At Perficient, we believe that championing innovation begins with the bold leaders who live it every day. Today, we’re proud to recognize Madhu Mohan Kommu, a key driver in our Databricks Center of Excellence (CoE), for being named a Databricks Champion, one of the most coveted recognitions in the Databricks ecosystem.

This honor represents more than technical mastery; it reflects strategic impact, thought leadership, and the power to drive transformation across industries through smart architecture and scalable data solutions. Achieving Databricks Champion status unlocks priority access to exclusive events, speaking engagements, and community collaboration. It’s a mark of excellence reserved for those shaping the future of data and AI, with Madhu as a stellar example.

The Journey Behind the Recognition

Earning Champion status was no small feat. Madhu’s five-month journey began with his first Databricks certification and culminated in a nomination based on real customer impact, platform leadership, and consistent contributions to Perficient’s Databricks CoE. The nomination process spotlighted Madhu’s technical depth, thought leadership, and innovation across enterprise engagements.

From Spark to Strategy: A Legacy of Impact

Since 2019, Madhu has led initiatives for our enterprise clients, delivering platform modernization, transformation frameworks, and cutting-edge data quality solutions. His expertise in the Spark Distributed Processing Framework, combined with deep knowledge of PySpark and Unity Catalog, has made him a cornerstone in delivering high-value, AI-powered outcomes across industries.

“Personally, it’s a proud and rewarding milestone I’ve always aspired to achieve. Professionally, it elevates my credibility and brings visibility to my work in the industry. Being recognized as a Champion validates years of dedication and impact.” – Madhu Mohan Kommu, Technical Architect

Strengthening Perficient’s Position

Madhu’s recognition significantly strengthens Perficient’s role as a strategic Databricks partner, expanding our influence across regions, deepening pre-sales and enablement capabilities, and empowering customer engagement at scale. His leadership amplifies our ability to serve clients with precision and purpose.

Looking Ahead: Agentic AI & Beyond

Next up? Madhu plans to lead Perficient’s charge in Agentic AI within Databricks pipelines, designing use cases that deliver measurable savings in time, cost, and process efficiency. These efforts will drive value for both existing and future clients, making AI innovation more accessible and impactful than ever.

Advice for Future Champions

Madhu’s advice for those on a similar path is to embrace continuous learning, collaborate across teams, and actively contribute to Perficient’s Databricks CoE.

What’s Hot in Databricks Innovation

From Lakehouse Federation to Mosaic AI and DBRX, Madhu stays at the forefront of game-changing trends. He sees these innovations not just as tools, but as catalysts for redefining business intelligence.

Madhu’s story is a powerful reflection of how Perficient continues to lead with purpose, vision, and excellence in the Databricks community.

Perficient + Databricks

Perficient is proud to be a trusted Databricks elite consulting partner with 100s of certified consultants. We specialize in delivering tailored data engineering, analytics, and AI solutions that unlock value and drive business transformation.

Learn more about our Databricks partnership.

At Perficient, we don’t just embrace innovation, we engineer it. That’s why we’re proud to share that we’ve achieved Amazon Web Services (AWS) Premier Tier Services Partner status, a milestone that solidifies our position as a leader in delivering transformative AI-first solutions.

This top-tier AWS designation reflects the depth of our technical expertise, the success of our client outcomes, and our commitment to helping enterprises modernize and thrive in a digital world. But what sets us apart isn’t just cloud proficiency; it’s how we can blend AI into every layer of digital transformation.

“We’re thrilled to join an elite group of technology innovators holding the AWS Premier Tier Services Partner status. This achievement is a testament to our strategic commitment to AWS, our partner-to-partner model, and the transformative outcomes we deliver for our clients,” said Santhosh Nair, senior vice president, Perficient. “Together with AWS, we’re building and deploying AI-first solutions at scale with speed and precision. From real-time analytics to AI-first product development, our approach empowers enterprises to innovate faster, personalize customer experiences, and unlock new business value.”

Combining the Power of AWS and AI

Whether it’s through intelligent automation, predictive analytics, or generative AI, we help organizations infuse intelligence across their operations using AWS’s scalable infrastructure. Our solutions are built to adapt, evolve, and deliver measurable outcomes from streamlining clinical workflows in healthcare to enhancing customer experiences in financial services.

As an AWS Premier Tier Services Partner, we now gain even more direct access to AWS tools, early service previews, and strategic collaboration opportunities, allowing us to deliver smarter, faster, and more impactful AI-first solutions for our clients.

Unlocking What’s Next

Our talented cloud and AI teams continue to push boundaries, helping clients harness the full potential of cloud and data while solving their toughest challenges with precision and innovation.

Ready to explore what AI and cloud transformation could look like for your business? Let’s talk.

We’re excited to welcome Bamidele James as Perficient’s newest and third Databricks Champion!  His technical expertise, community engagement, advocacy, and mentorship have made a profound impact on the Databricks ecosystem.

His Nomination Journey

Bamidele’s journey through the nomination process was vigorous. It required evidence that he has successfully delivered multiple Databricks projects, received several certifications, completed an instructor-led training course, and participated in a panel interview with the Databricks committee.

What This Achievement Means

This achievement represents peer and leadership recognition of Bamidele’s knowledge, contributions, and dedication to building strong partnerships. It also brings him a sense of purpose and pride to know that his work has made a real impact, and his continuous efforts are appreciated.

Contributing to Databricks’ and Perficient’s Growth

Bamidele plays a pivotal role in helping our clients unlock the full potential of Databricks by aligning Perficient’s Databricks capabilities with their business goals. He enables enterprise customers to accelerate their data and AI transformation to deliver measurable outcomes like reduced time-to-insight, improved operational efficiency, and increased revenue. In addition, Bamidele has led workshops, held executive briefings, and developed proof of concepts that help our clients drive adoption and deepen customer engagement.

“Being a Databricks Champion affirms that my contributions, knowledge, and dedication to building strong partnerships are recognized by my peers and leadership.” – Bamidele James, Technical Architect

 Skills Key to This Achievement

Many skills and proficiencies—including data engineering and architecture, machine learning and AI, cloud platforms, data governance and security, solution selling, stakeholder management, and strategic thinking—played a part in Bamidele becoming a Databricks Champion. To anyone wishing to follow a similar path, Bamidele recommends mastering the platform, attaining deep technical expertise, and focusing on real-world impact.

Looking Ahead

Bamidele looks forward to using Databricks to create innovative tools and solutions that drive success for our clients. He’s also excited about trends and Databricks innovations including multi-tab notebooks, Databricks Lake Flow, the new SQL interface, and SQL pipeline syntax.

Perficient + Databricks

Perficient is proud to be a trusted Databricks elite consulting partner with more than 130 certified consultants. We specialize in delivering tailored data engineering, analytics, and AI solutions that unlock value and drive business transformation.

Learn more about our Databricks partnership.