As information and AI workloads scale, organizations want a platform that does extra than simply join companies—it should unify them. Azure Databricks brings collectively the total energy of the Databricks Knowledge Intelligence Platform with deep Azure integrations to simplify and speed up each step of the information lifecycle. From centralized governance and open information codecs to built-in warehousing and native AI instruments, Azure Databricks permits groups to maneuver quicker, scale back complexity, and innovate responsibly. Trusted by hundreds of shoppers, together with main enterprises akin to AT&T, Swiss Re, JLL, CVS Well being, HSBC, Shell, and Walgreens, Azure Databricks is a confirmed platform at scale.
Here is a better have a look at 5 key the explanation why information and AI groups are selecting Azure Databricks as their unified platform for analytics and AI at scale.
1. Unified governance for information + AI
Azure Databricks consists of Unity Catalog, the unified governance answer that permits organizations to make use of one method to handle all their information and AI property. Whether or not it’s tables, information, notebooks, fashions, or dashboards, Unity Catalog permits groups to set entry insurance policies as soon as and apply them persistently throughout all workloads.
Unity Catalog’s Lakehouse Federation helps you to mount present information with zero copy from programs akin to SQL Server, BigQuery, Snowflake and storage akin to ADLS or S3. You can even connect with present Iceberg or Hive Catalogs.
As a part of the Databricks Knowledge Intelligence Platform on Azure, Unity Catalog helps guarantee enterprise-grade safety and lineage monitoring, and interoperability with Microsoft Purview, eliminating the necessity for a number of disconnected governance instruments. Unity Catalog helps guarantee discoverability, enterprise-grade safety and lineage monitoring in your Azure Databricks property, with the power to increase this to your whole information property by combining with Microsoft Purview.
“Unity Catalog has been a game-changer for our enterprise as a result of now we’re in a position to present fine-grained management and entry to our information.”
2. Deep integrations throughout the Azure ecosystem
Azure Databricks is absolutely built-in throughout the Azure ecosystem, providing first-party, native connectors and streamlined experiences throughout:
- Energy BI – publish immediately from Unity Catalog and Databricks Workflows with full semantic mannequin help
- Azure OpenAI Service – mix massive language fashions with enterprise information securely and responsibly. Along with Azure OpenAI, Azure Databricks provides you mannequin selection together with unique entry to Anthropic Claude fashions hosted on Azure Databricks and open-source fashions like Meta’s Llama 4
- Azure Knowledge Lake Storage, Azure Knowledge Manufacturing unit, Entra ID, and Microsoft Purview – unify storage, identification, pipeline orchestration, and compliance in a single stack. New in Azure Knowledge Manufacturing unit, the native Databricks Job exercise makes it simpler than ever to set off Databricks Workflows natively.
- Azure AI Foundry – run Azure Databricks Jobs and combine Azure Databricks AI/BI Genie with Foundry Brokers to ship contextual, enterprise-aware solutions
- Microsoft Energy Platform – seamlessly energy your apps, automations, and agent workflows with ruled information, all with out duplicating it
With a few clicks from the Azure Portal, you have got a completely built-in setting, with your whole customers and teams from Entra ID accessible to construct information and AI programs.
The prebuilt integrations scale back architectural overhead and speed up time to perception, serving to prospects take full benefit of the Azure-native Databricks expertise.
“Azure Databricks works throughout the ecosystem. We have a knowledge platform right here that is very wealthy, that makes use of so many alternative elements of the Microsoft stack. Databricks is open and orchestrates nicely throughout the completely different platforms.”
3. Constructed-in information warehousing with efficiency and adaptability
With the Databricks SQL information warehouse, prospects can serve trendy SQL analytics and BI use circumstances immediately inside Azure Databricks, with out requiring a separate warehouse or creating copies of information. Knowledge stays in an open format, not locked right into a proprietary system, enabling enterprise analysts and information engineers to collaborate on a single platform that helps:
- Excessive-concurrency, low-latency dashboards and advert hoc queries utilizing commonplace SQL
- Direct Energy BI integration with full governance through Unity Catalog
- Pure language querying by way of AI/BI Genie, making insights accessible to extra customers
“With Azure Databricks serving because the Knowledge Intelligence Platform complemented with Microsoft’s Energy BI, the enterprise end result has been profound. Our use circumstances, like annuities digital risk, has had a multi-million greenback affect on winbacks.”
This stage of efficiency and ease displays the facility of Azure Databricks, enabling groups to unify their analytics layer with out compromising governance or scale.
4. AI improvement made easy
Whether or not you are constructing LLM-powered copilots, fine-tuning proprietary fashions, or working basic machine studying workloads, Azure Databricks presents the flexibleness to do all of it whereas conserving governance and observability on the forefront.
Via integrations with Azure OpenAI, open supply fashions like Llama 4, and help for suppliers like Anthropic, prospects can:
- Select the suitable mannequin for the suitable use case
- Customise together with your enterprise information and serve fashions securely inside ruled environments
- Monitor value and efficiency by way of built-in observability instruments
The unified structure of the Databricks Knowledge Intelligence Platform on Azure makes all of this attainable, simplifying AI improvement and aligning with enterprise safety necessities.
5. Excessive efficiency with low TCO
Azure Databricks is optimized for each efficiency and effectivity. With the Photon engine, workloads run quicker whereas consuming fewer assets, leading to actual, measurable financial savings for information and AI groups. Key advantages embrace:
- 6x quicker efficiency than legacy warehouse engines
- Consumption-based pricing – pay just for what you utilize
- AI-powered auto-optimization, decreasing the necessity for handbook tuning
“As a part of our adoption of the Databricks Knowledge Intelligence Platform, we have now noticed an amazing quantity of information high quality enchancment, quicker insights by a minimum of 25%.”
These capabilities mirror the design ideas of the Databricks Knowledge Intelligence Platform on Azure: open, clever, and cost-efficient.
Speed up innovation with Azure Databricks
From analytics to GenAI, Azure Databricks offers a unified basis for innovation. As a part of your Microsoft Azure setting, Azure Databricks allows you to construct smarter, transfer quicker, and govern every part in a single place, whether or not you’re scaling BI, accelerating AI, or simplifying your information property. Hear extra how main enterprises are unlocking quicker insights, higher information high quality, and tangible value financial savings utilizing Azure Databricks.
Get Began with a Free 14-day Trial of Azure Databricks.