Ali Ghodsi, cofounder and CEO of Databricks, thinks AI will eventually be more transformational than the Internet and bring about the biggest changes since the Industrial Revolution. Ghodsi spoke at Money20/20 earlier this week and in an interview with Fortune expanded on his remarks.
“In my opinion, [we’re] in the beginning of the next big, giant revolution. I wouldn’t compare it to the computer, I would compare it to the industrial revolution…This is the intelligence revolution,” Ghodsi said. However, he cautioned that these monumental changes won’t happen this year or next year but will likely take place faster than expected, he said.
Ghodsi was one of thousands of executives who descended on the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas for the Money20/20 conference, traditionally one of the biggest fintech events of the year. Large banks like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup were in attendance as well as high profile fintechs like PayPal and Plaid.
Ghodsi along with Ben Horowitz, cofounder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, kicked off the event Sunday, giving separate talks on AI. Horowitz spoke about how he studied AI back when he was a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne in the 1980s. “We all thought it was never going to work,” he said.
AI has evolved and its potential power is “scaring people because it’s so different,” Horowitz said. “[AI] is the biggest change for us we’ve ever seen.”
Databricks’ Ghodsi told Fortune that there are risks with AI, but that society has to work hard to mitigate them. The right type of regulation is needed while companies need to make sure that the impact of AI on jobs is “done in a way that helps the general population,” Ghodsi said. Any new tech innovations, such as fire or the hammer, carried the risk that it could be misused, Ghodsi said.
Ghodsi, however, is an optimist. The Databricks CEO believes society will “overcome these challenges and we will see massive benefits to healthcare, education and science from this technology.”
He pointed to Regeneron, which discovered the genome responsible for chronic liver disease using AI. “These types of breakthroughs save lives,” he said.
Databricks is an analytics company that was valued at $43 billion over the summer. The company has been acquisitive this year. On Monday, Databricks agreed to buy Arcion, an enterprise data company, for more than $100 million. This followed Databricks’ $1.3 billion buy of MosaicML, a startup that is looking to disrupt the AI sector. Databricks is also considered a top candidate to go public. “Right now we have a huge demand on our business and we’re focused on satisfying that. When the time is right, we will also go public. We don’t have a date to share,” Ghodsi said.
Databricks has more than 10,000 customers, including Comcast and Condé Nast. In October, financial services became its biggest vertical, beating out healthcare.
He also dispensed a bit of career advice for anyone who is avoidant of the technology.
“In 10 years, I don’t think you’re eligible to be CEO of a Fortune 500 or Fortune 50 if you’re not well versed in data and AI,” Ghodsi said.
See you tomorrow,
Luisa Beltran
Twitter: @LuisaRBeltran
Email: luisa.beltran@fortune.com
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VENTURE DEALS
- Aiolos Bio, a London, U.K. and San Francisco-based biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for respiratory and inflammatory conditions, raised $245 million in Series A funding. Forbion, Atlas Venture, Bain Capital Life Sciences, and Sofinnova Investments led the round and were joined by RA Capital Management.
- Quantum Systems, a Munich, Germany-based developer of drone technology for government and commercial clients, raised €63.6 million ($67.4 million) in Series B funding. HV Capital and DTCP led the round and were joined by Project A, Thiel Capital, ScaleUp Fonds Bayern, Omnes Capital, and Airbus Ventures.
- Adlumin, a Washington, D.C.-based cybersecurity platform, raised $70 million in Series B funding. SYN Ventures led the round and was joined by First In Ventures, Washington Harbour Partners, and BankTech Ventures.
- Censys, a Ann Arbor, Mich.-based cybersecurity platform, raised $50 million in Series C funding. Decibel Partners, GV, Greylock, and Intel Capital led the round and were joined by Ascension Ventures, Four Rivers Partners V, and others.
- Blockaid, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based security tool provider for blockchain transactions, raised $33 million in Series A funding. Ribbit Capital and Variant led the round and were joined by Cyberstarts, Sequoia, and Greylock
- Aleph, a New York City-based platform for pulling and managing financial data, raised $16.7 million in Series A funding. Bain Capital Ventures led the round and was joined by Khosla Ventures, Picus Capital, Y Combinator, and others.
- PhaseV, a Boston, Mass. and Tel Aviv, Israel-based company developing machine learning technology designed to analyze clinical trial data, raised $15 million in new funding. Viola Ventures and Exor Ventures led the round and was joined by LionBird and angel investors.
- Flashpoint Therapeutics, a Chicago, Ill.-based company developing nanotechnology-enabled therapeutics for cancer and other diseases, raised $10 million in seed funding. Beta Lab led the round and was joined by CS Venture Opportunities Fund.
- Pair Team, a San Francisco-based platform connecting high-risk Medicaid patients with care providers, raised $9 million in Series A funding. NEXT VENTURES led the round and was joined by PTX Capital, Create Health Ventures, OCA Ventures, CHCF Innovation Fund, Kapor Capital, Augment Ventures, and others.
- FarmInsect, a Munich, Germany-based developer of products designed for farmers to create their own animal feed from insect larvae, raised €8 million ($8.5 million) in Series A funding. Sandwater led the round and was joined by Minderoo Foundation and others.
- Ignition, a San Francisco-based operations platform designed to align product, marketing, and sales teams together for product launches, raised $8 million in seed funding. Audacious Ventures led the round and was joined by Altman Capital and angel investors.
- PopUp Bagels, a Westport, Conn.-based bagel company, raised $8 million in Series A funding. Stripes led the round and was joined by existing investors.
- Yourco, an Indianapolis, Ind.-based SMS platform for internal company communications, raised $2 million in seed funding. Ground Game Ventures led the round and was joined by Allos Ventures, Start Something Ventures, Elevate Ventures, and Flywheel Fund.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- EnterpriseDB, backed by Bain Capital, acquired Splitgraph, a Cambridge, U.K.-based platform for querying, uploading, and sharing data. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Sixth Street Growth acquired a minority stake in Keyfactor, an Independence, Ohio-based cybersecurity platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
- Align Capital Partners acquired Counsel Press, a New York City-based provider of appellate and other legal services, from Gladstone Investment Corporation. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Gemspring Capital Management acquired InflowCX, a Portland, Oregon-based provider of consultant and advisory services for customer service and experience, from Renovus Capital Partners.
IPOS
- Shimmick, an Irving, Calif.-based construction firm, plans to raise up to $55 million in an offering of 4,550,000 shares priced between $10 and $12. The company posted $690 million in revenue during the year ending June 30, 2023. GOHO backs the company.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
- OrbiMed, a New York City-based investment firm, raised $4.3 billion across three funds focused on biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, technology-enabled healthcare services, and other health care companies.
- Norvestor, an Oslo, Norway-based private equity firm, raised €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) for its ninth fund focused on providers of business services, technology-enabled services, consumer services, and industrial solutions and services based in the Nordics.
PEOPLE
- Cathay Capital, a Paris, France-based investment firm, hired Marc Jourlait as an operating partner. Formerly, he was with Kodak Alaris.
- Kian Capital Partners, a Charlotte, N.C.-based investment firm, hired Jimbo Izlar as vice president. Formerly, he was with KLH Capital.
- Fred Ehrsam, cofounder of San Francisco-based venture capital firm Paradigm, announced he would be transitioning from managing partner to general partner.
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