Cloud Wars Live with Bob Evans

hts 00:09 — Microsoft has introduced new capabilities to Copilot Studio to enhance automated operations by combining AI agents and workflows. Currently, Copilot Studio users can choose between agents and workflows to create automations. 00:27 — While agents are inherently flexible when it comes to business use cases, Microsoft has recognized that, as they state, pure agent autonomy doesn't always hold up to production requirements. On the other hand, workflows, which are more rigid and rule-based, can be inflexible and may have limitations in their capabilities. 00:58 — The first pattern involves workflows calling agents to make judgment calls on structured automations. To support this, Microsoft is introducing agent nodes. This allows users to call an existing agent from a workflow, send a message to the agent, retrieve the agent's response, and use it in subsequent workflow steps if necessary. 01:31 — Now, the second pattern that Microsoft has identified is using workflows as tools. In this scenario, when an agent is working through a complex task, instead of trying to learn how to handle it independently, it can call an existing workflow to execute the subprocess and then continue its reasoning based on the results. 02:29 — Microsoft states that these two approaches combine agents and workflows to provide users with the flexibility to build automations that better address real-world needs—and that's the key here: real-world applications. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explain why success in the AI Economy demands bold, uncompromising leadership from CEOs — and why many aren't ready. Highlights 00:03 — It's been fascinating to see that recently, AI transformation has begun to hit hard at the CEO rank. Up until now, as we've all seen, there have been hundreds of thousands of job losses that have taken place in lower-level or mid-level jobs. And I think now we're starting to see that the new victims of AI are going to be CEOs. 00:25 — And I think we can put those into three categories: those who are unable to see what's happening and deal with it, those who are unwilling to acknowledge the reality of what's changing, and then there's those who are unseeing. They choose not to see what's going around them, or they're not willing to recognize just how serious it is. 01:15 — But I think what we're really starting to see now, and I'll offer some tangible examples here, is this is going to come down to be a real issue for CEOs, because companies that want to succeed in the AI Economy will not be able to do so unless they've got full, unbridled, uncompromising leadership and support for the business transformations being wrapped around AI. 02:30 — By every measure, Doug McMillon, the CEO of Walmart, has been a terrific CEO. But late last year, when he announced that he was going to step down as CEO, he said, “I just don't think I'm the right person for this job. We've started a lot of AI changes and transformations. I'm not sure I'm the right person to finish those. We need somebody who's faster.” 03:20 — Now, another group here is the kind I'm calling the unwilling, and they are the ones that are big on, “Well, let's have a committee. Let's form a SWAT team. We'll see what the threats are to our company. We'll see what we need to do, and we'll give them six months or nine months or a year, and they'll report.” And by then, their company is sort of over the cliff and is not going to be able to make it. 04:08 — Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce, said AI has become a convenient scapegoat for everything. He said there are a lot of CEOs right now who are just saying whatever happens, good, bad, indifferent, it's all due to AI. “We had to make a lot of layoffs — that's because of AI. We had to stop doing this — we had to stop doing that — well, it's all because of AI.” He said that's a cop-out. 04:55 — So for business leaders, you can smell this in your company. You can feel it. Are we a company that is bullish and going after this thing with AI, or are we going to be one of these people who are unwilling, unseeing, and just not ready to jump in? There are brutal times coming for companies that are not willing to get into this. It starts with the CEO. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore how governance gaps are slowing AI agent adoption in enterprises. Highlights 00:05 —The role of AI agents in enterprise has advanced enormously in recent months, evolving from passive Q&A bots to systems that can take real actions in production environments. This is things like managing finances or accessing confidential patient data for healthcare organizations. 00:23 — However, a major hurdle often remains, and that's compliance. In many cases, audit and risk teams are reluctant to endorse these new capabilities because it's difficult to prove what an agent has done, which policies were in effect, and whether those policies were actually enforced. 00:45 — Panoptic Systems is a Mississippi-based firm developing runtime governance infrastructure for AI agents. Now, the team there recognized early on that as businesses deploy agents capable of taking these significant actions within production environments, a crucial missing layer of the technology stack was deterministic infrastructure-level governance that provided audit-grade evidence. 01:36 — Panopticore offers four possible outcomes for agent actions: allow, warn, block, or require human approval. Every decision is recorded in a cryptographically signed audit trail that can be verified offline by any internal auditor or third party. 02:28 — Panopticore delivers the controls and evidence that compliance teams, auditors, and often insurers need before agents can move from pilot to production. In simple terms, this technology is unblocking agents that are stuck in limbo. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I analyze Q4 performance to reveal who's truly leading in cloud growth right now. Highlights 00:03 — We're just a couple weeks away from getting Q1 results of the hyperscalers and some other companies in the Cloud Wars Top 10, I wanted to take a look at these world-shaping companies. Let's start off by taking a quick look back at Q4 and some numbers for Google Cloud, Microsoft, and AWS. 00:34 — I'm not including Oracle in this hyperscaler comparison because it's on a different financial reporting schedule, and I recently covered Oracle's most recent financial results in detail. So if we compare the Q4 growth rates for Google Cloud, Microsoft, and AWS: 48%, 26%, 24%. Now some people say, “Oh, that's not fair. That's not legit. Google Cloud is so much smaller.” 01:01 — Let's look: $17.7 billion for Google Cloud, $51.3 billion for Microsoft, $35.6 for AWS. So AWS is about twice as big as Google Cloud, and relative to Microsoft, Microsoft is three times bigger than Google Cloud. Riddle me this: how then, if you look at Q4 cloud and AI revenue versus Q3, Google Cloud came up with more revenue — more incremental Q4 over Q3 revenue — $2.5 billion versus $2.4? 02:23 — Yet AWS came up with more — significantly more — revenue Q4 over Q3 than Microsoft did: $2.6 billion versus $2.4. Now what does that mean? Well, it could be a temporary blip. It could be an anomaly. I think all of these things are valid. They all are pointing toward bets that customers are making about who is the company best equipped to take my company into the AI future. 03:49 — Google Cloud came up with almost as much as AWS. And to me, that just says Google Cloud is the hot company right now. So let me wrap up here with an outlook for Q1. I think both Google Cloud and Microsoft say that they will be releasing their financial results for Q1 on April 29. I think we're going to see Google Cloud report a growth rate of 44%, Microsoft 25%, and AWS 23%. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Highlights 00:09 — Microsoft's global investments continue to grow. Latest news is the company plans to invest $10 billion into Japan over the next three years to build out AI infrastructure, improve cyber resilience, and train a million engineers and developers by 2030. 00:28 — Our key partnerships include internet infrastructure provider Secura Internet, whose share price rose over 20% following the announcement, and SoftBank, already a major player in the AI revolution. Now, thanks to Secura Internet's data infrastructure, the data used to develop various AI systems, including domestic large language models, will be processed in Japan. 00:57 — Now, in terms of training, Microsoft is also partnered with five other Japanese IT firms, including NTT Data Corp, NEC, Fujitsu, and Hitachi, to deliver this ambitious target. Now, the two-point focus here on both infrastructure and training is becoming a common strategy for companies building the next generation of AI systems. 01:22 — However, instead of solely focusing on the domestic market, Microsoft is continuing its global investment drive by enabling in-country training, leveraging the incredible skills base already available within existing organizations. Now, let's not overlook the importance of data sovereignty, either. 01:41 — It's increasingly important to adhere to the laws governing where data resides, and these laws are only becoming more stringent. Not only is Microsoft future-proofing itself, it's also cultivating the next generation of Azure customers and AI-native enterprises aligned with its platforms. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I break down OpenAI's massive $122 billion funding round and what it means for the future of AI infrastructure. Highlights 00:04 — OpenAI has completed its latest funding round with $122 billion in committed capital. The company explained the reasoning behind such a massive investment by highlighting that after reaching a billion dollars in revenue in its first year, it's now generating $2 billion in revenue per month, more than 40% of which is driven by the company's enterprise products. 00:54 — So what will it do with all of this funding? Well, the answer to that is a lot, but for the purposes of this minute, I'm going to dig into its core goals. Now, one of the major expansion areas is in infrastructure, as demand for AI systems is increasing. 01:13 — OpenAI recognizes that no single architecture can meet the demands of this diverse range of needs and expectations. So to that end, the company is building a broader infrastructure portfolio that incorporates cloud services, chips, and design partners. 01:43 — And then there's the AI Super App. OpenAI said in a blog post, our Super App will bring together ChatGPT, Codex, browsing, and our broader agentic capabilities into one agent-first experience. 01:58 — This is not just product simplification, it is a distribution and deployment strategy. Adding the capital being deployed today is helping build the infrastructure layer for intelligence itself. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explain how ServiceNow is enabling secure, scalable adoption of AI agents across the enterprise. Highlights 00:03 — ServiceNow is joining forces with Zenity, the first security and governance platform that's been purpose-built for AI agents. Zenity is becoming a ServiceNow build partner, bringing with it a range of capabilities to ServiceNow Security Operations, including agent security, posture management, and vulnerability assessment. 