From Wall Street to Data Platforms

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. I sat down with Kim Hatton, Global Financial Services Marketing Leader, to discuss the strategic intersection of marketing, technology, and the evolving role of AI in highly regulated industries.

A: How has the intersection of marketing and financial services evolved over the last two decades – and what impact has this had on your work?

K: It’s been a journey of reinvention. My early career was centered on marketing highly regulated financial services products and data. Back then, the challenge was navigating compliance while reaching the right audience.

Today, that core challenge remains: helping people unlock value, although the tools have changed. After 20 years, I’ve moved deeper into the technology side of the industry. My background allows me to see how marketing strategy must now be built directly on a foundation of data to remain relevant.

A: What is the most critical hurdle financial institutions face when trying to scale AI, and how does Databricks’ value of customer obsession drive the way we help them overcome these technical silos? 

K:  Financial institutions, with their many divisions and systems, struggle to get a unified view of the customer. Databricks' Unity Catalog solves this by providing unified governance to break down data silos, ensuring a single source of truth. This gives teams like marketing the data confidence needed to act while meeting critical compliance demands (GDPR, customer identity, sensitive workloads).

Beyond unification, Databricks accelerates experimentation and innovation through AI. Lakebase enables faster ML/AI agent experimentation by separating compute and storage, allowing agents to quickly process data and synthesize findings to continuously improve business processes.

Tools like the Genie democratize data access and insights. With Genie, users can analyze data in plain language, uncovering deep context and smart answers in minutes, a process that normally takes months and requires expensive third parties. This allows marketers to move faster and present accurate data to the C-suite, and is equally vital for highly regulated workflows (trade lifecycle, core banking) where data accuracy is non-negotiable.

This value of customer obsession at Databricks helps us continue to deliver incredible products. Every time I speak about what we do or our products, people are blown away, but as an avid user of our products I can confidently deliver on the promise that it's real. 

A: What has stood out to you about the culture at Databricks since joining?

K: The culture at Databricks stood out to me right from the interview process. It’s very thoughtful of its people and what they bring to the table. The leaders I met with took the time to understand me before trying to fit me into a specific role. Databricks is a very fast-moving place and we need creative people – people who are always thinking outside the box, who are relentless in considering our future state, what tomorrow will bring and how they will contribute to that.

Our culture is also incredibly embracing. I was immediately included and celebrated, even when my contributions weren't central to a project. I value this supportive culture, the friendliness, and the willingness of Bricksters to help and give feedback, qualities I hope we always maintain as we grow. 

A: What keeps you inspired in your work? 

K: In addition to the products, like I mentioned earlier, it’s the culture at Databricks. Coming from the industry, I've seen how marketing is often kept "in the back." But here, our leaders actively push us and tell us to evangelize our products. The expectation is that every Brickster is a confident voice for the company. This culture has given me experiences I never expected: being on stage, working alongside our go-to-market teams at the New York Stock Exchange, and interviewing CEOs. It's high energy, it’s amazing, and it constantly fuels me because it’s never a boring place to work. It's just “super exciting”! 

Interested in joining our ever-growing teams? Check out our Careers site for your next career opportunity.