The Path of an AI Creator News: Databricks One is here! AI makes data analysis easy. Business intelligence evolves! #DatabricksOne #AIDataAnalysis #CopilotStrategy
Video explanation
It's like magic! The day may come when we can talk to AI and analyze data!
Hello, I'm John, and I explore the world of AI and data! When you hear "data analysis" or "AI," you might think, "That sounds difficult..." or "You have to be an expert to do that, right?" But what if AI became like a reliable assistant for our daily work, allowing us to interact with data as if we were having a conversation with someone, even without specialized knowledge? That future may be just around the corner!
Today, I would like to take a look at this exciting new technology, "Databricks One." I will explain it in an easy-to-understand way so that even those who are not familiar with computers or AI can enjoy it and say, "Wow, I didn't know I could do that!"
What exactly is Databricks One?
First, there is a company called "Databricks." This company is a so-called "data utilization professional" that helps companies make good use of large amounts of data. Recently, Databricks announced a new platform called "Databricks One."
The great thing about Databricks One is thatEven if you don't have any programming knowledge, you will be able to view and analyze your company's data as if you were having a conversation with AI.It's a bit similar to the AI assistant "Copilot" provided by Microsoft.
You may have used software such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Until now, you have had to open each software yourself to work. However, Microsoft's Copilot aims for a future where you can talk to an AI like, "I want to create this kind of document," and the AI will launch the appropriate software to help you. In other words,From "software-centric" to "AI assistant-centric"This is the image that changes.
Databricks One is also trying to bring this idea to the world of data analysis. Until now, experts have had to write complex code (programming instructions) to handle data, but Databricks One wants to make it simpler and allow anyone to access data with the help of AI.
According to analyst Michael Nee, "Databricks One is trying to fundamentally change the way we interact with users, just like Microsoft's Copilot strategy. However, the target is not office software, but corporate data and AI." In other words, rather than replacing the existing "BI tools (business intelligence tools: tools for analyzing corporate data and using it to make management decisions),""Let's make smarter decision-making a natural part of the way we work."That is what it means.
What can you do with Databricks One?
Databricks One is currently being released to some users, and anyone who uses existing Databricks services can try it for free. Specifically, the following features will be provided:
- AI/BI Dashboard: Even if you are not an expert, you can visualize your company data in easy-to-understand formats (such as graphs) and perform advanced analysis. Of course, you don't need to write any program code!
- Genie：It's like a genie in a magic lamp! This is a conversational assistant, and when you ask questions about data in the language we normally use, the AI will answer them. It also seems to understand the technical terms and business background of each company.
- Databricks Apps: This also sounds interesting. By combining analysis, AI functions, and even daily business processes, even people without specialized knowledge will be able to create original apps specialized for specific purposes.
And the important aspect of security has also been taken into consideration. Data is managed securely using mechanisms such as "Unity Catalog" and the "Databricks IAM Platform."
However, there is one thing to note here. According to analyst Robert Kramer, although Databricks One is very useful, it does not seem to give you access to all of the advanced, specialized features that Databricks offers. It may just be positioned as a gateway to allow non-expert business team members to more easily interact with data.
What is Databricks aiming for?
Databricks has launched Databricks One for a reason, of course, and analysts see it as a clever move to get more companies to use Databricks' products.
Michael Nee, who was mentioned earlier, said, “Databricks One is attracting the interest of companies and allowing them to build their own data centers on the Databricks platform.Metadata (data about data. For example, for a photo file, it would be information about when and where the photo was taken, what camera it was used, etc.)"It's like a Trojan horse for centralizing all of this information." It's a bit of a shocking way of putting it, but it means that the more people use Databricks One to make business decisions, the more companies will be unable to move away from the Databricks platform.
Ni points out that in today's world of data and analytics, the competition has shifted from "which company has collected the most data" to "which company can best help companies understand data and make it easier to use in business," and Databricks One may just be Databricks' first move in this new competition.
Of course, Databricks is not the only company trying to make data analysis easy in natural language without programming knowledge. For example, a company called Snowflake offers a tool called "Cortex AI," and Microsoft offers tools such as "Fabric" and "Copilot."
However, according to Robert Kramer, there are some things to note about Databricks One."It's built directly into our lake house platform."This could be a major advantage.
Apparently there's even a free version!
Databricks has started offering a free version to encourage more people to try out their platform! That's great!
Analysts see the free offer as a "classic market-grabbing strategy." Here's what it means:
- Increase the number of people who can use Databricks tools (human resource development)
- By getting users familiar with Databricks products from an early stage, it becomes difficult for them to switch to other companies’ products (lock-in)
That seems to be the aim. I see, that's a clever strategy.
However, there are some caveats to this free version. According to Kramer, the free version only provides basic computer processing power and limits the number of tasks and apps you can run at once. It also does not include advanced security features for businesses or large storage space for storing a lot of data.
Databricks has not yet released any information about the detailed usage restrictions of the free version. By the way, competitors such as Snowflake offer free trials, but they are often limited to a period of about 30 days, so I'm curious to know what the free version of Databricks will be like.
Writer's thoughts
Wow, it feels like the future is getting closer! A few years ago, being able to analyze data while talking to AI was something that only seemed like something from science fiction movies. Of course, not all work will be left to AI anytime soon, and the knowledge and experience of experts will definitely be necessary in the future.
However, I think it's wonderful that people who have avoided data because they thought it was difficult will now be able to get in touch with it more easily. Data may lead to new discoveries and help work go more smoothly. I'll be keeping an eye on Databricks One to see if it opens the door to such a future!
This article is based on the following original articles and is summarized from the author's perspective:
Databricks One mirrors Microsoft Copilot strategy to
transform enterprise data access