00:25 — Deepak Kolingivadi, VP of Product Management and Head of Security Products at ServiceNow, said the following about this new partnership: “AI agents are transforming how work gets done across the enterprise, including Security Operations. Our partnership with Zenity strengthens the ServiceNow AI control tower and Security Operations solutions.” 01:01 — Now, collectively, these new capabilities bring to ServiceNow customers a greater ability to scale the use of AI agents safely and with full confidence as part of their existing SecOps processes. And what we're seeing here is ultimately a new category, AI Security Operations, or AI SecOps. 01:26 — It's also important to note that by embedding this governance layer through its build partnership, ServiceNow is demonstrating that it's truly ahead of the curve here. All new products delivered by software vendors need integrated security and governance, and agentic AI is no exception. 01:58 — The key word here is scale. ServiceNow has the tools to drive AI across the breadth of a business, and now through Zenity, it's delivering the ability to do this at scale. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore how Microsoft's latest Windows changes reveal a strategic shift toward more intentional AI integration and focused Copilot experiences. Highlights 00:09 — It was only a short paragraph in a blog post by Microsoft's Pavan Davuluri, Executive Vice President of Windows and Devices, discussing the changes the company is making to Windows in response to community feedback. However, it has significant implications and, if you pick it apart, could provide a better understanding of where Microsoft is directing its AI ambitions. 00:36 — Here's the paragraph in full: “With craft and focus, you will see us be more intentional about how and where Copilot integrates across Windows, focusing on experiences that are genuinely useful and well crafted,” says Davuluri. “As part of this, we are reducing unnecessary Copilot entry points, starting with apps like Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets, and Notepad.” 01:05 — When Microsoft went all out on the Copilot rollout across its massive ecosystem of products, platforms, and services, some commentators argued that this push could overwhelm consumers. Instead, a more targeted approach would perhaps make it easier for customers to see the benefits and, critically, the use cases that Copilot can amplify. 01:28 — It seems that Microsoft has taken these concerns into consideration and is now scaling back the areas where Copilot is utilized. This is a smart move from a Windows perspective, as it prioritizes value over volume, and this approach aligns well with the evolving direction of Copilot Studio, which focuses on creating agentic experiences. 01:53 — Now Microsoft is consolidating its AI offerings by moving away from the idea of having Copilot everywhere. Instead, agents developed through Copilot Studio will be able to plug into specific execution environments, just like Windows. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore how Salesforce is betting big on Slackbot to power the AI agentic enterprise. Highlights 00:02 — We are seeing enormous changes take place among the leading enterprise applications vendors, with the rise of AI. Business customers are expecting a different way of working here in the emergence of the AI Economy. So at Salesforce, I believe Marc Benioff has decided to go all in on Slackbot to drive what Salesforce is calling the AI agentic enterprise. 00:29 — Now this is critical, because Salesforce is the largest enterprise applications vendor in the world. It also has an $800 million Agentforce business that it has built up, and it's taking both of those key components from agentic AI and also their enterprise apps business, and sort of putting those under the control of the orchestration of Slackbot, a brand new product. 01:15 — Benioff said that we are seeing in the business world the very beginnings of an AI agentic divide, where he said, on the one hand, there are customers that have understood the way they need to get into this, how to use agentic AI to do things better. And then, on the other hand, coming in there, saying, "Ah, you know, I'm not sure. I'm going to sit back and wait for this." 02:08 — He said Slackbot is already the fastest-growing feature ever in the history of Salesforce. He said it might be the fastest-growing feature in all of enterprise technology. And secondly — this is pretty wild — he said Slackbot and Slack are already disintermediating Salesforce. 04:36 — And he said, it's our job not to just sit back and scratch our heads about this, but to help companies be able to address these changes, get out in front of them, get on top of them. And Salesforce believes that Slack and Slackbot, in particular, are going to be the ways that that happens. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I examine how Business Central is transforming ERP with strong financial returns and AI-driven capabilities. Highlights 00:10 — A new Forrester report commissioned by Microsoft, entitled "The Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central," has revealed some remarkable findings regarding the financial impact this standout cloud ERP is having on customers. 00:36 — And here's what it found: 209% ROI over three years, an estimated $464,000 net present value, and potential payback in just six months. The researchers aggregated the findings from interviewees and created a fictitious composite organization to develop this model. 00:58 — In their modeling, the researchers found that by year three, the composite company was experiencing a 30% reduction in monthly close time and up to 50% time savings for accounts payable, accounts receivable, and billing. It reduced audit preparation time by up to 30%. 01:19 — Consolidating outdated ERP products and systems led to more than a 10% reduction in total cost of ownership and over $170,000 in present value savings from withdrawn systems and decreased maintenance. 01:37 — Microsoft links these impressive results to how Business Central represents an AI-ready ERP foundation, enabling organizations to leverage Copilot, Power BI, and intelligent agents while emphasizing clean data, integrated systems, and standardized processes. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this AI Agent & Copilot Minute, Mason Siefert explores how Dynamics 365 is evolving into the agentic era — transforming financial reconciliation and accounts payable into continuous, intelligent processes, and previews what's ahead at Summit North America 2026. Key Takeaways Agent Evolution: The journey from manual processes to copilots and now fully autonomous agents marks a fundamental shift in enterprise finance. While early tools accelerated workflows, today's agents proactively execute tasks end-to-end, reducing human intervention and enabling finance professionals to focus on higher-value strategic work rather than repetitive operations. Continuous Finance: Financial reconciliation has transformed from a stressful, multi-day effort into an always-on background process. Autonomous agents continuously match and verify records across systems, eliminating bottlenecks and dramatically improving efficiency, accuracy, and consistency across financial operations without requiring manual initiation. Fraud Reduction: Accounts payable agents not only automate invoice matching but actively reduce fraud risk by cross-referencing invoices against purchase orders and learning from human corrections. With organizations facing high rates of fraud attempts, these adaptive systems provide a critical layer of intelligence and protection while minimizing costly manual errors. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I unpack how Oracle is redefining data activation with agentic AI capabilities. Highlights 00:03 — I recently talked about some big plans that Oracle has for fusing agentic AI into its applications and calling those Oracle agentic applications. Now it's extended its whole mantra from a couple of years ago that came from Chairman and Founder, Larry Ellison, where he said AI changes everything. 00:28 — Oracle's taken that very much to heart, and they're extending their agentic AI push deeply into their AI Database. There's a couple things I want to point out. In the larger sense, I think what's going on here is we're seeing the hunted turn into the hunter, right? 01:20 — I think in large part, not so much that the theory was wrong, although I do think it is wrong, but more because Oracle took the initiative, and instead, its pace of innovation and change and product development and customer-centric enhancements have been at a pace far beyond what any of these single-purpose competitors are doing. 02:12 — Now with AI, the point of Oracle's move here is to say we're going to bring AI to the data, instead of having to move all the data around here. And nobody's in a better position to be able to do that now than Oracle. 03:03 — [Oracle Executive Vice President Juan Loaiza] said, with the Oracle AI database, customers now, they don't just store data passively in a warehouse. Instead, he said, customers will be able to activate their data for AI and make decisions around data with stock-exchange-level robustness in every leading cloud. 04:00 — But the larger point here, too, is about, when Larry Ellison said publicly AI changes everything, that was a pretty clear indication that he was going to be leading this entire effort to go completely across the entire company, every facet of Oracle's massive portfolio is going to become AI-first. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this episode of Cloud Wars Live, Bob Evans sits down with Bonnie Tinder, Founder and CEO of Raven Intelligence, to unpack a whirlwind week in enterprise software. As AI reshapes the landscape at breakneck speed, the two explore major announcements from Oracle and Workday. Bonnie offers sharp analysis on the strategic differences between Workday's user-centric AI assistant approach and Oracle's autonomous, end-to-end agentic applications. Episode 59: Enterprise AI Showdown The Big Themes: Oracle's Autonomous AI Vision: Oracle is taking a more aggressive approach with its agentic AI applications, introducing 22 AI-driven tools that can execute entire business processes. Unlike assistive AI, Oracle's agents can reason, decide, and act with minimal human intervention. This represents a shift toward AI as a “digital workforce,” capable of handling complex, cross-functional operations. End-to-End Business Process Automation: One of Oracle's biggest differentiators is its ability to automate complete workflows across multiple business functions. For example, designing a product while simultaneously evaluating supply chain risks and costs. This eliminates the traditional handoffs between departments and enables a holistic, real-time view of operations. By integrating data across systems and processes, Oracle's AI can deliver more comprehensive insights and faster execution — potentially transforming how enterprises manage complex workflows. ROI and Consumption-Based Models: AI is also changing pricing and operating models. Workday's shift toward consumption-based pricing means customers pay based on usage rather than per-employee licensing. This can make adoption more flexible and cost-effective, but it also requires careful ROI analysis. Companies must consider not just technology costs, but also potential workforce changes, efficiency gains, and redeployment of employees. Understanding the financial impact of AI investments is critical for long-term success. The Big Quote: “The high-risk areas you don't want to touch necessarily. You want to look at the high volume potentially first, to fully automate." More from Bonnie Tinder: Connect with Bonnie on LinkedIn. