Snowflake and Databricks CEOs debate growth and AI; reactions follow

Synopsis

Sridhar Ramaswamy of Snowflake voiced concerns on social media questioning Databricks’ impressive 80% growth rate. He sought clarity on crucial aspects like free cash flow, obligations, and adjusted margins. In response, Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi acknowledged their competitive dynamics while suggesting a collaborative potential. This dialogue sparked varied reactions, underscoring the complexities of financial disclosures. Ramaswamy also advocated for unified regulations on artificial intelligence across various models and entities.

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Sridhar Ramaswamy, chief executive of data cloud company Snowflake, questioned rival Databricks’ 80% growth rate, asking for details on free cash flow, obligations, and margins after adjustments.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Ramaswamy responded to an article by American investor Ben Horowitz about Databricks, asking the company to “release all the numbers.” He added, “Does 80% YoY become 65% when you remove pass-through inference?

release all the numbers.does 80% yoy become 65% when you remove passthru inference?what does it become when you remove ai natives?and how much of it is from one time software license --> service transition?fcf, RPO, cRPO?op margin non-gaap, gaap? dilution?curious ppls want to knowps: @alighodsi happy for your success. the world is big and life long.https://t.co/lfuaz6DNPg

— sridhar (@RamaswmySridhar) October 28, 2026

‘PS: @alighodsi, happy for your success. The world is big and life is long,’ Ramaswamy added. Ali Ghodsi is Databricks’ chief executive.

Snowflake competes with Databricks to help large companies store and analyse their data and, increasingly, build AI agents on its platform.

Ghodsi was quick to respond to Ramaswamy’s post.

“I don't think we should fight. The two companies are complementary. Since you're not doing this AI stuff, I really think Snowflake should consider getting its AI tokens through Databricks,” he said.

Adding to the playful jabs, Ghodsi said that Databricks offers both affordable open-source models and frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and Grok. He claimed that most customers had reduced token spending by around 30% in recent months, even as token usage increased.

Ramaswamy added to the thread, saying, “I was asking about the revenue, not contributing to it.”

The online banter drew mixed reactions from social media users.

“Sridhar, I think Ali just made you an offer you can't refuse,” one user wrote.

“Ali, my guy, he called you out on your fake financial reporting and you turned it into a meme. Sorry, 0–1 Sridhar,” another user wrote.

What crazy here is looking at the comments All the a16z followers, people who are invested in databricks coming to rescue and think Ali’s “you are not doing AI stuff is cool” is very cool. Look at $snow performance after Ramaswamy became the ceo and compare it with all other Saas companies during saasocalypse. While both companies are complementary and amazing, share all the facts , go public at your own preferred price (that’s how it works right?) and let public decide who is the winner. Lol.

— Varun Guruvugari (@VG_Bro) October 28, 2026

One user argued that both companies are complementary and impressive, urging them to disclose all the facts and go public at their preferred valuations, leaving it to the public to decide the winner. “Lol,” the user added.

Also read: Snowflake unveils $448 million pay plan for CEO tied to ambitious stock targets

Recently, in an interview with ET, Ramaswamy said that the rules governing artificial intelligence must apply to every AI agent that businesses put to work and should not stop at the labs that build frontier models.

The industry would benefit from basic guidelines that apply to every model and agent harness, he said. Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!

(Catch all the Technology News News, and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)

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