---
title: "Brickster Voices: Meet Clara Kurian"
description: "Clara Kurian, Databricks’ first university recruiter for APJ, leads the company’s early career hiring in India. Databricks has invested over $250 million in India, treating it as a strategic hub rather than a satellite office, with workforce growth of 270% since 2022 and leadership expansion of 350% across all business units. Clara designed the first structured India Intern Program with 51 interns, aiming to give them a genuine experience of the company’s pace, people, and culture through Speed Mentoring with engineering leadership and activities like Sneaker Art and Pickleball socials. She advises early career candidates to build strong fundamentals, curiosity, and a builder mindset, noting that the field moves fast and thrives on continuous learning. Candidates stand out by showing genuine curiosity, authenticity, and a willingness to figure out unknown problems, as the technical bar is almost a given."
---

# Brickster Voices: Meet Clara Kurian

[Databricks](https://yomu.fyi/company/databricks) · Clara Kurian, Andrea Fernández · Oct 12, 2026

**Type:** Announcement

## Summary

Clara Kurian, Databricks’ first university recruiter for APJ, leads the company’s early career hiring in India. Databricks has invested over $250 million in India, treating it as a strategic hub rather than a satellite office, with workforce growth of 270% since 2022 and leadership expansion of 350% across all business units. Clara designed the first structured India Intern Program with 51 interns, aiming to give them a genuine experience of the company’s pace, people, and culture through Speed Mentoring with engineering leadership and activities like Sneaker Art and Pickleball socials. She advises early career candidates to build strong fundamentals, curiosity, and a builder mindset, noting that the field moves fast and thrives on continuous learning. Candidates stand out by showing genuine curiosity, authenticity, and a willingness to figure out unknown problems, as the technical bar is almost a given.

## Context

The post is an interview with Clara Kurian, Databricks’ first university recruiter for APJ, as part of the Brickster Voices series. It covers Databricks’ $250M+ investment in India, its 270% workforce growth since 2022, the first structured India Intern Program with 51 interns, and advice for early career candidates in data and AI.

## Takeaways

- Databricks has invested over $250 million in India, with workforce growth of 270% since 2022 and leadership expansion of 350% across all business units.
- The first structured India Intern Program included 51 interns and featured Speed Mentoring with engineering leadership, Sneaker Art, and Pickleball socials.
- Clara Kurian advises early career candidates to focus on building strong fundamentals, curiosity, and a builder mindset, and notes that candidates stand out by showing authenticity and a willingness to figure out unknown problems.

## FAQ

### What is Databricks' investment in India?

Databricks has invested over $250 million in India, treating it as a strategic hub. Since 2022, workforce has grown 270% and leadership has expanded 350% across all business units, with Engineering growing 14x and Field Engineering & Professional Services scaling by 260%.

### What does the India Intern Program include?

The first structured India Intern Program had 51 interns. It included Speed Mentoring with Engineering Leadership, Sneaker Art, and Pickleball socials to give interns a genuine experience of the company's pace, people, and culture.

### What advice does Clara give to early career candidates?

Clara advises building strong fundamentals, curiosity, and a builder mindset. She notes that the field moves fast and thrives on continuous learning, and candidates stand out by showing authenticity and a willingness to figure out unknown problems.

**Tags:** [Databricks](https://yomu.fyi/topic/databricks), [India](https://yomu.fyi/topic/india), [Internship](https://yomu.fyi/topic/internship)

- Source: [Databricks](https://www.databricks.com/blog/brickster-voices-meet-clara-kurian)
- Source URL: https://www.databricks.com/blog/brickster-voices-meet-clara-kurian
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-10-12T18:00:14.576Z

[Read original post](https://www.databricks.com/blog/brickster-voices-meet-clara-kurian)