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I review SAP's move toward AI usage-based pricing and what it means for the future of SaaS, customer engagement, and enterprise software delivery. Highlights 00:04 — SAP CEO Christian Klein has announced the company intends to shift away from a traditional subscription model towards a pricing model based on AI usage. Klein stated that pricing must reflect the actual usage of AI by customers now. 00:23 — Ultimately, Klein recognizes that the existing subscription model, which is a traditional SaaS model charging per user, is not the right fit for an evolving landscape where AI agents are automating an increasing number of tasks. 00:40 — To support this shift, SAP will be launching forward-deployed engineering teams that include consultants and developers who will work directly with customers to build out dedicated AI applications. It's important to note that this will not be an immediate change, but rather a direction of travel. However, it does align with the company's AI ambitions. 01:22 — Not only is SAP reportedly changing its pricing model to align with the agentic AI Era, but it's also shifting its delivery methods with the proposed forward-deployed engineering teams. This approach feels more aligned with consulting than it does traditional SaaS support. 01:44 — This transformation will impact revenue streams, customer engagement, sales, and investor relations all at once. However, this is not only a necessary shift for SAP, but one that could help the company retain its position as a global tech leader and perhaps even surpass its competitors. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I review SAP's acquisition of Reltio to enhance the Business Data Cloud, expand opportunities for customers, and continue its transformation to being an AI-first, data-first company. Highlights 00:07 — SAP made a big move to deepen its capabilities around data to power what it's doing in AI, with plans to acquire Reltio. The real goal of this is to be able to fuel SAP's ambitions for agentic AI, particularly as it moves to convert its vast portfolio of enterprise applications to agentic AI applications. 00:58 — This move extends SAP's transformation that has been in-progress for several years now. It's working to shed its enterprise apps reputation and rather be recognized as an AI-first, data-first company. 02:27 — Customers will benefit from capabilities through Reltio to get clean, high-quality data that's fully harmonized, pulling from both SAP and non-SAP systems. 03:03 — SAP has been working hard, leading up to the launch of its data cloud, to bring in more capabilities. This acquisition demonstrates the strategic importance of the SAP Business Data Cloud and enhances what the company is doing with it. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this episode of Cloud Wars Live, Bob Evans sits down with Pankaj Goel, CEO of Opkey, to explore how agentic AI is reshaping ERP implementations and the broader systems integrator landscape. Goel shares how Opkey's platform automates the full lifecycle of enterprise applications — from design through testing and support — while addressing long-standing inefficiencies in implementation models. The discussion highlights the growing urgency for speed, cost efficiency, and business outcomes in the AI Era, and how digital workers are enabling organizations to rethink both delivery models and competitive positioning. AI Transforms ERP The Big Themes: AI Reshapes ERP Delivery Models: The conversation underscores a major disconnect between modern cloud ERP adoption and outdated implementation methodologies. While enterprises are rapidly shifting toward cloud-based systems like Oracle, SAP, and Workday, many systems integrators still rely on legacy approaches rooted in early-2000s practices. This mismatch results in inefficiencies, cost overruns, and delayed outcomes. Opkey addresses this gap by introducing AI-driven automation that aligns delivery models with the speed and flexibility required in today's AI Economy. Massive Time and Cost Savings: The platform delivers measurable efficiency gains. Customers report up to 40% reductions in day-to-day operational time post-implementation, while testing cycles shrink from weeks to just a few days. For systems integrators, implementation costs have dropped by approximately 25% in early deployments. These improvements not only enhance productivity but also enable faster innovation cycles, allowing businesses to respond more quickly to market changes. A Win-Win Ecosystem Vision: Opkey's strategy is built around creating value for all stakeholders: ERP vendors, systems integrators, and end customers. By improving implementation success rates, reducing costs, and accelerating time to value, the platform fosters a “win-win” ecosystem. This holistic approach ensures that innovation benefits the entire enterprise software value chain, rather than optimizing for one group at the expense of others. The Big Quote: “Copilots. . . help you understand your information better, whereas agents and agentic AI is a fundamentally different way of conceiving work. Think of an AI agent as a digital worker, just like you used to have Oracle administrators in past and your business analysts." More from Pankaj Goel and Opkey: Connect with Pankaj on LinkedIn or learn more about Opkey Release Advisor and CALM. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I unpack the convergence of tech and energy and what it means for the future of business leadership. Highlights 00:00 — We are seeing here in 2026 the collapsing of traditional industry boundaries. AI is helping to drive this. A whole new way of doing business is powering this. And mostly what's happening is we're seeing visionary leaders in the tech industry, energy, utilities, power, and other places realize the old story that what got us here won't get us there. 00:35 — So I wanted to talk a little bit today about a big new partnership between Google Cloud and a century-old industrial power company called Baker Hughes. And they're looking together to join forces to do things that neither could do individually, to juice up the AI Economy and address insatiable demand for power in AI data centers. 01:38 — So much growth here, and all this is forcing traditional industry boundaries to be reconsidered. These digital-native software companies are now worried about where electrons come from, and they've got to get upstream integrated into the power and energy industry to keep this going. 02:20 — Now you got these extremely capable companies like Baker Hughes that have never faced such an extraordinary spike in demand. This fusion or blurring of the lines between the tech industry and the energy/power industry is going to be enormously important. 03:01 — They're looking at the possibility of fusion reactors. Fusion is one of the world's most high-potential but difficult technologies, and if it works, energy problems are solved. The fusion of the tech industry into the energy industry will shorten that distance dramatically. 04:14 — Are you hung up on the traditions of the past? Or are you seeing a very different future where those boundaries don't exist? Don't be caught on the back edge of that. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore how Oracle is redefining enterprise software by fusing AI agents directly into applications. Highlights 00:03 — Again, busy days here in the early part of 2026. I had a great video interview with Oracle Executive Vice President Steve Miranda. He's been in charge of applications development at Oracle for more than 20 years, and Steve made a few key points about these new agenetic applications. 00:56 — And his main point was, you take all the existing value that applications have had about governing processes being established, customers are comfortable with them, and then you enhance those with new agentic AI capabilities to allow those now, instead of just applications, these AI agentic applications, to do more than they had been able to do before. 01:59 — And at the same time, I think one of the big points here that Miranda said with these now is that business people are going to be able to spend less time managing their processes and more time devoting their efforts and energy and their technology to being drivers of business outcomes that they want: more growth, more innovation, better experiences for customers. 02:49 — This whole confusion, and in some ways this just crazy time we've been through, you know, where SaaS business applications are going to go away — I guess, you know, almost two and a half years ago, when Satya Nadella made this point — such an intelligent person. 04:07 — I think what Oracle is doing here, and especially in the words of Steve Miranda, is going to bring a lot of calm and assurance to people that it is not an either/or game: agents or business applications. Now it's both. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this episode of Cloud Wars Live, Bob Evans speaks with Steve Miranda, Executive Vice President of Applications Development at Oracle, about the company's latest leap into AI-driven enterprise software. Miranda outlines Oracle's introduction of “agentic applications,” a new category that blends AI agents, automation, and business workflows into outcome-driven systems. He explains how Oracle's strategy has evolved from embedding AI into apps to building thousands of agents — and now to delivering fully agentic apps that transform how users interact with enterprise software. The conversation highlights both the opportunity and confusion customers face in this rapidly shifting AI landscape. Rise of Agentic AI The Big Themes: From Features to Outcomes: A major shift is the move from feature-based software to outcome-driven systems. Instead of executing predefined tasks, AI agents are now given business goals, such as optimizing supply chains or improving financial performance, and they generate multiple strategies to achieve them. Users then act as decision-makers, selecting preferred options. This represents a profound change in human-computer interaction, where software becomes a collaborative partner. Explosive Growth of AI Agents: Oracle's rapid expansion from around 50–100 agents to over 1,000 demonstrates the accelerating pace of AI adoption. This growth reflects both customer demand and the scalability of AI-driven architectures. The agents are not limited to simple automation but are capable of reasoning, analyzing enterprise-wide data, and making recommendations. This scale also lays the foundation for agentic applications. Future of SaaS Reimagined: Miranda makes it clear that SaaS is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Traditional applications will coexist with agentic systems for now, but the long-term trajectory points toward AI-driven interfaces becoming dominant. Oracle plans to expand agentic capabilities across its entire application suite, from finance to supply chain to HR. As AI-to-AI interactions and data integration improve, these systems will become even more powerful. The Big Quote: “These are agents where you're giving the agent a business outcome and a goal, and the agents [are] recommending to you optimizations or how you get there. And then you, as a user or human in the middle of this process, actually instruct those agents on which of the plans to execute, and it goes ahead and automates and executes those transactions. So it's a fundamentally different way of presenting the applications." More from Steve Miranda: Connect with Steve on LinkedIn or learn more about AI agents for Fusion Applications. