Last week's Oracle Cloud World '23 in Las Vegas, Nevada, brought together tech enthusiasts, industry leaders, and Oracle enthusiasts from around the globe for a memorable event filled with announcements, insights, and networking opportunities. As an Oracle ACE attendee, I got to attend while simultaneously representing my company, Alithya.

Here are my takeaways:

1. Safra Katz Keynote (Watch here)

Safra Catz, Oracle's CEO, who emphasized the continuous growth of Software as a Service (SaaS) adoption worldwide. I believe she said there are now more than 14,000 customers using Oracle SaaS solutions – which is up significantly from the previous numbers I’ve heard- it's evident that this cloud-based service model is thriving.

I recently ordered a pair of Samsung earbuds at 9pm and they were in my driveway by 3am…. Now I know how that works! Safra's big announcement: Oracle is teaming up with Uber Direct to enable Oracle customers, both large and small, to offer instant delivery services wired into Oracle’s order fulfillment offerings.

2. Larry Ellison's Keynote (Watch here)

Larry had a couple of messages. First, he emphasized the incredible potential of generative AI, hinting at its status as one of the most significant computer technologies ever deployed. Second, Ellison reiterated his passion for healthcare transformation, highlighting the abandonment of valuable research and medical device data due to the high costs of storing this data indefinitely. He pointed out that this is the kind of information that’s needed to train new machine learning models. I thought he was going to offer free storage to researchers, but he didn’t quite get there.

Larry spoke a lot about generative AI and how it’s likely one of the biggest inventions ever. My read is that they are working on many initiatives, but none are ready. He spoke of how summarizing information and text generation like summarizing candidate resumes and writing job requisitions is coming soon.

Larry giving his keynote! Everyone gets excited when Larry comes to town!

3. Steve Miranda’s Keynote (Watch here)

Steve’s message boils down to “we have momentum!” Oracle is winning in the business applications/back-office game. Steve reiterated that Oracle is the only organization that offers an integrated SaaS platform running on their own infrastructure that lets them vertically integrate and gain economies of scale. This is good for customers and good for Oracle stockholders.

4. Conference Growth and Vibe:

This year's Oracle Cloud World appeared to have more attendees than last year – which was held in October – so only 11 months since the last one! The keynote hall and expo hall seemed physically smaller, creating a more intimate and energetic atmosphere. Vegas in general was a lot busier than last year and seemed like the conference was busier as well.

5. Oracle Ace Community:

Lastly, I had the pleasure of participating in the Oracle Ace events, including the ACE Dinner and manning the Oracle ACE Lounge on Thursday! Being part of this community is an honor, and it's clear that Oracle values the contributions of its Ace members.

Wrap-Up

All-in-all, I think Oracle did a nice job with the event. It was easy to get around, Venetian is a fairly small property to navigate. I hold out hope that Oracle starts going back to A-list acts for their celebration party… here’s holding out hope for CloudWorld ’24!

--David

Oracle CloudWorld '23 Perspectives from an Oracle ACE & Exhibitor!