Databricks Crossed $7B ARR Growing 80% — a 30-Point Acceleration — and Ali Ghodsi Named the Catch: Agents Generate Far More Queries Than Humans

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Databricks disclosed $7B+ ARR growing 80% year over year alongside its $5B round led by Coatue at a $190B valuation, an acceleration from roughly 50% growth a year earlier between $4B and $7B. New product disclosures include Lakebase at $100M+ run-rate and Lakehouse at $1.5B+ growing over 100%, with 1,000+ customers above $1M run-rate (up from 650+ in September 2025) and net retention above 140%. Ghodsi's framing is the important part for builders: agents generate 'way more queries' than humans, which compresses gross margin — but a consumption-priced vendor gets paid for that extra volume, which is precisely why seat-priced incumbents cannot run the same play.