Cloud Wars Live with Bob Evans

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I unpack how Salesforce is reinventing IT support with its new Agentforce platform.Highlights00:11 — Salesforce has launched Agentforce IT Service. This product suite is described by the company as an agent-first, conversational-first IT support solution. Unlike lengthy back-and-forth interactions with service desk staff, the new system introduces a conversation-based resolution model that's available 24/7.01:15 — Muddu Sudhakar, SVP and GM, IT and HR Service at Salesforce, said, "The fragmented, legacy ITSM model is fundamentally broken. By building Agentforce IT Service natively on the Salesforce and Service Cloud platform, we are driving a conversation-first, agent-first revolution — with product and technology innovation that transforms IT and HR..."01:43 — Agentforce IT Services represents a significant breakthrough that's sure to save IT teams hundreds of hours with its unique agent-first, conversation-first approach. Support is instant and personalized. Salesforce has made a remarkable entrance into the ITSM space, making a powerful impact with its unified, agent-driven strategy. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I discuss the recent AWS outage, identifying five reasons that this outage will significantly impact the company's reputation.Highlights00:30 — AWS experienced a big outage this week, impacting multiple companies and services at a time when AWS, relative to its hyperscaler competitors, is in a decline. I think there are five core reasons that its reputation will suffer from this outage.01:15 — The magnitude of the outage will greatly impact the company's reputation. There is an enormous range of business customers directly affected by this, reaching millions of people across multiple industries.01:50 — There's never a "good" time for events like this to occur, but this outage happened at the beginning of the holiday season. In the minds of many business leaders, this season is where they get a large percentage of their annual revenue through online services. With this disaster, can AWS be fully trusted?02:30 — AWS is the slowest-growing hyperscaler. In a vacuum, it reached nearly $31 billion in revenue with a 17.5% growth rate in Q2. However, AWS is growing at a much slower rate compared to its hyperscaler competitors — Microsoft, Google Cloud, and Oracle.03:37 — AWS also has the slowest-growing RPO or backlog. AWS reported its backlog up to 25% to almost $200 billion. Again, in the world of the vacuum, that's terrific. But relative to the others, this wasn't very good at all.04:38 — This outage came at a time when the other hyperscalers are distinguishing themselves with powerful AI strategies and services. AWS has had some AI properties but not at the scale of Microsoft with Copilot and ChatGPT, Google Cloud with the launch of Gemini Enterprise, and Oracle with its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I look at why a new Harvard-Microsoft licensing deal could be a defining moment for generative AI in medicineHighlights00:11 — Harvard University's Graduate Medical School has entered into a licensing agreement with Microsoft, enabling the company to access consumer health data. Now, Microsoft plans to utilize this wealth of health data to enhance Copilot with health-related content, which many view as part of the company's strategy to reduce its reliance on OpenAI infrastructure.01:06 — Healthcare was one of the first use cases identified for AI, and although Microsoft already has healthcare-focused AI tools, this partnership could provide the most accurate healthcare AI tool for general use cases. This situation represents a widening gap in reliance on OpenAI's large language models. Microsoft is expanding its reach with models developed by other providers.01:53 — But this also poses a threat to any dominance that OpenAI might already have in the healthcare space. ChatGPT is reported to provide sometimes inaccurate responses. While things have undoubtedly improved since ChatGPT burst onto the scene, the reliance on imperfect data can create significant risks. Consequently, Copilot could easily rise to the top spot in this domain. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I talk about recent announcements from Salesforce's Dreamforce event as well as the company's move into new territories.Highlights00:15 — At Salesforce's Dreamforce, Marc Benioff described the event as the biggest one ever. Dreamforce highlighted product announcements, particularly around the Agentforce AI platform, and expanded partnerships.00:30 — One of the most intereseting pieces of this was the new reality of agentic AI with Agentforce and the rise of Salesforce Data Cloud giving the company the opportunity to move beyond the traditional boundaries of CRM into other industries, including supply chain. It's very clear that Salesforce is looking to expand its territory.01:21 — In his keynote, Marc Benioff talked about big customers, including Dell. The customer company had been facing major challenges and turned to Salesforce to overcome, modernize, and incorporate more automation and intelligence to make better decisions. So, Dell has been working with Salesforce Supply Chain which came through the acquistion of Regrello. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I share Larry Ellison's bold vision of the AI market as the biggest in history — and how Oracle plans to lead it.Highlights00:14 — Well, this is my final report here from Oracle AI World in Las Vegas. At the Financial Analyst Meeting yesterday, Oracle unveiled some truly extraordinary numbers. It said that by fiscal year 2030, its revenue is going to grow from $57 billion, about a 4x increase over that period. The strategy it has for that is "AI Everywhere."01:24 — Here are the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) growth numbers: FY25 (just completed as of May 31): $10 billion. FY26: $15 billion. FY27: $34 billion. FY28: $77 billion. FY29: $129 billion. FY30: $166 billion. That growth, plus its applications business and its traditional business totals up to the $225 billion goal.03:39 — It's also got the database business. Powered by the AI revolution and demand for the AI database 26AI, it believes its database business could reach $20 billion by FY30. Larry Ellison even said it's possible that the multi-cloud portion could contribute almost that much during this time. It's a mix of technology, strategy, timing, hard work, and talent that's brought Oracle to this point.04:19 — Clay Magouyrk, one of the two new CEOs at Oracle, said Oracle now has 700 AI infrastructure customers and that it's growing extremely rapidly. “I believe the average deal size for those customers is $67 million,” he said. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

