Databricks pledges AUD $420 million for ANZ expansion

Databricks will invest AUD $420 million in Australia and New Zealand over the next three years to support its regional expansion.

The investment includes a new ANZ headquarters in Sydney, expanded availability of products including Lakebase, Genie and Agent Bricks, and a plan to train 100,000 learners across Australia and New Zealand in data and AI over five years.

The move follows more than 85% year-on-year growth in the region in the first quarter of Databricks' 2027 financial year. Customer demand rose across financial services, energy and the public sector as organisations moved from pilot projects to broader deployment of AI systems.

A central part of the investment is a new 22,000-square-foot office at 400 George Street in Sydney. The site will quadruple Databricks' footprint in the city and include dedicated training facilities for staff, customers and partners.

Its regional customer base has also continued to widen, with the City of Melbourne joining existing users including Airwallex, Atlassian, National Australia Bank, Telstra and Queensland Health.

Regional push

Databricks is expanding in a market where businesses and public bodies are looking for ways to embed AI tools into everyday operations. Demand in Australia and New Zealand has grown for products that support data management, database workloads and AI agents.

Lakebase is Databricks' serverless Postgres database for AI agents, while Genie lets employees query data using natural language. Agent Bricks is the company's system for building, managing and governing AI agents on company data. All three are now generally available in the region.

Adam Beavis, Vice President and Country Manager, Databricks ANZ, linked the spending to a broader shift in customer behaviour.

"We're seeing a clear shift from AI experimentation to impact across ANZ enterprises. Organisations are moving beyond pilots into production - from improving customer experiences to streamlining operations," Beavis said.

"Our US$300 million investment reflects the pace of adoption and our long-term commitment to the region. Now our customers can innovate even faster with Lakebase, Genie and Agent Bricks, build with confidence and drive tangible business outcomes."

Skills focus

Databricks also tied its plans to workforce development, with the goal of training 100,000 learners across ANZ over five years. The programme will include in-person and virtual bootcamps, hackathons, customer-led training and learning festivals across multiple cities.

One initiative, Databricks for Business, is aimed at non-technical users. It is designed to help staff work with organisational data through Genie without requiring specialist data science skills.

The skills push aligns with broader efforts in Australia to prepare workers for AI-related changes in the economy. Across sectors, businesses have been trying to address shortages in data and machine learning expertise while also giving existing staff tools they can use in daily work.

Customer adoption

The City of Melbourne said it has used Databricks as part of its data and AI work, including Genie for questions involving pedestrian flow data and other operational information.

"Through our partnership with Databricks, the City of Melbourne has built a modern, unified data foundation to power our data and AI transformation and deliver real outcomes for our community. With Genie, teams can query complex data, like pedestrian flows, using natural language, turning raw data into real-time, actionable insights. It's empowering our people to self-serve insights and accelerating our journey to becoming a truly data-driven organisation," said Councillor Andrew Rowse.

For Databricks, the regional investment provides a larger physical base in Sydney while extending its sales, training and customer support across Australia and New Zealand. The spending is intended to meet demand as more organisations move AI systems from limited trials into operational use.

Databricks has more than 20,000 organisational customers worldwide, and 70% of Fortune 500 companies use its platform.