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore how Oracle is using AI to unify and transform the fragmented healthcare ecosystem. Highlights 00:03 — Early in 2026, we're seeing big strides made across all industries with AI, but in particular, there's enormous promise for AI in healthcare. So, I had a chance recently to speak with Oracle Executive Vice President Seema Verma. She's in charge of healthcare and health and life sciences. 01:06 —And one of the things that Seema talked about here is that, for too long, every part of the healthcare industry has been caught up in these point solutions, which worked well for their very narrow slice. But in these days, that's just too much manual effort, too much time required, too much movement attempting to stitch together different data models. 01:33 — And especially now with AI coming, the data has to be centralized. It's got to be in one place, clean, secure, and ready to go. So in this video interview, Seema talks about some of the advances Oracle's making. She said, “We're addressing the big pain points.” 02:06 — She talked a lot about identity, authentication, the ability for doctors and offices to be able to listen and look directly at the patient instead of typing on the keyboard while the AI is recording and transcribing it and bringing up other relevant information. 04:05 — So I do love this big, sprawling effort here, the end-to-end initiative. I think more and more we're going to be seeing that the big application, slash agents, slash data, slash AI, companies like Oracle are going to go after this more on a big, comprehensive basis.  Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this episode of Cloud Wars Live, Bob Evans speaks with Seema Verma, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Oracle Health and Life Sciences, about how AI is reshaping the healthcare industry. Drawing on her experience leading the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Verma explains how Oracle is tackling one of the world's most complex sectors with an end-to-end, AI-driven approach. The conversation explores how automation, modern electronic health records, and intelligent agents can reduce administrative costs, improve patient care, and unify fragmented healthcare systems into a more efficient and responsive ecosystem. Oracle Healthcare Vision The Big Themes: AI as Healthcare Backbone: Oracle is not approaching healthcare transformation as a collection of isolated tools but as a unified, AI-driven ecosystem. Unlike past efforts that layered technology onto outdated systems, Oracle is rebuilding infrastructure from the ground up with AI at its core. This allows automation to flow across the entire system rather than remaining siloed. The result is a more cohesive healthcare environment where decisions, processes, and outcomes are interconnected, enabling true industry-wide transformation rather than incremental improvements. Clinical AI Agents in Action: One of the most compelling innovations discussed is Oracle's clinical AI agent, which listens to doctor-patient interactions and automatically generates notes, recommendations, and workflows. This technology goes beyond documentation — it initiates next steps such as prescribing medications, ordering tests, and suggesting billing codes. Physicians benefit from reduced administrative workload, allowing them to focus on patient interaction. Clinical Trials Transformation: Clinical trials are another area ripe for disruption, with only 1–2% of eligible patients participating due to outdated recruitment methods. Oracle is addressing this by matching patients to trials using real-time health data. Instead of manual processes like bulletin board sign-ups, AI can identify eligible participants and notify both clinicians and patients. The Big Quote: “Fifty percent, sixty percent of the costs are labor-oriented. And if we look at the growth in healthcare, that's not changing, we see high prices in drugs, one of the fastest-growing areas. And so here's where AI has an incredible opportunity here to really transform the industry and get rid of a lot of that repetitive, manual work and increase efficiency." More from Seema Verma: Connect with Seema on LinkedIn or learn more about Oracle, health, and AI. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Key Takeaways Wellness-focused consumers are flooded with health data from wearable health tech and portals but lack the time and expertise to interpret what it actually means. To combat this, Copilot Health securely unifies data from hospitals, labs, and wearables to detect early health patterns and guide wellness decisions, making advanced medical insight accessible to everyone. Because hallucinations are dangerous in healthcare, Microsoft mitigated risk by embedding physician oversight into Copilot Health's training and governance. Specifically, Microsoft's multi-agent orchestration layer of Copilot Health scored 85% when diagnosing 304 complex medical cases, four times better than experienced physicians did. At a broader level, AI-driven health systems promise enterprise cost savings and productivity gains while signaling a shift toward more human-like agents, making it paramount that innovation is matched with equally strong security. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this episode of Cloud Wars Live, Bob Evans speaks with Nathan Thomas, Senior Vice President of Product Management for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, about the explosive growth and transformative potential of Oracle's multi-cloud database strategy. Thomas explains how Oracle is enabling customers to run mission-critical databases across AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud while unlocking new AI-driven innovation. Their discussion dives into how multi-cloud is reshaping enterprise mindsets, accelerating cloud migrations, and helping organizations fully leverage their data for next-generation applications and agentic AI. Multi-Cloud Momentum The Big Themes: Multi-Cloud Demand Explodes: Oracle's multi-cloud database is seeing massive demand, driven by customers wanting to run Oracle workloads in the same cloud environments as their applications. This shift eliminates friction between systems. The surge is amplified by AI, as organizations look to connect their data with services like Gemini, Bedrock, and Copilot. The reported 500%+ growth reflects not just technical appeal but a fundamental change in how enterprises think about infrastructure. AI Is the Growth Catalyst: Artificial intelligence is accelerating multi-cloud adoption at an unprecedented pace. Customers want their data co-located with AI tools and pipelines, enabling faster insights and innovation. Instead of moving data across environments with latency constraints, multi-cloud lets organizations bring AI to their data. This creates a powerful feedback loop where better access drives more experimentation and faster results. New Builders, New Energy: The adoption of multi-cloud is bringing in a new generation of developers and AI-focused professionals. These users are actively engaging with enterprise data to build innovative applications and AI-driven solutions. This marks a shift from traditional, tightly controlled database environments to more dynamic, accessible platforms. Organizations are no longer treating their data as static assets, they're using it as a foundation for continuous innovation and competitive advantage. The Big Quote: “We hear from customers a lot that they struggle with what I would call the tyranny of choice. There's just way too many options, way too complicated." More from Nathan Thomas and Oracle: Connect with Nathan on LinkedIn or learn more about Oracle and multi-cloud. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I examine how AI and data access are accelerating unprecedented cooperation among cloud leaders. Highlights 00:03 — It's been two and a half years now since that momentous interview featuring Satya Nadella and Larry Ellison talking about their partnership to do multi-cloud between Oracle and Microsoft. And in some ways, I regard this as the multi-cloud miracle, because we've accepted it. 01:10 — It's opening up more ways in which competing tech vendors are going to work together to drive better benefits, better outcomes for customers. So, I had a very interesting interview with Nathan Thomas, Senior Vice President for Product Marketing at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, where he heads up the multi-cloud effort. And I wanted to talk to him about the benefits. 02:24 — I want to also go back quickly and touch on what Nadella and Ellison talked about two and a half years ago. One of Ellison's first points, he said, this just makes it easier for customers, and they get the benefits of both Microsoft's top technology and Oracle's top technology optimized to work together. 03:36 — At the time, he said, OpenAI, take it to where the data is. So two and a half years ago, Nadella was very keen on this subject of how this multi-cloud partnership between Oracle and Microsoft would benefit the early days of the AI movement. 04:44 — And when you put it in terms of business outcomes, then these competitive things that are behind the scenes matter less and less. So this is an interesting time. I hope we'll see more of this. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I discuss the significant leadership changes at Oracle and what they signal for the company's future. Highlights 00:03 — One of the things that has become clear over the last several months is that there are big changes taking place at the top of Oracle. I wanted to go into that a little bit, particularly how this is all leading up to what is an excellent new adventure for company co-founder and chairman Larry Ellison. 00:21 — I think it's a remarkable time here. Now, clearly, I'm not saying that Larry Ellison is stepping aside. I mean, six months ago, we saw longtime CEO Safra Katz move from CEO. She elected to move to the new position of executive vice chairman. In those six months, we've also seen the ascendancy of new CEOs, Mike Sicilia and Clay Magouyrk. 