 AI opportunities: Despite the excitement around AI, Kaupp emphasizes the importance of understanding the technology before fully integrating it into workflows. He advocates for “literacy before agency" to understand the true impacts of what AI "can unlock."Transformation with AI: Kaupp describes the process of transforming a contract approval process using AI tools, highlighting the importance of identifying inefficiencies and becoming “client zero” for automation. He poses a question relating to assisting customers with AI adoption: “If I can't identify 'stupid' things that we're living with and transforming them, how am I going to get clients to do that?”Internal impacts: Microsoft's release of all Microsoft Learn content as an MCP server has led to an important internal transformation for ArcherPoint by Cherry Bekaert, enabling consultants and developers to use AI-powered search instead of traditional engines to quickly find relevant functionality and updates. This approach has also been applied to the organization's own codebase, allowing access to previous customer implementations.Big trends for Business Central: Across all Microsoft products, and in the case of Business Central, Kaupp shares that clients are excited about the potential of AI agents, but many are still experimenting without clear use cases. As a result, he notes, consultants often find themselves reversing client-built solutions to make them production-ready.ArcherPoint by Cherry Bekaert at Summit NA: Kaupp and the team from ArcherPoint by Cherry Bekaert will be at Community Summit NA 2025, and you can connect with the team at their Booth #1007. Kaupp will also co-lead a session on Wednesday, October 22, "Leading Through Change: Harnessing Communication and Resilience." He encourages attendees to stop by the booth and chat with him on all things AI. "I'm there to learn or to guide... to me, that is the benefit of the community. It's the benefit of why we're all there," he notes.Contributors: John Siefert, Greg KauppSearch keywords:  No transcript Can be scheduled for 9:00 AM ET on 10/17.  Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I dive into Oracle's bold AI-driven transformation and its stunning forecast to reach $225 billion in annual revenue by 2030, powered by explosive OCI and multi-cloud growth.Highlights00:12 — As we wrap things up here at Oracle AI world, we had the financial analyst meeting. Oracle's Principal Financial Officer Doug Kehring revealed that Oracle has raised its revenue projections again for the future, and says that they will hit the astonishing total of $225 billion in total revenue for fiscal year 30.00:52 — This was one of the most dynamic, interesting Oracle events I've ever been to. So when I talk about them being on fire, it's powered by their hyper growth OCI business. But it goes beyond that to what they're doing across the board and the AI Revolution really kicking in. It's why Larry Ellison pivoted the entire company to integrate AI in everything that they do.01:55 — The company's two new CEOs, Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia, along with Larry Ellison, repeated throughout the event: "There's no limitation on us about demand. We have more demand by far than we can handle. We are supply-constrained. And they revealed a lot of plans about all the things Oracle is doing to be able to overcome that capacity constraint."02:21 — So, it is not just OpenAI. They talked about how the RPO, which when they released their numbers a few weeks ago, that is for the quarter ending August 31, their RPO was $455 billion in just the six or seven weeks since that quarter ended, that RPO is now over $500 billion. So again, it was not just the big deal with OpenAI.04:25 — We'll have more coming up next week. I'll go into more detail about this. But part of what was so interesting at this financial analyst meeting today, Larry Ellison talked said: "What about in the areas of like plant genomes?" Larry Ellison wove together the ideas of how this new Oracle Database along with the Oracle AI Data Platform is going to make that possible. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

O of elevaite365, leads a company at the forefront of AI-driven test automation for Microsoft Dynamics 365. With decades of hands-on experience in ERP implementations, he and his team built elevaite365 to solve the challenges of constant change, complexity, and testing inefficiencies in enterprise software. In this episode, Magnus joins John Siefert to define a new category, AI-powered test automation, and explore how it's transforming implementation success, business agility, and the future of cloud ERP systems.Reimagining ERP with AIThe Big Themes:AI Test Automation Is a New Software Category: AI test automation not just a better version of traditional testing, it's an entirely new approach. With frequent updates, integrations, and customizations, ERP systems outgrow static methods. Platforms like elevaite365 define a future where testing is adaptive, autonomous, and business-aligned. This shift changes how organizations approach quality assurance, transforming it from a back-end task into a front-line innovation enabler.AI Testing Drives Tangible Business Outcomes: The shift to AI-powered QA isn't just a technical improvement—it delivers real business value. Perri and Siefert explore outcomes like faster go-lives, lower project costs, reduced QA workload, and quicker time-to-value. These results matter to senior executives, who face mounting pressure to drive both innovation and efficiency. Elevaite365's platform supports these goals by automating repetitive tasks, reducing errors, and scaling effortlessly. What used to be a cost center (testing) is now a growth lever.AI Test Automation Builds Ecosystem-Wide Agility: AI testing isn't just about IT: It transforms the entire enterprise ecosystem. When testing improves, so does everything connected to it: systems integration, customer experience, compliance, internal workflows, and delivery speed. The agility gained through elevaite365 extends beyond QA teams. It empowers cross-functional teams to move faster and take more calculated risks.The Big Quote: “What truly sets elevaite365 apart isn't just that it's faster or more robust… it's that we eliminate the typical roadblocks—there are no limits on users, scripts, or environments." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I share insights from Chris Pope on how automation can boost morale, reduce costs, and accelerate delivery.Highlights00:02 — Today's episode is brought to you by AutomatePro, a ServiceNow partner. They want to talk about a new product they have that is helping to change the software development lifecycle. AutomatePro Chief Product Officer Chris Pope recently spoke with my colleague Kieron Allen, and I wanted to highlight some of the key parts of that.00:43 — They said they try to automate some of this drudgery and the mundane work. That's in areas like testing, documentation. It's not stuff that talented developers want to be doing — though it's a central part of the process. So when AutomatePro steps in and says, “Hey, we can take care of that for you,” it allows those highly skilled developers to move on to more meaningful work.01:18 — The benefits of what AutomatePro does in working with the ServiceNow platform: they accelerate the process, they boost employee morale — which is so important today — and especially this ability to lower cost. It was a key point that Chris made a number of times in the conversation with Kieron: AutomatePro helps to augment humans, not replace them.02:10 — So, he said, "We meet people where they're already working." He said that could be in a native state, through a portal, or through any other part of the process. Ultimately, what that allows is — he said, “Wherever the developers are working, we're there — where the developer already is and is already working.”03:06 — This reflects the powerful ecosystem that ServiceNow has been intent on building for the last several years. So we see these Cloud Wars Top 10 companies, like ServiceNow, have an enormous range of capability. But, as each frequently says, “We can't do everything,” and we're counting on partners like AutomatePro to step in and be able to add significant value.03:34 — One: it lowers costs. Two: it accelerates software development. Three: it improves morale. And it does so while augmenting what humans do — rather than replacing humans. Very interesting.Check out the full interview between Kieron Allen and Chris Pope. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Kieron Allen speaks with Chris Pope, Chief Product Officer at AutomatePro, in an in-depth discussion that is part of a broader series of podcasts, articles, and reports on ServiceNow's evolving ecosystem. They explore how intelligent automation and agentic AI are reshaping DevOps and quality assurance. The conversation also highlights how AutomatePro's built-on approach enhances developer productivity, reduces risk, and ensures security, all within the ServiceNow environment.AutomatePro's AI EdgeThe Big ThemesAutomatePro's Core Mission: AutomatePro focuses on solving one of the most time-consuming parts of software delivery: testing and documentation. Pope explains that their goal isn't to replace humans but to augment their efforts through intelligent automation. By embedding deeply within the ServiceNow platform, AutomatePro allows developers and platform owners to automate repetitive tasks early in the development cycle, ensuring higher-quality releases and faster deployment.Human-AI Collaboration Wins: The myth of AI replacing people is outdated. Pope reframes the conversation: it's not about replacement, it's about enablement. The real winners will be those who know how to use AI effectively. Today's Copilots are context-aware, learning from human behavior and adapting to different personas — whether it's a developer, analyst, or HR owner. Prompt engineering is emerging as a vital skill, and the better the prompt, the better the AI-driven output.DevOps Innovation Without Compromise: AutomatePro and ServiceNow are reshaping DevOps by making speed and quality compatible. Historically, faster releases meant riskier ones. With AutomatePro's intelligent testing automation, that tradeoff no longer exists. Frequent, smaller releases — the “fixed forward” model — are now safer thanks to early automation, embedded security, and contextual AI. Pope argues that platform owners and developers are the new heroes in enterprise IT, and equipping them with Copilots, intelligent workflows, and instant feedback loops unlocks untapped value.The Big Quote: "You're not going to be replaced by AI per se, you're going to be replaced by someone that knows how to use AI effectively."More from ServiceNow and AutomatePro:Follow AutomatePro on LinkedIn or learn more about ServiceNow and intelligent automation. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Key TakeawaysOverview: Fisher gives an overview of his role as Chief Information Officer at BouMatic, all within the context of the dairy equipment industry that's evolving toward larger, consolidated operations. BouMatic is the "third largest dairy equipment manufacturer in the world," and he gives context on the difference in marketplaces.AI: The rapid rollout of copilots and the pace of AI innovation have created a constant need to catch up on functionality, licensing, and deployment strategies, explains Fisher, prompting teams to shift from intended roadmaps to more flexible frameworks. As Fisher describes, “We're in a bit of a catch-up game all the time... not just with AI in general, but even in its deployment.”Addressing deployment challenges: Deploying AI has revealed long-standing data challenges, which Fisher compares to uncovering a “junk drawer” of neglected information. To address this, the BouMatic team uses sandbox environments for testing and follows a "five-pillar approach." Two of these pillars focus on user upskilling and cultural change, highlighting successful deployment through use cases, structured rollout plans, and ongoing support to ensure ROI.AI experimentation: When exploring AI, sandbox environments allow teams to experiment safely and securely, learn from both successes and failures, and prepare for production with a user-focused, iterative approach, notes Fisher.Contributors: John Siefert, Michael Fisher  Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I report live from Oracle AI World, where speed and innovation are front and center.Highlights00:13 — Here at Oracle AI World in Las Vegas, you can