Databricks updates Genie AI agent for longer, multi-step tasks

Databricks has updated its Genie AI agent so it can complete multi-step jobs that take longer to finish. The company says Genie uses an ontology it built to provide context from information customers store on the Databricks platform. Business leaders can assign it a wide range of tasks, which it can complete without supervision, Databricks says.

CEO Ali Ghodsi showed TechCrunch how he uses Genie internally. It analyzed employee satisfaction survey results where the company scored poorly and helped him assess suggestions from executives for addressing those scores. It also summarized a sales pitch that went badly, including features the prospect said it needed before buying, and prepared Ghodsi for a podcast interview by reviewing his previous appearances and suggesting likely questions.

Ghodsi said he uses Genie to surface problems that employees may not bring directly to a chief executive. Databricks has 12,000 employees, and Ghodsi said a leader at that scale cannot know everyone. He cited Dunbar’s number, describing 150 as the theoretical maximum number of people with whom a person can maintain stable relationships. He said people at companies with more than 150 employees could get value from AI agents such as Genie.

Ghodsi also said he uses Genie in his personal life. On the cost of business AI agents, he said Databricks’ Unity Gateway lets companies set usage limits and switch to less expensive open-weight models.