01:09 — Again, this is not about Larry Ellison leaving. I think the new adventure he has was really brought into clear light on the March 10 fiscal Q3 earnings call for Oracle, when there was no opening statement by Larry Ellison. I mean, that's something he's done for the last 150, 160 earnings calls. 01:50 — Then, in the Q&A session on that March 10 earnings call, there were seven questions asked. None of them was aimed at Larry Ellison. They were all aimed at Magouyrk and Sicilia. After the final question, he added some thoughts to what Mike Sicilia had said. His point there is to say these are the new leaders of Oracle, the people helping now to set the direction, execute it, and make sure we're going in the right way. 02:40 — The new CEOs are doing a great job. In my estimation, the way they handled themselves in the answers on the March 10 earnings call was terrific. They were very, very, very persuasive, impressive, and compelling. So we can say this is the end of an era, but I think another way to look at it is that it's the beginning of a new era for Oracle. 04:05 — New ideas, speed, the ability to do things that customers haven't ever done before — and Sicilia and Magouyrk clearly have won the full confidence of Larry Ellison and Safra Catz, who believe now, as Ellison said on that March 10 earnings call, Oracle's future is bright. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I examine how Health 100 signals a major shift toward AI-powered, patient-centric healthcare ecosystems. Highlights 00:03 —Google Cloud has partnered with CVS Health to launch an AI-driven health data platform called Health 100. The platform unifies patient data from a variety of sources, enabling more streamlined health management. CVS Health, which operates both an insurer and a pharmacy retailer, is embracing the spirit of the AI revolutions. 00:36 — Health 100 will connect benefit managers, pharmacies, healthcare providers, and digital health systems into a single platform, regardless of the companies supplying them. And there's more details coming, but what we know so far is that Health 100 will tap built-in AI and generative AI to act as an always-on personal healthcare partner. 01:00 — It will deliver care options faster, be operated on mobile, and interact visually and through voice interactions. Patient data will be protected through Google Cloud security and compliance infrastructure. Now, this is just the latest in a series of partnerships through which Google Cloud is enabling companies to innovate in the healthcare space. 01:24 — Google Cloud is really standing out as a leader now, I think, in this area, focusing on agentic AI in the healthcare space. Now, while agents have been making significant strides in various business sectors and industries, it's really fascinating for me to see the momentum shifting into healthcare. 02:00 — Now we're talking about agentic workflows for patients driven by their own data. This progress is only possible with stringent governance and compliance, and as Google Cloud describes its infrastructure security as “secure by default,” companies are certainly supporting this new era of healthcare from solid foundations. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this episode of the AI Agent & Copilot Podcast, Tom Smith is joined by Kieron Allen, an industry analyst and AI observer, who shares insights from the 2026 AI Agent & Copilot Summit NA in San Diego. Together, they unpack major themes from the event, including agent orchestration, workforce reskilling, MCP's enterprise impact, and the evolving human-AI partnership. Key Takeaways Human + AI Orchestration Is the New Core Skill: Allen underscores that orchestration is not just about technology—it's about people managing AI systems effectively. Humans have to view agents as part of the workforce. This means employees must develop skills to coordinate, supervise, and optimize AI agents, treating them as collaborators rather than tools. The ability to orchestrate multiple agents will become a defining competency in modern organizations. Reskilling Must Address Culture and Collaboration One of Allen's strongest points is that reskilling goes beyond technical training. “We need to understand the AI… not just the tools, but also the cultural elements.” Organizations must prepare employees to work alongside AI, interpret outputs, and adapt workflows. This includes fostering trust in AI systems, redefining job roles, and building a culture that embraces continuous learning and collaboration with intelligent agents. MCP is Unlocking Massive Enterprise Efficiency: Smith highlights MCP as a breakthrough, describing it as a “USB-type connector” between AI and enterprise systems. With up to “650,000 actions” now automatable in Dynamics 365, MCP dramatically reduces manual effort. This standard simplifies integration across platforms, accelerates deployment, and enables scalable automation—making it a cornerstone for organizations looking to operationalize AI at scale. Customer-Centric AI Learning is Accelerating Adoption: Allen observes that many professionals are attending the conference not just for internal use, but because “they're attending this conference… for their customers.” This reflects a shift where AI literacy is becoming essential for delivering value externally. Businesses are recognizing that understanding AI enables them to better anticipate client needs, create new offerings, and remain competitive. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I question whether OpenAI's $140 billion enterprise revenue target is a realistic strategy or a speculative leap. Highlights 00:03 — It was announced recently, or revealed recently, that OpenAI expects that its revenue will hit about $280 billion by the year 2030, half of that enterprise, half of it consumer. So that would mean that by 2030, OpenAI, according to this CNBC report citing anonymous, confidential sources, will have its enterprise revenue be about $140 billion in five years, or less than five years now. 00:48 — As Larry Ellison said, “The baby could talk.” There has been a huge amount of interest around OpenAI. It has also stirred up considerable head-scratching with its agreements to purchase $300 billion of AI training and inferencing from Oracle, and about the same amount, maybe even a little more, from Microsoft. Now, all of this has people wondering, who is this company? What's it going to do? 01:47 — They said it's confidential, but they've seen information about OpenAI's plans, so maybe we need to take this with a grain of salt. And I typically regard anonymous sourcing reports with about the same passion and love that I have for skin rashes. But I think because of the implications here for OpenAI and what it might mean, I thought this was at least worth mentioning. 02:26 — But they also said that, seeing that OpenAI has now changed its projections for how much compute or AI infrastructure spending it needs to do, Sam Altman had recently said it's going to be $1.4 trillion. Well now, according to the CNBC report, he's pulled that back to about $600 billion. That's a cut of $800 billion, or about 57% of the projections. 03:36 — So the more compute spending we do, the more revenue OpenAI is able to get—that is her premise. Now, if they are indeed cutting their compute and AI infrastructure spending by $800 billion, how then does that equate to this explosive revenue growth? And was that premise—that compute growth equals revenue growth—not true? 04:29 — Now, what about if key suppliers such as Oracle and Microsoft, perhaps Google Cloud, perhaps AWS, are also in this expansive scheme by OpenAI to reach $140 billion in enterprise revenue in four and a half years? What if they become competitors? How do they feel about continuing to be the suppliers of this engine of revenue growth? 05:26 — I don't mean in raising these questions to diminish the impact or the potential that OpenAI has. I think, like any fast-growing category creator as OpenAI has been, there's no roadmap, nobody's done this before, there's no playbook, and they've got to make this up as they go along. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Microsoft is redefining enterprise productivity by positioning Copilot, agents, and unified AI platforms as the operational backbone of next-generation “frontier firms.” Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this episode of the AI Agent & Copilot Podcast, host Tom Smith speaks with Vaishali Vinay, Data Scientist at Microsoft, and Raghav Bhatta, Data Scientist at Microsoft, about their upcoming masterclass at the 2026 AI Agent & Copilot Summit NA in San Diego. They discuss how AI can serve as a threat research partner for cybersecurity teams, augmenting human expertise in threat hunting and detection engineering while helping organizations proactively defend against increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. Key Takeaways AI as a Threat Research Partner: Vinay explains that traditional threat hunting and detection engineering have historically been highly manual processes requiring significant time and expertise. AI can now assist by analyzing attacker behavior and identifying detection opportunities faster. As Vinay notes, the goal is to augment our human experts and accelerate this threat research process much faster. Scaling Cyber Defense in an AI-Powered Threat Landscape: Bhatta highlights that as AI adoption grows across industries, the volume of data and potential attack vectors increases rapidly. Organizations must therefore adapt AI for defensive purposes as well. “The amount of data which is produced… is increasing at a nonlinear scale,” Bhatta explains. AI copilots help defenders process this scale by assisting with detection engineering, threat hunting, and proactive defense strategies that protect infrastructure and customers from evolving cyber threats. Capturing and Sharing ‘Tribal Knowledge' Through AI: Cybersecurity often depends on the deep experience of veteran researchers who understand attacker behavior patterns. Bhatta suggests AI copilots can help scale that expertise across teams. He explains that copilots can serve as a “source of tribal knowledge,” enabling newer analysts and teams to leverage insights that historically lived only in the heads of experienced researchers. This dramatically increases productivity and knowledge transfer within security organizations. AI Attackers vs. AI Defenders: The session also acknowledges that cyber attackers are increasingly leveraging AI themselves. That makes defensive innovation essential. Vinay and Bhatta emphasize the importance of building AI systems that analyze attack techniques and automatically recommend detection rules. This dynamic defense model enables security teams to react faster to emerging threats and reduces the manual workload traditionally required to understand complex attack patterns. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I look at why the AI economy is fueling unprecedented demand for cloud services and pushing the world's top vendors into hypergrowth again. Highlights 00:03 — Things are off to a hot start here in early 2026 with the growth rates for the world's top cloud and AI vendors within the Cloud Wars Top 10 growing nicely across the board here because of the demand from customers for AI and cloud services. In fact, we're seeing the return of hypergrowth, 40% or higher growth rates. 