{"id":749828,"date":"2026-10-27T02:35:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T23:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/databricks-co-founder-shares-his-secrets-for-winning-big-enterprise-customers\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T02:35:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T23:35:37","slug":"databricks-co-founder-shares-his-secrets-for-winning-big-enterprise-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/databricks-co-founder-shares-his-secrets-for-winning-big-enterprise-customers\/","title":{"rendered":"Databricks co-founder shares his secrets for winning big enterprise customers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af2cf5e35d26\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af2cf5e35d26\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/databricks-co-founder-shares-his-secrets-for-winning-big-enterprise-customers\/#Sell_under_a_bigger_tech_companys_umbrella\" >Sell under a bigger tech company\u2019s umbrella<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/databricks-co-founder-shares-his-secrets-for-winning-big-enterprise-customers\/#When_selling_AI_address_the_%E2%80%9Cfour_Cs%E2%80%9D\" >When selling AI, address the \u201cfour Cs\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/databricks-co-founder-shares-his-secrets-for-winning-big-enterprise-customers\/#Attack_the_expensive_legacy_systems_enterprises_think_theyre_stuck_with\" >Attack the expensive legacy systems enterprises think they\u2019re stuck with<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Startups have never been under more pressure to grow quickly. To do that, many of them must land large enterprises, the deep pockets of the IT world, as customers. But as any company that sells to enterprises will tell you, it\u2019s not easy to win such contracts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One critical mistake most younger startups make is believing that their tech will practically sell itself, says Arsalan Tavakoli-Shiraji, co-founder and senior vice president of field engineering at Databricks, which helps businesses store and analyze huge amounts of data.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes. The tech must work well. But that\u2019s not enough, he warns. Databricks today is an AI and big data storage giant, valued at $190 billion, with more than 70% of the Fortune 500 as customers. But it was once a tiny startup, and Tavakoli-Shiraji was responsible for helping bring in its first big deals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEverybody when they\u2019re selling to enterprises at startups\u00a0\u2026 we think it\u2019s all about the tech and having the best tech,\u201d Tavakoli-Shiraji told attendees at TechCrunch Disrupt last week. But he learned the hard way that \u201cpeople and processes matter the most.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He remembers securing a meeting with a prospect in the early days, only to discover that it was the same person who signed a mega-deal with his major competitor. \u201cHe has no interest in listening to me because he bet his career on that competitor,\u201d Tavakoli-Shiraji said. He also remembers early deals fizzling because the startup wasn\u2019t prepared for legal, contractual, or security questions. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He offered his top tips for startups to win big customers:<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-sell-under-a-bigger-tech-company-s-umbrella\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sell_under_a_bigger_tech_companys_umbrella\"><\/span>Sell under a bigger tech company\u2019s umbrella<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Databricks was young, it tried and failed to score a meeting with UBS, the large Swiss bank. Then it did \u201ca partnership with Microsoft,\u201d becoming an Azure cloud partner. That meant sales agreements would be covered under Microsoft\u2019s terms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But it also meant that Microsoft\u2019s sales folks actually booked the meetings and advocated for the startup. \u201cAll of a sudden, that meeting wasn\u2019t hard to get,\u201d the founder recalled. \u201cIt was a huge boon to us that we were able to partner with somebody who had that access and distribution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With Microsoft\u2019s sales team helping, \u201cwe started getting pulled everywhere.\u201d That created new problems, like prospects wanting features for countries Databricks hadn\u2019t expanded to, but they were good problems to have.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, Databricks is the big company that works with startups, selling their products under Databricks\u2019 own terms and cybersecurity setup. Examples include <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/hightouch.com\/solutions\/databricks-cdp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Hightouch<\/a>, which provides AI-powered marketing and customer-data tools (Databricks has also invested in it); <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.databricks.com\/customers\/addepar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Addepar<\/a>, which offers data tools for investment professionals; and Tecton, a machine learning startup that Databricks later acquired.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-when-selling-ai-address-the-four-cs\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"When_selling_AI_address_the_%E2%80%9Cfour_Cs%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>When selling AI, address the \u201cfour Cs\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tavakoli-Shiraji groups enterprises\u2019 main concerns and objections into four categories he calls the four Cs: context, choice, cost, and control. Context means an AI that can be trained \u201clike bringing on a new employee,\u201d he says, learning the company\u2019s terminology, processes, priorities, and so on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Choice is the freedom to switch AI models rather than be tied to a single provider. Cost is about controlling how much the AI product will cost to run. Control involves the safeguards that govern the AI\u2019s behavior and protecting sensitive information.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-attack-the-expensive-legacy-systems-enterprises-think-they-re-stuck-with\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Attack_the_expensive_legacy_systems_enterprises_think_theyre_stuck_with\"><\/span>Attack the expensive legacy systems enterprises think they\u2019re stuck with<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tavakoli-Shiraji jokingly asks CIOs where they stand with AI on a scale of one to five. A one means employees merely have access to ChatGPT, and a five means the company has adopted new AI capabilities that have changed its business processes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd everybody loves picking, \u2018I\u2019m three leaning towards four.\u2019 But 99% of the ones I talk to are in bucket one and two.\u201d Enterprises still haven\u2019t figured out how to deploy AI agents in ways that create value beyond allowing engineering teams to write code. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take many, many years before people can actually properly deploy AI in a very meaningful way in the enterprise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One big opportunity for startups to bring that value is to modernize expensive legacy systems. \u201cIf you go to any bank today, they still have [an IBM] AS\/400 and mainframes,\u201d he described. \u201cNobody wanted to touch it because nobody knew what that code did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But today, AI agents \u201ccan go in and understand and actually decompose what that code does.\u201d That, he says, opens the door to products that do everything from adding modern interfaces for those ancient systems to replacing them altogether.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tavakoli-Shiraji also shared his predictions for the future of enterprise AI adoption, along with an anecdote of what h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ened when the company was young and he pretended to be a lawyer to land a big enterprise contract. See the full interview below.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Databricks on Why Enterprise AI Deals Die After the Pilot (And How to Fix It) | Disrupt 2026\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AVgojpml4hM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/10\/26\/databricks-co-founder-shares-his-secrets-for-winning-big-enterprises-customers\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Startups have never been under more pressure to grow quickly. To do that, many of them must land large enterprises, the deep pockets of the IT world, as customers. But as any company that sells to enterprises will tell you, it\u2019s not easy to win such contracts. One critical mistake most younger startups make is&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-749828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749828\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}