Databricks plans an approximately $3 billion EMEA investment

Databricks says it plans to invest approximately $3 billion across Europe and the Middle East over the next three years. The company says the plan is its largest regional investment outside North America.

The money is a plan, not a completed spend. Databricks says the investment will expand research and development teams and put more engineers and customer specialists next to organizations using Lakebase, Genie, and Unity Gateway. It says it has more than 2,000 employees in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and expects to grow that team by approximately 50 percent over the next three years.

Training is part of the same plan. Databricks says it plans to train approximately 500,000 students and professionals in data and AI skills across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa by 2030. It says more than 80,000 people in the region signed up for its free edition over the past year, and that professional certifications across its partner network grew 70 percent year over year.

Offices and engineering hubs already expanded. The company says it opened four offices over the past year, in Amsterdam, Milan, Zurich, and Frankfurt. It says core parts of the platform are built in Amsterdam, Berlin, Belgrade, and Aarhus. Over the past six months it says it invested in French startup Tsuga and UK firm Advancing Analytics through Databricks Ventures, and in UK startup Applied Computing through an accelerator program.

"Leaders have seen AI work in pilots," said Samuel Bonamigo, senior vice president and general manager for EMEA at Databricks. He said the company is investing to scale the platform, put more experts with customers, and train almost half a million people.