00:27 — Hadn't seen that for a while, and this installment of the Cloud Wars Growth Chart we've got three vendors in that category: Palantir at 70%, Google Cloud at 48%, Oracle at 44%. Behind this all is massive customer demand for cloud and AI services, data, agents, and insights as companies prepare themselves for the rapidly approaching AI economy. 01:47 — Palantir, as I said, was number one, 70%, just over $1.4 billion in revenue last quarter. Google Cloud: 48% to $17.7 billion. Oracle: 44%, $8.9 billion in cloud revenue in its most recent quarter. Microsoft: 26% growth rate on $51.5 billion — by far the largest cloud and AI services vendor. 02:41 — And then SAP in a tie with Microsoft here for fourth place: 26% growth, $6.6 billion in revenue. Across the board for all of the Top 10 companies, we saw an increase in the growth rate from the last time I did the Cloud Wars Growth Chart, which was in mid-December. 03:47 — Businesses are expressing and showing enormous demand for these AI and cloud services. And I think in that context it's important to remember we're just at the beginning of this. As customers see what can be done with AI and advanced cloud services, there's going to be more demand. 04:19 — Because of the incredible competitive dynamics among the Cloud Wars Top 10 companies, the pace of innovation from the vendors is rising. We can expect continued remarkable demand feeding into the Cloud Wars Top 10 — what may be the greatest growth market the world has ever known. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Key Takeaways Agent transactions: With models like the Universal Commerce Protocol, Google aims to control global agent transactions, relying on Mastercard's verifiable financial infrastructure to make it viable. Filling voids: Similar to how MCP secures agent access to internal systems, verifiable intent enables agents to securely transact on behalf of humans by closing three gaps in the purchase flow; it secures transactions by validating agent identity, ensures strict adherence to user instructions, and confirms the transaction occurred. Big picture: Google and Mastercard are racing to lay the foundation for agentic commerce, but if no single standard wins, fragmented protocols could recreate the same consumer confusion seen in past payment wars—all hinging on the assumption that agents will define the future of commerce. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore how Oracle is embedding more than 1,000 AI agents into its applications to transform entire industry ecosystems. Highlights 01:18 — I think what we're seeing now here at the cusp of the agentic AI boom is the opportunity for modern technology to transform not just individual companies but entire industries and ecosystems. Oracle said it's now got more than 1,000 agents embedded within and working inside Oracle's applications. 02:21 — This is a big effort that goes beyond just what a specific company is doing, and to do that in an industry-specific, targeted way, thus slashing the time to value for customers. This is the sort of automation, insight, transparency, and visibility that many businesses are eager to have. 03:01 — CEO Mike Sicilia said, we've got a few hundred agents up and operating. The customers have been very eager to use this. They're not buying the whole “SaaSpocalypse” nonsense, and instead they've been eager to say, we're currently using some Oracle apps and we'd like to use more, especially the ones that have the agents in there driving new capabilities. 04:02 — They're seeing what he called a halo effect from this, allowing customers to take on more aggressive and ambitious transformations. Innovation, growth, and acceleration are the key things that are happening across these industry layers. 04:48 — What used to be the enterprise apps business is now apps plus agents plus AI plus data. And Oracle says it wants to use this combination of agent-powered applications so that it and its customers can be the disruptors rather than becoming the disrupted. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Key Takeaways Shift in AI focus: As Director of AI at Armanino, Montgomery explains that organizations are shifting from last year's AI experimentation and demos toward defining real business use cases and operationalizing AI; embedding it into processes, insights, governance, and workforce interactions to transform how the business runs. Session overview: One of her sessions, "From Insight to Intuition: Designing Copilot Experiences that Understand People," will provide “a practical blueprint for designing Copilot and agent experiences that people can trust and use,” addressing the gap between building AI systems and thoughtfully designing how employees interact with them. Learning objectives: Turning on Copilot often leads to early experimentation but a dip in trust as users encounter vague outputs, prompt fatigue, and unclear accountability because the experience wasn't intentionally designed. Montgomery's masterclass introduces an “agent experience” framework called CARE — context, awareness, relationships, and empathy — to help organizations design AI systems that are trustworthy, accountable, and effective in business workflows. Event relevance: The event, explains Montgomery, comes at “an inflection point with AI adoption across businesses,” bringing together technical and business leaders to help organizations move from exploring AI's possibilities to deploying it responsibly and at scale across their operations. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Key Takeaways Smart friction: AI prioritizes speed and efficiency, but in retail experiences where shoppers value engagement, intentional friction can enhance customer satisfaction and ultimately drive better returns, giving rise to the idea of "smart friction." Use case: Trader Joe's, for example, deliberately avoids self-checkout to create smart friction, using wait time to immerse customers in design, promote product discovery, and foster interactions with staff that enhance the overall brand experience. By preserving the elements that make its brand special rather than blindly automating for speed, the grocery retailer has been able to stay competitive despite having fewer locations than many rivals. Don't over-automate: While many AI solutions will benefit enterprises, organizations should be careful not to automate away the core elements that define and differentiate their brand. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this episode of the AI Agent & Copilot Podcast, Giuseppe Ianni, host of the show, is joined by Andrea Pinillos, Senior Technical Program Manager at Microsoft, to discuss practical strategies for enterprise adoption of AI agents and copilots. Pinillos shares insights from her work leading internal Microsoft tooling and previews her upcoming session at the 2026 AI Agent & Copilot Summit NA. Key Takeaways Democratizing AI with Simple Tools: Pinillos emphasizes that organizations don't need complex infrastructure to begin using AI agents. By combining tools like Excel and Copilot Studio, teams can quickly prototype useful solutions such as employee directories. Her goal is to lower barriers to adoption so more teams can experiment safely. Governance Must Come First: One of Pinillos' strongest recommendations is to establish governance before deploying AI agents at scale. Organizations often rush into building tools without clear rules about ownership, permissions, or oversight. According to Pinillos, responsible adoption starts with planning. She stresses the importance of “making sure that your organization is making [this] an important factor." Real-World Demonstrations Accelerate Adoption: Pinillos' summit session focuses heavily on practical learning through demonstration. Rather than discussing theory, she will show attendees exactly how to connect Copilot Studio to an Excel data source, build actions, and enable conversational interaction with data. She believes hands-on demonstrations help organizations move from curiosity to implementation. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore how Microsoft is using Copilot Studio and multi-agent orchestration to dramatically improve customer support performance. Highlights 00:09 — Now, one of the best ways to assess the impact of Microsoft Copilot is to examine case studies of the technology in action. Microsoft has announced details of a recent project delivered through Copilot Studio, aimed at enhancing the customer support experience on microsoft.com, building on the Ask Microsoft web agent created using Microsoft Copilot Studio. 00:51 — This new approach resulted in a 61% reduction in latency and up to 70% fewer human escalations. The Microsoft team tested and refined the original web assistant, getting it live within just a few weeks using Copilot Studio tools. 01:11 — However, it was the facilities multi-agent orchestration feature that truly enhanced this project, enabling the team to connect the main agent to sub-agents with domain-specific knowledge in areas such as Azure or Microsoft 365 . 01:34 — Firstly, Microsoft is presenting a very tangible use case for Copilot Studio here. Secondly, it highlights the speed at which Copilot Studio can be used to rapidly deploy and easily edit agentic workflows. And finally, it serves as a really good advertisement for multi-agent architecture and orchestration, which I believe unlocks the most capable AI performance. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this episode of Cloud Wars Live, Bob Evans speaks with Bonnie Tinder, founder and CEO of Raven Intelligence, about the surge of hype, confusion, and opportunity surrounding AI in enterprise technology. As headlines claim AI could replace traditional software and “vibe coding” threatens SaaS vendors, Tinder brings a grounded perspective from years of advising organizations on enterprise systems like Salesforce, Workday, and SAP. Their conversation explores what AI can realistically do today, why enterprise software remains critical, and how companies can move forward without falling for hype. Episode 58: AI Hype vs. Reality The Big Themes: Why “Vibe Coding” Won't Replace ERP: The idea that AI-powered “vibe coding” could replace enterprise applications is a popular narrative, but both Evans and Tinder challenge its practicality. Even companies developing cutting-edge AI models are still relying on traditional enterprise systems. For example, Tinder notes that AI companies themselves are hiring administrators for established software platforms rather than replacing them. Leadership Must Guide AI Adoption: The discussion also emphasizes that AI adoption cannot be left solely to technology teams. According to Evans, the entire executive leadership team, especially the CEO, needs to be actively involved in defining how AI will shape the organization. AI initiatives affect workflows, job roles, data governance, and competitive strategy. Without clear leadership alignment, different departments may pursue conflicting approaches, slowing progress or introducing risk. Fear and FUD Are Slowing Progress: Ironically, the greatest threat from AI hype may be paralysis. Tinder argues that fear, uncertainty, and doubt in the market are causing many companies to delay decisions altogether. Organizations worry about choosing the wrong tools, implementing technology too early, or missing the next wave of innovation. This hesitation can prevent companies from making meaningful progress. Instead of waiting for perfect clarity, organizations should take practical steps. The Big Quote: “You can vibe code your way around [a] notion or a content system, that's way different though, than having an in-house solution for an enterprise software." More from Bonnie Tinder: Connect with Bonnie on LinkedIn. