GEN AI holds significant strategic importance for Oracle. Their investments span across various fronts, from infrastructure, including GPUs and superclusters, to model services, such as the recent addition of Aons to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI’s) generative AI service and the beta version of OCI’s agent service, shared Pradeep Vincent, Senior Vice President, and Chief Technical Architect, Oracle in an exclusive interaction with Puja Banerjee of Elets News Network (ENN) on the sidelines of Oracle CloudWorld Tour held in Mumbai.
Could you please provide some insights into your experience within the organisation thus far and your plans moving forward? Specifically, I’m interested in your journey within Oracle.
I’ve been involved with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) since its inception. From the outset, a tight-knit group was assembled, mainly comprised of individuals recruited from various cloud providers, many of whom were based in Seattle. This initial group eventually evolved into what we now know as OCI. The overarching aim, as envisioned by Oracle’s executive leadership, was to leverage the team’s collective cloud expertise and operational know-how. This strategic decision has yielded significant dividends, particularly in Oracle’s remarkable transformation over the past decade. The company has transitioned into a comprehensive, cloud-centric entity, focusing on every aspect of cloud services, from operations to security and resource management. This transformation marks Oracle’s shift towards being a cloud-first company, a journey in which we have played a modest yet significant part. It’s a privilege to have contributed, though it’s important to acknowledge the numerous others within Oracle who have also played pivotal roles in this evolution.
Could you please discuss some of the key services and solutions Oracle offers?
The key offerings that resonate most with customers include:
Multi-cloud: Oracle’s multi-cloud approach, particularly the Oracle database at Azure, stands out as an industry-first product that breaks barriers. Unlike the traditional cloud model, where users are confined to a single ecosystem, Oracle’s approach encourages multi-cloud adoption. By pricing network Eres competitively and promoting interoperability, Oracle aims to reshape industry perceptions and practices regarding multi-cloud utilisation.
Dedicated Region: Oracle’s dedication to providing dedicated regions revolutionises the cloud landscape. Unlike competitors who may offer limited options for on-premises integration, Oracle treats dedicated areas with the same level of importance as its public cloud offerings. This commitment ensures consistency in features, functionality, and release cadence, setting a new standard for cloud infrastructure.
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General AI and Technology: Oracle’s focus on general AI and related technologies represents another significant area of innovation. With a strong emphasis on infrastructure and deep app integrations, Oracle is at the forefront of transformative technology. The rapid pace of innovation, characterised by the continuous development of new algorithms and industry reactions, underscores this field’s immense potential and excitement. Despite the inherent challenges, such as the unknown implications of AI advancements, the overall outlook remains optimistic due to the vast opportunities for transformative change.
Please elaborate on how Oracle India IT solutions tackle emerging technologies and industry trends, such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain. Please provide a few key highlights regarding these emerging technologies.
Our primary objective is to address the challenges faced by our customers. When we initiated our journey, we recognised that we entered the arena later than some competitors. Having been part of AWS myself, I understand the dynamics well. Around 2015, as we embarked on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), we thoroughly analysed our customer base to understand why some customers still needed to transition to the cloud. We identified the barriers hindering their migration and devised strategies to resolve these challenges.
Our core focus is tackling customers’ complex issues rather than the flashy ones. This approach led us to develop a distributed cloud strategy featuring dedicated regions and multi-cloud alloy. These strategies form part of our portfolio aimed at simplifying customer cloud adoption. This approach elevates cloud computing to a new level by offering flexibility to customers, allowing them to operate according to their terms rather than conforming to predefined rules.
As for emerging technologies, General AI (GEN AI) is strategically important to Oracle. Our investments span various fronts, from infrastructure, including GPUs and superclusters, to model services, such as the recent addition of Aons to OCI’s generative AI service and the beta version of OCI’s agent service. Additionally, we integrate GEN AI capabilities seamlessly into our applications, providing customers with innovative solutions without additional setup.
Innovation remains a cornerstone of our approach. Whether addressing challenging customer issues or keeping pace with rapid technological advancements, our strategies are tailored accordingly. Ultimately, our overarching goal remains consistent: to solve customer problems, regardless of their complexity or nature.
Certainly, please outline the strategies or initiatives your organisation is pursuing to enhance customer satisfaction and remain competitive in the swiftly evolving technology landscape.
There are several aspects to consider when it comes to enhancing customer satisfaction. It encompasses a diverse range of services within our portfolio and ensures the delivery of non-functional elements such as availability, performance, and price efficiency. As a cloud provider, particularly with OCI, we have made significant strides while initially starting later than others. Previously, there were instances where customers faced limitations due to missing functionalities.
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However, we have progressed to a point where these constraints are no longer a concern. We continuously expand our portfolio of services, particularly at the OCI level, ensuring that customers can access a comprehensive suite of offerings. This includes rapidly launching new services, such as OCI database for Postgres and OCI cache service for Redis, in response to customer demands. Additionally, we place a significant emphasis on security and availability. While these aspects may receive little attention in press releases, they are paramount for our customers. Preventing negative occurrences like outages and security breaches is crucial, and we prioritise these efforts to meet customer expectations and ensure their trust in our services.
Could you explain the future steps and benefits of cloud computing for India and globally?
The distributed cloud strategy plays a significant role globally, including in India, where there’s a noticeable demand for greater control over workload placement and operational management. This approach addresses several challenges associated with cloud adoption in regions like India, Europe, and APAC. Additionally, the rapid dissemination of AI technology represents a form of technological democratisation. Initially, complex AI models were exclusive to a few large corporations, but now, there’s an opportunity to make these technologies accessible to a wider audience. This includes using foundational models for custom applications or integrating them into existing software suites, making advanced technology available to all, regardless of their resources for developing or training complex models.
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