚙️ Operations
1
📋 Product
1
🎧 Support
1