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Key Takeaways Session overview: AI is a transformative technology where security is lagging dangerously behind. Polino's session, "A Guide to Security Roles in AI Transformation (Implementation)," will explore why it's critical for organizations to reassess current roles, controls, and systems and proactively design security strategies specifically for an AI-driven environment. Guardrails: AI systems can be easily manipulated through indirect prompts or parameter framing, making it essential to enforce extremely strict guidelines and access controls to prevent unintended exposure of sensitive data. Exploring security with leaders: Organizations must proactively define security policies and controls for AI now to prevent users from going rogue or turning to shadow IT, because inaction will only amplify risk as sensitive data inevitably leaks into unsecured public AI tools. Event takeaways: Polino notes the importance of events like this because they bridge the knowledge gap between AI leaders and everyday business users by equipping them to understand AI early and effectively transfer that knowledge across their organizations. "AI is coming, whether you want it or not. The goal here is to figure out how to use it appropriately, how to make it as safe as you possibly can, and mitigate those risks inside your organization." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explain why Oracle's massive RPO growth proves demand for AI infrastructure is real, not a bubble. Highlights 00:00 — For the last several weeks, we've all been hearing gloom and doom, there's going to be AI overcapacity for data centers, and then talking about all these things that Oracle can't do. I want to talk about this in the context of Oracle's terrific Q3 numbers that came out earlier this week. I hope what they'll do as a residual effect is shut the pie holes of some of these just lame-brain skeptics . 01:15 — So I hope some of those people either be quiet, get off to the sidelines, or maybe think a little bit more about how the world is changing, and the tech vendors, especially the ones in the Cloud Wars Top 10, have to change to meet these new times. So let me describe some of what's behind that in these big numbers from Oracle. 01:38 — Like I said, there is RPO, remaining performance obligation, up 325%. It added $29 billion of new RPO in the quarter. The cloud business, 44%. It's $8.9 billion, very, very strong there. Inside some of those numbers, its multicloud database up 531%. It's a huge jump. That's where Microsoft, Amazon, and Google Cloud all sell the Oracle database to their customers. 02:22 — So a big, big business there, the AI infrastructure business overall up 243%, and the RPO is now up $553 billion, well over half a trillion dollars of contracted business that Oracle has not yet recognized as revenue. So it shows enormous growth for the future. Yet in spite of all these things, we've heard relentlessly from these Chicken Little types. 03:04 — First, that there's an AI data center buildout. This is all a bubble. It's going to explode. There's all these hundreds of millions of dollars in CapEx chasing a dream that will never happen. We've heard a lot about that Oracle, which earlier this year said it's going to use debt financing to fund its data center expansion. That that's terrible. 04:18 — Oracle's wildly profitable. It's in great shape on this. There are still other cry babies who are running around saying that the new CEOs aren't ready to handle this. They were supremely in charge on this earnings call, very, very clear, concise descriptions of the strategy and what's going forward. 05:02 — Now, looking ahead this fiscal year, which ends May 31, Oracle's projecting total revenue $67 billion. A year out from that, fiscal 27, it's projecting total revenue for the company of $90 billion. So the whole company growing 34%, turbocharged by what it's doing in the cloud and AI. This is an extraordinary time to be alive. Don't listen to the doom and doomsday folks. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this episode of the AI Agent & Copilot Podcast, Giuseppe Ianni, host of the show, is joined by Diego Araujo, Founder and Chief AI Architect at Fusion Flow Software. Their conversation explores how enterprises are adopting AI agents and copilots within ERP environments, particularly Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations. Key Takeaways Start with a “Winning” Use Case: Successful AI adoption begins with identifying a high-impact, low-effort opportunity that delivers immediate value. Araujo stresses the importance of choosing use cases that are repeatable and measurable. He explains that organizations must deliberately identify early wins to build momentum and credibility across teams. User Adoption Determines Success: Technology alone does not guarantee successful AI implementation — user adoption does. Araujo emphasizes that fear and skepticism often prevent employees from embracing AI tools. He recommends involving subject matter experts and users early in the process so they feel ownership over the solution. Governance and Safety Must Be Built In: Enterprise AI systems require robust governance frameworks to ensure compliance, security, and control. Araujo highlights the importance of planning governance early in the process, particularly when deploying agents inside ERP environments that manage critical business processes. He cautions organizations to build mechanisms that prevent agents from causing unintended outcomes. “You don't want an agent going rogue,” he explains. Measure Value with Clear Metrics: AI initiatives must demonstrate measurable impact rather than relying on hype or novelty. Araujo stresses that organizations should identify metrics that directly tie AI capabilities to business outcomes. “Coolness is not a factor,” he explains. Instead, companies must define operational indicators such as efficiency gains or cycle time reductions. AI Agents Enable a New Workforce Model: Araujo describes a major shift in how employees interact with technology as AI agents become widely adopted. He suggests that individuals will increasingly act as managers of multiple digital agents that execute tasks autonomously. This mindset shift opens new productivity opportunities for organizations. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I look at ServiceNow's new Autonomous Workforce and what it means for the future of the digital workforce. Highlights 00:03 — As companies become more familiar with the scope and capabilities of agentic AI, they're seeking more efficient ways to integrate these features into their workflows. And in line with this trend, ServiceNow has launched the Autonomous Workforce: teams of AI specialists that will enhance teams with domain-specific AI knowledge. 00:29 — So how does the Autonomous Workforce operate in practice? Well, the AI specialists deployed by the system have defined roles and work alongside human team members. ServiceNow explains that this shift represents a move away from AI agents that complete individual tasks to teams of AI specialists that take on specific roles. 00:57 — These specialists execute entire workflows from start to finish autonomously. Teams can onboard pre-skilled AI specialists with just a few clicks. These specialists are familiar with their roles, permissions, and, crucially, the historical enterprise context. Companies can scale the scope of the specialists on demand to match spikes in activity. 01:20 — The first out-of-the-box specialist is theLevel 1 Service Desk AI Specialist which can autonomously diagnose and resolve typical IT support requests like password resets or network troubleshooting. Proof of concept for this new system lies with ServiceNow, where the Autonomous Workforce is already handling over 90% of employee IT requests. 02:01 — What's truly remarkable is the redefinition of the work of the digital workforce. Having a context-aware, independent worker for specific tasks is a really outstanding achievement and development. It embodies the futuristic vision of a robotic worker and, in reality, is somewhat more streamlined than many of the widely dispersed agentic systems that I've come across today. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Key Takeaways Herain Oberoi, Microsoft's general manager for data security, privacy, and compliance, recently held a session where he outlined top security challeneges within the AI era. Specifically, Oberoi outlined three concerns enterprises must address to build secure, scalable AI operations. He stressed strict access controls and disciplined data hygiene to prevent oversharing and sensitive data leakage. Second, regulatory compliance now requires continuous auditability of AI agent operations, with Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager enabling on-demand proof of control. Finally, fragmented solutions increase cost and complexity, while expanded Purview unifies data security, governance, and compliance in a single pane of glass. Enterprises that quickly adapt to rising security expectations will be best positioned to scale AE operations and realize the full value of the AE era. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explain why customer pressure is forcing SAP, Oracle, and Workday to overhaul traditional enterprise software sales models. Highlights 00:01 — Hello my friends. Welcome back to Cloud Wars Minute. We've got some big news here because we've got SAP, Oracle, and Workday all agreeing on a very key issue here and instituting some changes at the same time. What led to this unprecedented alignment between three companies that you know, day after day in the marketplace, are scratching each other's eyes out? 00:49 — It's really this notion about what's going on with customers here in these days of the AI revolution, with things moving so much faster. Customers are under enormous pressure to do things differently, to get AI throughout the organization and achieve better outcomes, but not spend too much money and not take risks. 01:20 — The very last thing that customers want or need or are willing to tolerate is old-fashioned approaches to how they engage with software companies. Especially now as the software itself is changing. They're not just apps vendors anymore, but agent vendors and data cloud vendors helping customers organize data and revise processes. 02:21 — Across the board these companies have decided they need to combine different sales organizations or flatten the existing ones to achieve a simpler point of contact for customers. Not so many different people from the same vendor calling on them. Workday says customers are moving faster and the old decision model doesn't work anymore. 