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 — 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
Perplexity AI — 74 jobs
💻 Engineering
37
🧠 ML / AI
8
📊 Data
5
⚖️ Legal
4
📣 Marketing
3
⚙️ Operations
3
💼 Sales / GTM
2
🎧 Support
2
👤 HR / People
1
📋 Product
1
Summary
Databricks scores 4.1/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.9 work-life balance rating. Perplexity AI scores 4.7/5.0 overall with a 3.3 WLB. That’s a 0.6-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Learning & Growth, Strong Comp & Equity, Direct Product Impact. Databricks also emphasizes Diverse & Inclusive. Perplexity AI also emphasizes Ship Fast & Iterate.
On the hiring front, Databricks has 842 open roles and Perplexity AI has 74 open roles.