Customer Zero: How Retool Scaled 1 Million Databases on Databricks Lakebase

Summary

• Retool, an enterprise AppGen platform for building intelligent applications and agents, became Customer Zero for Databricks Lakebase, provisioning over 1 million serverless Postgres databases to power its operational data layer in production.
• The architecture combines a governed operational layer on Lakebase with Retool's app-building capabilities, giving Databricks customers a proven path to run more workloads and remove data silos through unified governance and autoscaling.
• A live demo in this video walks through moving from prototype to production with Lakebase, showing how autoscaling, unified governance, and automation reduce operating costs while maintaining the reliability required for enterprise applications and agents.

Customer Zero: How Retool Scaled 1 Million Databases on Databricks Lakebase

Learn how Retool, an enterprise AppGen platform for building intelligent applications and agents, became an early adopter of Databricks Lakebase, creating over 1 million serverless Postgres databases to power its operational foundation. We’ll share the architecture, governance, and lessons learned as Retool scaled its own platform to support production-ready apps and agents that turn governed business data into action. You’ll see how Retool’s Lakebase-powered operational layer now gives Databricks customers a proven path to run more workloads and remove data silos, whether they use Retool’s layer or connect directly to their own databases. The session includes a live demo to help you move from prototype to production with unified governance, automation, and lower operating costs through autoscaling.
Talk By: Abhishek Gupta, Chief Product Officer, Retool ;

FAQs

What is Databricks Lakebase?

Lakebase is Databricks' managed PostgreSQL service that provides a serverless operational database layer integrated with the Databricks Data and AI platform. Retool used Lakebase to provision over 1 million serverless Postgres databases, validating that Lakebase can scale to support enterprise application workloads alongside analytical pipelines.

Why did Retool choose Databricks Lakebase as its operational foundation?

Retool chose Lakebase because it provides unified governance alongside Databricks' analytical capabilities, eliminating data silos between operational and analytical workloads. As Customer Zero, Retool validated Lakebase at scale in production before it became broadly available to other customers, and now provides Databricks customers a reference architecture for running intelligent applications on governed business data.

How does Retool integrate with Databricks for enterprise application development?

Retool's platform uses Lakebase-powered databases as the operational layer for the intelligent applications and agents that customers build, connecting governed business data directly to application logic. This integration allows Databricks customers to build production-ready apps that operate over their existing governed data without copying or moving it to a separate system.

What does the Retool Lakebase live demo show?

The live demo in this video walks through moving from a prototype to a production-ready application, illustrating how autoscaling, unified governance, and automation work together in a Lakebase-powered environment. It demonstrates how teams can reduce operating costs while maintaining the reliability and access controls needed for enterprise workloads built on the Databricks Data and AI platform.

Learn more about the Databricks Data and AI platform.