This was super fun to investigate using SQL and Genie.
I really liked how the Databricks Detective Series turns learning into a real hands-on experience. Instead of just reading concepts, we get to ask questions, follow clues, validate evidence, and solve a case like a real data engineer.
Genie makes it even more interesting because it shows how natural language can help users explore data faster, while SQL thinking still helps us validate and trust the findings.
Great initiative by the Databricks team. This is a brilliant way to help learners build confidence with Databricks Free Edition, Lakeview dashboards, and real-world data investigation. Excited to see this launch at Data + AI Summit 2026.
@Brahmareddy not going to lie, this was insanely fun. I have only solved one of the cases but it was so fun 🤣. It actually felt like I was playing a game!
Clearly I'm a slow detective based on some of those times @Tushar_Parekar 🤣.
Feedback from solving the first Case
This is just seriously cool. It didn't feel like a situation where "here's some tables, go look at them; same old stuff". I was pulled in to explore the tables because I wanted to solve this detective case haha. Somehow this "detective" theme creates intrinsic motivation to really get stuck in with it.
I thought it was really cool that there was an evidence pad on the screen where I could type notes, manually. I could also query the tables, manually, with a really slick code editor. After sometime, I thought it'd be faster to just use GENIE (AI) to help me with solving some of the clues once I understood the data. I loved that it queried the tables and also showed me the SQL it was writing, it let me check we were aligned in the process. The follow-up suggestions on next steps were a really nice touch with Genie as-well. However, since it's a game, it'd be cool if I could toggle that suggestion part off so it doesn't lead me during the investigation (i.e. tuning the difficulty of the game from easy to hard 😎🤓).
Really enjoyed the experience of solving Case 1 & was just blown away by the interactivity of it all. Hats off to the Databricks team for this! @Tushar_Parekar. As an avid gamer, this is right up my street. I love gamification!
I'll have to solve the next cases over the upcoming days or I need to up my game and solve faster using Genie 🤣.
All the best,
BS