03:08 — Rob Enslin, President and Chief Commercial Officer at Workday, said the company wants to push more decisions out to the point of the customer and have them spend less time with the inner workings of what Workday is doing. At SAP, the sales organization called Customer Success is now paired with the services and delivery team run by Thomas Saueressig. 04:00 — Customers are saying they want to give these companies their money but don't have time to hear endless presentations or meet half of a sales force. Either make it simpler or you're never going to see another nickel. In the early days of the AI revolution leading into the AI economy, customers cannot operate the old-fashioned way with software companies. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Key Takeaways Overview: Companies are drowning in AI tools, most of which "do not talk to each other." Today, Microsoft announced Microsoft 365 E7: The Frontier Suite, officially launching May 1st for $99. The suite brings together Microsoft 365 E5, M365 Copilot Wave 3, and Agent 365. Manage agents: IDC projects 1.3 billion AI agents by 2028, creating major governance, access control, and data management challenges that Agent 365 addresses by giving teams a single place to track, secure, and manage them all. Big idea: Work IQ, which will be explored at AI Agent & Copilot Summit, signals that Copilot has gone mainstream, with 160% YoY growth and large-scale enterprise deployments. "This isn't experimentation anymore. This is enterprise AI going mainstream." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I analyze Oracle's projected Q3 numbers and the explosive growth of its cloud and AI infrastructure business. Highlights 00:02 — Tomorrow, March 10, Oracle releases its Q3 numbers. I think these will be some of the most interesting we see from any of the Cloud Wars Top 10 companies, because relative to Oracle's size, its growth rates are up near the very top, and its RPO growth has been absolutely astronomical. 00:58 — So you might think of it as pipeline or backlog. This is money that's again fully contracted. It is not yet recognized as revenue, but it's an indication of where customers in the future are putting their hearts, minds, and wallets. I'll take a look at some key numbers for Oracle and compare the Q2 results with my Q3 projections. 02:02 — So for Q2, Oracle's RPO grew in Q2 over Q1 $68 billion. It had some huge deals in there with Meta and NVIDIA. It'll still do very well adding another $59 billion to its RPO. Now we look at its cloud revenue. For Q2 it was a total of $8 billion, up 34%. 03:13 — The OpenAI deal is massive, probably around $300 billion, but there's a lot more in there beyond that $300 billion. Oracle is emphasizing that it has a wide-ranging cloud infrastructure and AI infrastructure business that includes traditional moves from on-premise to cloud and other services beyond the OpenAI deal. 04:06 — Google Cloud hit almost $18 billion in its quarter. Now Oracle is almost half the size of Google Cloud, but it's got this tremendous backlog of future business because of capabilities around AI training, AI inferencing, and its core businesses as well. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this AI Agent & Copilot Minute, Mason Siefert explores how grocery retailers are accelerating AI adoption behind the scenes — empowering store associates and operational teams — even as consumer trust in customer-facing AI tools remains limited. Key Takeaways Consumer Trust Gap: Despite the rapid rollout of advanced retail AI tools, adoption among consumers remains limited. A recent consumer trend study shows only about 15% of shoppers actively use customer-facing AI solutions, even with innovations like Kroger's personal shopping assistant. Concerns about hidden algorithm pricing and lack of transparency have contributed to skepticism, leaving retailers operating in what some experts describe as a “gray zone” of AI adoption. Associate-Focused AI: Rather than waiting for shoppers to embrace AI fully, grocery executives are prioritizing AI tools designed for store associates. Platforms like Google's virtual assistant Sage provide employees with a centralized system to manage scheduling, payments, and daily operational tasks. By focusing on workforce enablement, retailers can immediately drive efficiency and productivity while indirectly improving the overall customer experience. Operational Optimization: Enterprise AI systems are increasingly being deployed to streamline frontline operations such as shift optimization, compliance monitoring, and task coordination. These tools reduce friction caused by fragmented workflows — like employees logging into multiple apps for a single task — and minimize human error. As AI handles routine operational complexity, employees can focus more on serving customers and maintaining store performance. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore OpenAI's decision to adjust its trillion-dollar AI infrastructure ambitions to reassure investors. Highlights 00:04 — Planned spending commitments amongst the Cloud Wars Top 10 companies have reached astronomical levels. This surge is in response to the anticipated demand for AI infrastructure, products, and services — a market that UN Trade and Development predicts will exceed $4.3 trillion by 2033. 00:25 — But in a trend-bucking move, OpenAI has informed investors that it's lowered its projected compute spending to $600 billion by 2030, down from the previously touted $1.4 trillion in infrastructure commitments announced in November by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. 00:46 — And this information came from a source that spoke to the news agency Reuters. The apparent shift aims to provide a more defined timeline for planned spending, alleviating concerns for investors who might view the $1.4 trillion figure as somewhat overly ambitious. 01:06 — CNBC also reported that OpenAI's total revenue for 2030 is expected to exceed $80 billion. The revised spending plan is designed, according to sources, to align more closely with this anticipated figure and reassure investors about the company's growth trajectory. 01:54 — The balancing act for companies like OpenAI is a delicate one. It needs to demonstrate that it has the faith and support to fully commit to AI spending while also showing restraint to its investors. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Key Takeaways Microsoft leads in risk detection with tools like Defender XDR, but as enterprise data environments grow in scale and complexity, organizations now need AI‑driven security that can automatically investigate and manage risk across the entire data estate, not just detect it. With the January 2026 general release of Purview Data Security Investigations, Microsoft addresses the challenge of overwhelming data volumes by using generative AI to automatically analyze security signals across its tools and clearly summarize underlying risks so security teams can act faster and more confidently. Purview enables these outcomes through built-in capabilities that analyze risk at scale, including deep content risk examination with scoring and remediation guidance, vector search for non‑keyword discovery, and automatic categorization by risk, sensitivity, and subject to speed incident analysis. Purview integrates with Microsoft Sentinel's graph to visually connect users, data, and activities across incidents and enables immediate mitigation—such as purging overshared sensitive content—allowing security teams to identify and contain risks in minutes instead of days, where speed can mean the difference between containment and a costly breach. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I look at how Workday plans to blend AI agents with its core HR and finance platforms. Highlights 00:03 — One of the big stories of early 2026 is this whole wackiness around how AI is going to destroy the enterprise apps business, particularly SaaS companies. Will it change it? Absolutely and sometimes in profound ways, but not to the elimination of it. This idea that customers can either use agents or they can use apps is ridiculous. There's a very powerful role for both agents and applications. 01:14 — Workday's Aneel Bhusri's top priority for the company as he takes over again as CEO is he wants to grow. He came back in as CEO last month. Carl Eschenbach had been CEO for three years and did a great job building out the international business and scaling up the sales organization, making Workday a bigger, more well-run machine. 02:21 — Bhusri emphasized very strongly its [Workday's] core business of enterprise applications for HR and finance is very strong. It'll be able to help those customers find an even better way of using enterprise technology and that's the combination of its existing apps plus agents with its Data Cloud and its single data model. 03:29 — This year it's going to complement that by rolling out its own agents, specifically built around certain roles that are bound up tightly within HR organizations and finance. Bushri believes that's where AI-accelerated growth for Workday is going to happen in the second half of the year. 04:33 — Bhusri said he's a big fan of large language models, that's great. But this idea that you could take large language models, bypass applications, and connect those models to big stores of data and get great outcomes is ridiculous. This whole SaaS apocalypse thing is going to be a tremendous waste of time and energy. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore how Microsoft is accelerating business-process transformation with its expanding Copilot and agent ecosystem. Highlights 00:10 — Microsoft has launched a three-day online boot camp covering how to leverage its expansive toolkit for AI-powered work, beginning with a session titled “Copilots and Agents: What's New and What's Next?” 01:01 — Rather than listing every innovation, I want to focus on business process, where some of the most relevant near-term transformations are occurring. Copilot tuning [enhancements], expected by June 2026, will introduce new templates in the agent builder, enabling organizations to customize M365 Copilot for drafting complex documents and matching editorial styles. 01:49 — Microsoft is also introducing standalone agents, including a project manager agent for task management in Copilot Chat and a knowledge agent that operates in the background fixing links, generating summaries and FAQs, and enriching content with metadata. 02:18 — Additional agents include a personalized learning agent for micro-learning plans, a sales agent integrating CRM data into Outlook and Teams workflows, a service agent supporting customer teams, and a finance agent bringing ERP-connected data into Excel and Outlook. 03:12 — Microsoft is acutely aware that despite a massive rollout of Copilot technology, not everybody is clear on how best to incorporate it. This boot camp is a major step forward, because what can be done now with Copilot and Microsoft's agent AI structures is truly transformational. Visit Cloud Wars for more.