It’s been over a week since I got back from Oracle Cloud World 2023 in Las Vegas, and it’s taken me that long to process and digest everything that happened there. Along the way, I presented three times and sat for some brief interviews on Oracle technology. And even though Gen AI could write this, here’s my personally-authored take on what I experienced.
A Much Bigger Crowd.
It was impossible to ignore much higher attendance at OCW23, just based on human traffic throughout the venue.
We had over 100 Oracle ACEs at our dinner, a first since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was encouraging to see so many Oracle product managers and executives recognizing our contributions to the Oracle community.
Generative AI Is Ubiquitous.
Larry Ellison’s keynote focused on Generative AI (GenAI for short) and its impending impact on our civilization. Oracle is determined not to be left behind in the race, either. Larry announced they’re building the world’s largest computer based on NVIDIA H100 GPUs. I had a chance to chat with the NVIDIA folks at their OCW23 booth and actually touch some of that hardware – impressive stuff!
Larry also mentioned Oracle APEX as the target IDE for no-code development and how tightly it’s integrated into Oracle Database. I was surprised to hear that Java is no longer the target language for application development. When I chatted with folks at the Oracle Health Conference, they acknowledged how crucial APEX has been for transforming Cerner applications as part of that vertical.
I frankly do not know how many jobs will be replaced by GenAI, but I do know this: Everyone who asks me if their job is in danger because of it are the same people who asked me in the past (since I’m an IT guy) if I can fix their printer. The answer in both cases is probably … no.
Meanwhile, Back In the Trenches …
I was happy to hear Juan Loaiza emphasize some of the real-life DevOps dilemmas in his keynote on Oracle 23c. Juan explained at length how features like JSON Relational Duality offer the best of both worlds. The ability to access a JSON document as if it was stored within a relational database is a powerful fusion of two methods of data representation (more on that below). And the addition of vector database capabilities in 23c makes it more attractive than ever as a central platform for all of an IT organization’s computing needs.
A Hunger for Learning.
For the first time ever, I had three sessions at Oracle Cloud World. Two of those sessions were aimed at getting folks ready to experiment with LiveLab sessions right afterwards. They took place right on the main exhibition floor in a theater setting.
I had to talk fast to fit all content into 20 minutes! It was reassuring to see folks stop in their tracks to learn about APEX Native Map Regions and Oracle 23c’s most promising new feature, JSON Relational Duality.
The good news is you can experience what they experienced: Both of these sessions are publicly available. You can try out the diverse feature set of Native Map Regions or experiment with JSON Relational Duality Views at no cost through Oracle’s LiveLabs portal. Be sure to drop me a note if you have any questions afterwards.
My final session of Wednesday was late in the afternoon, not long before the big party was due to start. Yet a handful of people did show up for my session that took a deeper look at JSON Relational Duality in Oracle 23c. For me, that was a new experience because for the first time ever, all my attendees were people of color.
Even better, for the first time in my life I met two colleagues who’d travelled over 10,000 miles from Zambia to attend OCW23. That was a humbling experience in itself – I can’t imagine being that hungry for new knowledge. I made sure to mention how the Oracle ACE Program could make a difference in their careers, and I hope they may one day join our ranks of seasoned professionals.
