Throwback: How Did You First Discover Databricks?

[Rishabh_Tiwari]

Let’s take a trip down memory lane! Share how you first discovered Databricks and what drew you to the platform. Was it a project, a recommendation, or a community event?

[Rishabh_Tiwari]

Let’s take a trip down memory lane! Share how you first discovered Databricks and what drew you to the platform. Was it a project, a recommendation, or a community event?

[Rishabh_Tiwari]

Let’s take a trip down memory lane! Share how you first discovered Databricks and what drew you to the platform. Was it a project, a recommendation, or a community event?

[Rjdudley]

tl;dr: Unemployed, hands-on labs and the free accreditations.

I was a developer and systems architect for many years, building big data systems in AWS using individual services--S3, Hadoop, Spark, Airflow, Lambda, Glue, Hudi, Athena, Redshift, Quicksight, etc..  Like a lot of people in the last year or two, I found myself unemployed, and reading job postings I saw my skills were not in demand; the postings wanted Databricks or Snowflake.  So I started doing HoLs and working in Databricks was like a breath of fresh air compared to what I had done in the past.  I told an also unemployed former teammate about Databricks, she loved it too, and we decided if we ever had a chance at another project which would benefit from a lakehouse, we're going Databricks.  Networking landed her a role doing exactly that, and I was her first hire.  A year later and I'm still excited every day to build in Databricks.

[Rishabh_Tiwari]

What an inspiring story, @Rjdudley ! Thank you for sharing your journey. It’s incredible how you turned a challenging situation into an opportunity to upskill and embrace new technologies like Databricks. The contrast you described between traditional tools and Databricks really highlights the platform’s value.

It’s also heartwarming to see how your enthusiasm for Databricks helped you and your former teammate not just rediscover your passion but also land roles that let you build with it daily. Stories like yours truly embody the power of resilience, community, and innovation. Wishing you continued success and exciting projects in your Databricks journey!