AI 服務暫時不可用，以下為來源正文，待恢復後補全翻譯。
Brickster Voices: Meet Clara Kurian | Databricks Blog Skip to main content Get an insider look at Databricks' strategic growth and campus recruiting initiatives across India. Learn about the inaugural Bengaluru intern program and what it signals for the company's regional expansion. Understand what Data and AI companies look for when evaluating early career talent in India. Brickster Voices is a series that spotlights the people who make our work possible. Through personal career journeys, behind-the-scenes looks at impactful projects and a glimpse into how we work together, these stories offer a window into life at Databricks. Whether you're exploring new opportunities, curious about our work in data and AI or simply inspired by stories of growth and collaboration, Brickster Voices invites you to get to know the individuals driving our mission forward. As part of our Brickster Voices series, we sat down with Clara Kurian, Sr. Recruiter for University Recruiting in APJ. Clara is Databricks' first university recruiter for the region. With Databricks' $250M+ investment in India and plans for 50% workforce expansion, Clara's work sits at the center of one of the company's growth stories. What does Databricks' investment in India look like on the ground? Clara: From where I sit in Bengaluru, the investment doesn't feel like a headline; it feels like something you can see and feel day to day. India isn't being treated as a satellite office or a back-end function. It's a strategic hub. Since 2022, India has grown +270%, backed by a strong leadership presence that has expanded +350% across all business units. That scale is visible across every function: Engineering has grown 14x, while our Field Engineering & Professional Services (FE & PS) teams have scaled by +260%. This is the kind of moment that doesn't come around often. You're not stepping into something already built and set in its ways; you're helping shape what it becomes. For early career talent especially, that's rare: the chance to grow alongside the organization, take on real scope early, and genuinely influence the trajectory rather than just inherit it. The energy here reminds me of why I joined in the first place, a mix of momentum and possibility. And now it's happening at scale, right here in India. What does Databricks' community investment in India signal to candidates? C: What it really shows is that Databricks isn't just here to hire, it's here to be part of the community. A lot of companies show up when they have roles to fill, but here it's much more than that. Whether it's the engineering networking events that bring in senior leaders from across the tech ecosystem, the Bharat Bricks Hacks Hackathons we run across the IITs and IISc, or the sponsorship of Bengaluru Tech Week. None of it is about one hire. It's about actually investing in the people, campuses, and ideas that are shaping tech in India. For candidates, especially early in their career, it means you're joining somewhere that's genuinely embedded into what's happening around it, not off on the sidelines, but right in the middle of it. You currently run Databricks' first structured India Intern Program with 51 interns. What was your vision? C: The vision was straightforward: I wanted interns to leave feeling like they'd actually been at Databricks, not just observing it from the outside. The goal wasn't just to give the 51 interns work to do, it was to give them the whole experience: the pace, the people, the culture, all of it. We were intentional about designing moments that reflected what it's genuinely like to work here. Things like Speed Mentoring with our Engineering Leadership, so interns could learn directly from the people building the products, and actually feel comfortable enough to ask them anything. And then the fun, human side too, with activities like Sneaker Art, Pickleball socials. We wanted them to see both: the depth of the work and the culture that makes it enjoyable. What I'm proudest of is that it felt like they were part of the team from day one, trusted with real work, surrounded by people invested in them, and getting a genuine taste of what a career here could look like. That, to me, is what giving early career talent a real shot looks like. Where should early career candidates be building their skills? C: My honest advice to students would be less about chasing a specific team and more about building strong fundamentals, because that's the foundation everything here is built on. If you're genuinely curious, love to keep learning, and get excited about solving hard problems with data, you'll find a place, because those are exactly the skills we're growing across the board. The best part is the breadth. Whether your interest is deep systems and infrastructure or the applied AI side, there's real room to grow into it here, and you'd be doing it right as these teams are scaling in India. What foundational skills or mindsets matter most to succeed in data and AI? C: You don't need to know everything on day one. You just need a strong base and the willingness to keep building on it. But honestly, the mindset matters just as much as the skills, maybe more. Curiosity is the big one. This field moves so fast that the people who thrive are the ones who genuinely love learning and aren't afraid to say "I don't know that yet, but I'll figure it out." I'd also add a builder mindset and critical thinking. That's a big part of the culture here. What separates the candidates who really stand out? C: The technical bar is almost a given. What makes someone stand out is how they show up as a person. The ones I remember are genuinely curious. They ask real questions, they lean into problems they haven't seen before and they're comfortable saying "I don't know, but here's how I'd figure it out." That tells me far more than a perfectly rehearsed answer. The other big one is authenticity. The candidates who aren't trying to be who they think we want, but are just themselves, honest about what they know and what they're still learning. That self-awareness, plus real enthusiasm, is what sticks with me. What drew you to Databricks, and what has kept you energized? C: What drew me to Databricks was the growth and the potential I could see from the outside, that rare combination of a company with real momentum but still enough startup energy. What sealed it was the opportunity to build something from the ground up in the university recruiting space across APJ. The chance to shape a function from its early stages, rather than inherit something already fully formed, was exactly the kind of challenge I was looking for. What's kept me energized is that no two days here are the same. There's always a new problem to solve, a new market nuance to navigate and genuine room to innovate, not once in a while, but every single day. That mix of ownership and constant reinvention is what makes it easy to stay excited about the work. Can you share a moment where Databricks' values came to life? C: For me, it shows up most clearly in how hiring actually works here. Hiring is never a solo function, it's always a partnership between multiple teams and businesses, and it only succeeds when everyone is equally invested in the outcome. What's struck me at Databricks is how genuinely that plays out. The stakeholders I work with go above and beyond to make a hire successful. That's where "Customer Obsessed" comes to life for me. Everyone is aligned on the same goal and willing to put in the work to get there because they care about their part of it. And there's a real mutual respect in it: even as people take that ownership, they look to me as the subject matter expert and trust my judgment on how we get it done. If you're excited by data and AI, love to learn, and want your work to matter early — this is one of the best places you could start. Check out our open roles today! Get the latest posts in your inbox Subscribe to our blog and get the latest posts delivered to your inbox. Sign up View all blogs