see there's lots going on. It's almost like the new tagline for Oracle — AI changes everything. Oracle is one of the very few companies — maybe the only one — that goes end-to-end: from cloud infrastructure, AI infrastructure, AI inferencing, databases, applications, industry-specific solutions, analytics, and more.01:00 — Some of the big ways it's doing this include: the new AI Database 26. There's the new AI data platform it's launched. In OCI, it's launched the ZetaScale Cluster 10 for AI. There are AI-powered features now embedded in its Fusion Applications. They introduced many new features for Agent Studio and also the Agent Marketplace.02:00 — There's much more going on at this show. I've been to a lot of Oracle events, and I think this one is by far the most ambitious, the most sweeping, and really, in a way, the most innovative in terms of product launches. Larry Ellison is strongly behind the notion that AI changes everything. That's even reflected in the name change. For several years, it was CloudWorld — now it's AI World.02:58 — The customers featured here say speed is an advantage. First-mover possibilities. They know they've got to move on these things. They can't wait, because companies that get an early jump on AI are going to have a huge advantage. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, sponsored by CLOUDVICE, I explore how Oracle's new CEOs, Mike Sicilia and Clay Magouyrk, are steering the company deeper into the AI revolutionHighlights00:00 — Today's episode is brought to you by CloudVice, winner of the 2025 Oracle North America Technology and Cloud AI Innovation Partner Award. “We're honored to receive the 2025 Oracle North America Technology & Cloud AI Innovation Partner Award, a recognition that underscores CLOUDVICE's unwavering commitment to advancing enterprise AI on Oracle Cloud,” said Jaison Correya, CEO of CLOUDVICE. “This achievement reflects the breakthrough projects and real-world transformations we've delivered with Oracle — and at Oracle AI World 2025, we took that vision even further by unveiling CORX, our next-generation platform where AI thinks, Cloud scales, Blockchain verifies, and Robotics acts. It represents the next leap in intelligent automation and the future of real-world autonomy."00:25 — So, we're beginning to hear the strategies Oracle's two new CEOs are taking. That's Mike Sicilia and Clay Magouyrk. It's clear they think that Oracle's supremacy in data and infrastructure is going to make them successful in AI — to the point that their main focus is: how do we drive great customer outcomes using AI services?01:20 — And Oracle's plan, which they've been talking about a little bit and will unveil this week in much more detail, is that while LLMs currently work with public internet data, they're going to make available — very securely, privately, and with all requisite compliance — enterprise data that also can be accessed by those LLMs.02:21 — Clay Magouyrk talked a bit about the work Oracle has done to reach the point where its infrastructure is seen as superior. Magouyrk said that inside Oracle, the idea came up — “What if we shrunk the cloud down to a very tiny size? Could we get better performance, and could we give more deployment options to customers?” — it turned out that was exactly the case.03:28 — This week at Oracle AI World, they're going to introduce a new cloud bundle that has three racks — from 40 to three. Also, the stunning multicloud agreements that Oracle has reached with other hyperscalers — Microsoft, Google Cloud, and AWS — mean that those three competitors of Oracle sell the Oracle Database to their customers through their own clouds.04:21 — Because for all the things Oracle has done in its first 48 or 49 years, the next five years, triggered by all these changes we've just described, are going to be very different. Sicilia said, “One of the things you can count on as we move forward into those next five years is that we are currently, at Oracle, taking a very different approach.” Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this special Cloud Wars interview, Oracle Executive Vice President for Applications Development Steve Miranda joins Bob Evans to discuss how Oracle's transformation from CloudWorld to AI World signals a seismic leap in enterprise technology. Miranda shares how Oracle has delivered more than 600 agents, launched the Agent Studio and Marketplace, and unified AI capabilities across its Fusion Applications and industry verticals. The result: a powerful convergence of data, intelligence, and automation driving the next wave of business transformation.AI-driven EnterpriseThe Big Themes:Oracle's Next Seismic Shift: Oracle's renaming of CloudWorld to AI World isn't a branding exercise, it's a declaration. Just as “OpenWorld” and “CloudWorld” reflected past technology revolutions, “AI World” marks Oracle's belief that AI represents a shift of even greater magnitude. Miranda describes this era as one where automation and intelligence redefine enterprise operations. Oracle's applications division is now delivering hundreds of AI-driven agents and features at unprecedented speed.Agents Everywhere: In just two years, Oracle has gone from announcing 50 generative AI features to delivering over 600 agents across its Fusion and vertical applications. These agents automate tasks, surface insights, and optimize processes, often eliminating manual decision-making entirely. Oracle's rapid release cadence (quarterly updates backed by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)) means customers constantly inherit new capabilities without disruption.OCI, the Engine: Oracle's leadership in hosting and training large language models within Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) gives its applications a built-in edge. Customers automatically benefit from the latest AI tools, performance improvements, and model upgrades without manual migration. OCI's second-generation architecture, featuring Exadata, cloud-native identity, and networking, delivers both reliability and continuous innovation.The Big Quote: “For many of our customers, it's great timing to have AI delivery, because they've gone live. They've gone through multiple phases. They're on the cloud. They're used to getting quarterly updates. Now, this is a big thing, but they're used to that people part of the transformation." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Company background: "HSO is the second largest Microsoft partner in the globe," Holwagner reports. It focuses on industries including professional services, manufacturing, finance, and the public sector. HSO continues to grow not only with its traditional ERP services but also around cloud and AI services. "The mission here is really to improve our clients' business performance with the results of Microsoft solutions."AI's market impact: "It's definitely a transformation happening faster than anything I've seen before," Holwagner says. While there's already been significant advancements with AI, it's still only the beginning of what has yet to be built out and understood. He breaks down AI across four different roles:At the top level, boards and owners are pushing for areas of efficiency to stay competitive, reimagining the business model using AI.The next level is the CTO or an IT manager; they have efficiency demands, but they're also primarily thinking about how to contain information and data in a security model.The business leaders or department heads are being tasked to think about efficiency using AI but they're mostly busy keeping their engine going. They need tools that show them where to get ROI.The last level is HR, which might be considering where AI is filling in for various jobs.Perspectives for applying AI: HSO looks from a responsibility perspective in three different areas. First, it aims to educate customers on what's possible while also focusing on what's doable. Second is protection, which involves having control over your domain information. The third area is thinking about use cases for specific AI components.Organizational transformation: With the introduction of AI, there's a transformation happening across organizations in a variety of industries. AI has been thought of as a technical element when it needs to be included in functional conversation, especially for consulting businesses, Holwagner notes. Leaders and managers must understand the concepts of weaving in AI to give it value. AI transformation will likely lead to a "healthy reduction in certain areas" in the workforce, but "the transformation of what people are going to do in the organization is going to change." It will be more business logic transformation consulting and fewer hands-on the keyboard-related tasks, Holwagner shares.Summit NA: HSO will be attending Community Summit North America. You can connect with HSO at booth #209. The HSO team will be presenting several sessions throughout the event as well, including:The Latest D365 AI Agents and Features to Automate Your Supply Chain on Monday, October 20thDelivering a Scalable, Secure Data & AI Platform on Monday, October 20th3 Hidden Risks of AI in the Enterprise—and How to Manage Them Responsibly on Tuesday, October 21stSolving Customer Master Data Challenges for a 360° View in Dynamics 365 CE (CRM) and F/SCM (FO) on Wednesday, October 22nd Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this episode of the Cloud Wars Minute, sponsored by CLOUDVICE, I review the moves of Larry Ellison and Oracle over the past few years in anticipation of what's to come at Oracle AI World 2025.Highlights00:15 — CLOUDVICE is the winner of the 2025 Oracle North America Technology & Cloud AI Innovation Partner Award. “We're honored to receive the 2025 Oracle North America Technology & Cloud AI Innovation Partner Award, a recognition that underscores CLOUDVICE's unwavering commitment to advancing enterprise AI on Oracle Cloud,” said Jaison Correya, CEO of CLOUDVICE. “This achievement reflects the breakthrough projects and real-world transformations we've delivered with Oracle — and at Oracle AI World 2025, we took that vision even further by unveiling CORX, our next-generation platform where AI thinks, Cloud scales, Blockchain verifies, and Robotics acts. It represents the next leap in intelligent automation and the future of real-world autonomy.” Learn more about CLOUDVICE at Oracle AI World 2025 here: CLOUDVICE to Showcase its AI Orchestration and Oracle Cloud Expertise at Oracle AI World 2025.00:26 — This week, at AI World, it will be interesting to see what Oracle and Larry Ellison cook up. The company has two new CEOs, Mike Sicilia and Clay Magouyrk, as Safra Catz has moved over to the role of Executive Vice Chairman. It has lots of new technology, go-to-market plans, partnerships, approaches, strengths, and capabilities.01:00 — Ellison is now in his 49th year of leading Oracle and 82nd year on Earth — and he has been remarkable. His rate of innovation and constructive disruption has only increased this year. And that's what leads me to think that this year, there could be something pretty interesting brewing.01:32 — Over the past couple of years, he has taken on hyperscalers and cloud infrastructure against three of the biggest, most powerful, wealthiest, and most influential companies: Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. And Oracle has been extremely successful at it. He also got these competitors to agree to sell the Oracle database on their clouds to their customers.02:53 — Ellison even wooed OpenAI into a massive, strategic partnership that includes a $300 billion deal to supply infrastructure and AI inference and training. I believe this is the largest business deal ever struck. There might be others, please let me know. But that's what I think is up at the top.03:50 — Reflecting on the arc of what Ellison has done over the last few years, shaking up Oracle and the industry, it makes one think about what he might do at AI World this year. I suggest expecting the unexpected, as he's not one to let things sit still with the rapidly advancing AI Revolution. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Brad Haupt, Vice President of Supply Chain at Monument Health, joins Bob Evans at Workday Rising to discuss how the health system is modernizing operations through Workday's unified platform. He shares how consolidating 17 systems into Workday created a single source of truth for finance, HR, and supply chain data. By pairing data intelligence with a culture of innovation, Monument Health is transforming supply chain management from a behind-the-scenes function into a strategic driver of better healthcare experiences.AI and the New Healthcare Supply ChainThe Big Themes:Monument Health's Unique Challenges and Resilience: Located in remote western South Dakota, Monument Health faces the dual challenges of geographic isolation and sudden population surges during events like the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Haupt described how this environment demands both meticulous planning and quick adaptability. The annual influx of visitors, tripling the local population, acts as a stress test for supply chain agility. These experiences have honed the team's crisis management skills.Linking Supply Chain Excellence to Patient Outcomes: Perhaps the most profound shift at Monument Health is redefining supply chain success through the “value equation”: patient, physician, and caregiver experiences and outcomes divided by cost. Haupt rejects the traditional view of supply chain as purely cost-focused. Sometimes the higher-cost item delivers greater patient value, improving safety or recovery time. By connecting financial, supply, and clinical data, Workday allows leaders to quantify this relationship.AI and Automation Redefining Contract Management: Haupt discussed Workday's integration of Evisort for contract lifecycle management as a game changer. Currently, supply contracts can take eight to twenty-four hours of total work spread over weeks. With AI-assisted redlining and learning-based automation, the process could be reduced to seconds. The system will eventually learn from user edits, producing increasingly personalized and accurate suggestions. Haupt sees this as freeing supply chain professionals from time-consuming legal reviews to focus on high-value work.The Big Quote: “I think we're monitoring over 2,000 items that are back-ordered or shipping delays coming from overseas, or manufactured delays. So, we have to constantly communicate with the physician so they don't go into a procedure and think, I've got it all planned out in my brain, and then they say, 'Hand me a 12 French ...,' and they don't have one, and they've got to change their whole treatment plan. So, that communication is really key. Workday has helped us really automate some of that."More from Brad Haupt and Workday:Connect with Brad on LinkedIn or learn more about Workday and healthcare. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I look at how Google Cloud is helping businesses create their futures — not just optimize their past — through Gemini Enterprise.Highlights00:14 — Google Cloud really stepped out here with the launch of Gemini Enterprise, and I would like to share with you eight reasons why I feel that the launch of Gemini Enterprise now makes Google Cloud the number one player in the world for AI for business. So first, I think the end-to-end capabilities that are resident within the Gemini AI platform are essential for customers01:16 — It's a little hard to know where to start and really hard to figure out: How do I put together the right mix of piece solutions from lots of different vendors? Now, Gemini Enterprise here offers the full set of end-to-end capabilities Two: While Gemini Enterprise does offer all the pieces, it also gives customers complete choice to use third-party solutions.02:34 — Flexible pricing: There's Google Enterprise, which is $30 per user per month. And then there's Google Business, that's $21 per user per month. It's got massive data access, right? So the need to ensure that these tools have access to the right data in a secure and fully integrated fashion is key. It's got that. The whole notion of governance and security.03:37 — The ecosystem that's been built out, that's been a huge part of Google Cloud's success. And it ties in with the openness for customers, giving lots and lots of different choices here — of who, of what Gemini Enterprise works with. And then a little bit of a not-so-secret secret here: the Delta team within Google Cloud Consulting and Professional Services.04:24 — What the most successful tech companies today are doing is helping companies create their futures, not just perfect what they've done in the past. And this is a long-standing thought here that Kurian has made. I've talked about this a number of times, and it goes back to six years ago when he took over as CEO of Google Cloud. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I look at why Microsoft thinks avatars will boost AI voice adoption.Highlights00:11 — Microsoft has introduced an experimental Portraits feature in Copilot Labs in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada. The feature offers Copilot users a choice of 40 cartoon-esque human avatars. Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman said "You can now talk to a Copilot portrait in real time . . ."01:02 — This feature not only adds a personal touch to conversations but also makes them more engaging and ultimately relatable. Now, this is an important step for Copilot as Microsoft continues to promote voice interactions. While using Copilot features through text prompts has become increasingly popular, voice control remains a secondary player in the market.01:33 — However, the opportunities for more widespread voice usage are immense for Microsoft. The more users ask quick and simple questions, the more the technology will be utilized, leading to increased adoption. And the fact that you can have these interactions through voice as opposed to text will definitely speed up this adoption process. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Evan Goldberg, Founder and Executive Vice President at Oracle NetSuite, sits down with Bob Evans for a conversation about the company's next chapter: NetSuite Next. He describes how AI will make business management simpler and more intuitive, allowing users to automate tasks, ask natural-language questions, and customize their systems with ease. Goldberg shares his vision of NetSuite evolving from a cloud pioneer into an AI-first platform built to power the next generation of enterprise growth.Where ERP Thinks BackThe Big Themes:NetSuite Next as a Hands-On AI Partner: NetSuite Next isn't just layering AI on top of old systems, it's embedding intelligence directly into the platform. Instead of hunting through menus, users can say, “Analyze sales for the past six months,” and get an instant, interactive response. The idea is to move from manual navigation to guided collaboration. This shift redefines usability for ERP.Customization and Agentic Flexibility: NetSuite Next extends Oracle's agentic AI vision by letting businesses build custom AI agents that automate unique internal workflows. Goldberg highlights three pillars of NetSuite: the suite's breadth, its deep industry specialization, and its adaptability to each business's unique needs. The AI doesn't erase distinct business models; it amplifies them.Strength in Oracle's Ecosystem: As part of Oracle, NetSuite now sits atop one of the world's most advanced technology stacks. Goldberg credits Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), the unified data model, and the Redwood design system as key differentiators against rivals. He emphasizes collaboration with Oracle Fusion, OCI, and the database teams as a unique advantage.The Big Quote: “You don't have to dig through lots of menus and understand all of the analytics capabilities… it will be able to quickly bring up an analysis for you, and then you can converse in natural language to hone in on the things that you think are most important."More from Evan Goldberg:Connect with Evan on LinkedIn or learn more about Oracle NetSuite and AI. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore how SAP is finally delivering on its intelligent enterprise vision through AI, data, and role-based agents.Highlights00:14 — I've spent the last couple of days at SAP Connect, and I think one of the key things that came out of was this: SAP can now legitimately be called a data company. But the key now is that it's fusing data (data it's gathered across its applications for half a century, some of the richest enterprise data stores in the world) with AI.01:28 — At the heart is its Business Data Cloud. Executive Board Member and Head of Products and Engineering, Muhammad Alam, said the Business Data Cloud is one of the fastest-growing products SAP has had, at least in recent years. He also noted that a huge percentage of SAP customers are already using the Data Cloud, pulling together applications, agents, and assistants.02:14 — SAP's not trying to engage in an “arms race” over who has more agents. Instead, it wants to make it incredibly easy for customers to use SAP's agents—or build their own. As the assistant gets to know a user's decision-making style, it will begin to take more initiative. SAP also made it clear that its a strong future for applications—but only if they're supercharged by agents.03:28 — We've heard a lot, both from SAP and other companies about the intelligent enterprise. But what SAP did at this Connect event was very specifically show that this isn't just deep tech. It's about business value—for finance, ERP, HR, procurement, supply chain, and more.04:17 — Many of SAP's acquisitions from 10–12 years ago are finally harmonized. That's why I believe the combined power of SAP's data, applications, and AI is significant—but at the heart of it is the Business Data Cloud. As we move deeper into the AI revolution, it's important to recognize SAP can now say: “Yes, we are a data company. And we are also an applications and AI company.” Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I discuss Microsoft's smart strategy to integrate agentic AI into everyday consumer platforms starting with gaming.Highlights00:12 — Microsoft is rolling out its Gaming Copilot to Windows PCs and Xbox on mobile, following a previous soft launch to Xbox Insiders. Gaming Copilot provides recommendations in-game help, and further insights.00:50 — Particularly interesting is the voice mode. This enables users to ask questions to Copilot using natural language. For example, a gamer might want to inquire about an in-game strategy or request a summary of what's happening on the screen — in real time. Once again, Microsoft is demonstrating its ability to normalize agentic AI by bringing Copilot to wider audiences.01:25 — As the world's largest consumer software provider, Microsoft is a household name. In my opinion, agentic AI is not yet as widely recognized. Introducing Copilot as a branded Gaming Copilot in the gaming space — and delivering it directly to mobile — is a smart strategy by Microsoft. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I reflect on Nadella's legacy and the parallels to other tech icons like Larry Ellison and Bill Gates.Highlights00:13 — Well, Microsoft seems to be setting out to ensure that it is creating the new rules for its own future. Its CEO, Satya Nadella, has picked a successor, and this is going to allow Nadella to focus the vast majority of his time on product development, product engineering, architecture, advanced technology, and more. So, big changes are coming at Microsoft.01:23 — Nadella has spent the last 12 years as CEO, during which time Microsoft has achieved just phenomenal results. It now has a market cap approaching $4 trillion, rivaling NVIDIA. Nadella has totally remade the company. It was a bit of a mess when he took over in 2014. Now, one blemish I would say on Nadella's record is the issue of security.02:35 — Nadella has named Judson Althoff, the head of sales for Microsoft for the last nine years, overseeing customers and partners, as CEO of the commercial business. His new role will involve almost every part of the organization, except product development and engineering. Marketing and operations report to Althoff. Operations report to Althoff.03:02 — What Nadella wants Althoff to do is use this new role to get all parts of the company working in concert — very smoothly and fluidly. They said Microsoft's customers are moving faster than ever before, and this is going to require Microsoft itself to move faster than it ever has.03:55 — Very few people could ever understand what it's like to be in that role at a company of that size and that influence and say “You know, it's time for a new adventure for me and a new way of operating for the company.” Bill Gates, in 2000, he said, “I just want to be Chairman, and I'll be Chief Software Architect.” Hats off to Satya Nadella. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explain how Palantir's unique model and alignment with AI trends earned it a spot in the Top 10.Highlights00:14 — Well, one company that has hammered its way into the Cloud Wars Top 10 is Palantir. With regret, I have to say farewell to Snowflake. So, I've noted here at the top a couple of numbers: 48% revenue growth for Palantir in its recent fiscal Q2. That pushed its revenue to just over $1 billion, which gives them a $4 billion annualized run rate.01:39 — But I think the reason that's so high is there's an alignment between the demands that businesses have right now—to get their data in order, get their processes in order, their workflows, put things together seamlessly, to be able to take full advantage of what they're doing with AI. That matches up with the unique software capabilities, architecture, and business model Palantir has.02:26 — Palantir takes those desired business outcomes and engineer backwards, using its very powerful but flexible software to determine the right approach. I've got a detailed interview with Chad Walquist, an executive at Palantir. Chad said is that they've got about 100 salespeople. He said, “You know, maybe, if we really do a rigorous count, maybe it's 150, but it's not more than that.”03:17 — Palantir defies the notion of being plugged into any of the old-fashioned and somewhat tired industry analyst boxes. I think more of the big software companies are moving in that direction — doing what customers want and need, rather than trying to fit into some narrowly defined boxes that industry analysts have cooked up.04:42 — Chad's title at Palantir is Architect. He's got an illustrious background as an enterprise architect, but I think, as you'll see in this video, he's also the person at Palantir who handles a lot of product marketing and marketing overall, a lot of their strategy, and so forth. It's a very different sort of company, and Chad does a fantastic job of describing what those differences are. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Bonnie Tinder is the founder and CEO of Raven Intelligence, an independent B2B peer review site that amplifies the voice of the customer. She focuses on software customers, consulting partners, and software vendors and helps identify the best partners for their needs. In this episode, Tinder joins Bob Evans to break down what's next for Oracle and SAP, exploring AI-native applications, agent ecosystems, and data openness, while offering sharp, practical insights into how enterprises can extract real value from AI innovation.Episode 55 | Oracle, SAP, and the AI ShiftThe Big Themes:Oracle's Upcoming AI Agent Marketplace: One of Oracle's most anticipated announcements is the launch of an AI Agent Marketplace. This platform will act like an app store for AI-powered agents, opening new monetization paths for partners and developers. It will enable third-party vendors to sell industry-specific agents and tools, further enriching Oracle's AI ecosystem. This move reflects a broader strategy to position Oracle not just as a cloud provider but as a facilitator of innovation across its partner network.SAP's Bold Vision: SAP is preparing to reveal its most radical AI shift yet—positioning AI as the primary user interface across its suite. Powered by Joule, SAP's AI assistant, users will be able to interact with software through natural language instead of traditional menus or clicks. Tasks like requesting time off or checking budgets will be handled conversationally. This paradigm shift moves SAP from system-of-record software to intelligent systems-of-action.AI Recruitment Tools Rise: Both Oracle and SAP are doubling down on AI-enhanced recruitment tools. SAP's acquisition of SmartRecruiters and Oracle's industry bundles for talent management signal a strong push into AI-driven hiring. AI is being used to streamline candidate engagement, improve matching, and personalize outreach. While some fear AI may displace roles, enterprise vendors are positioning it as a tool to find the right people faster.The Big Quote: ““The hardest part of any of these transformations is the change management piece, and if AI can help make that change easier, faster and more comfortable for all the stakeholders—that's the name of the game." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I look at what the launch of Microsoft Marketplace means for frontier firms and innovation at scale.Highlights00:09 — Microsoft has announced that it's combining the separate marketplaces for AI business tools into a single offering called Microsoft Marketplace. The aim is to deliver these solutions as an extension of Microsoft Cloud to support what Microsoft describes as "frontier firms" — firms that blend human ambition with AI-powered technology.00:37 — Microsoft Marketplace combines Azure Marketplace and Microsoft AppSource, enabling users to quickly and easily test, purchase, and deploy cloud solutions, AI applications, and crucially, agents. Now currently available in the U.S., the new marketplace is expected to launch for global audiences soon.01:01 — By combining the offerings from Azure Marketplace — which focuses on cloud-related infrastructure platforms and SaaS — with Microsoft AppSource — its marketplace for business applications, productivity tools, and applications built on the Microsoft technology stack — enterprises now have access to a comprehensive range of tools.01:24 — This is just the latest in a series of moves by Microsoft to simplify AI adoption and implementation for its enterprise users. Similar to its decision to make Copilot Studio a two-tier service, Microsoft isn't reinventing the wheel. Instead, it continues to provide services tailored to AI innovation while using familiar tools for users. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I examine how Christian Klein's stance could shift the entire European tech economy away from imitation toward AI-driven transformationHighlights00:20 — A few months ago a lot of countries within Europe were saying, “What we need to do is build hyperscalers to match the ones based in the U.S.” Now, SAP CEO Christian Klein stood up and said, “That's nuts. Let's not do that. There's a very different way to go on this.” And over the past few weeks, we've seen some significant investments coming from SAP.01:12 — The investments are great, and all those ideals about wanting to have data privacy, data security, all valid in the AI Revolution. What really stood out here, more than these investments, was: think about what might have happened had the European Union spent trillions of dollars to keep up with the hyperscalers.02:10 — SAP has a whole new plan for the sovereign cloud. Its Executive Board Member Thomas Saueressig has been involved in this. He said, “We want to have a sovereign cloud that gives the greatest safeguards and compliance to customers, and also gives them a great deal of choice. We want to keep this open for lots of partners to work with us.” But that's the direction it's taking. 03:13 — So, we've got SAP pledging to invest, over the next few years, $22 billion in its sovereign cloud. Just the other day, I noted something about how Oracle, Microsoft, and OpenAI—now it's about a trillion dollars that they're pumping into these AI data centers. That's really not the place for the European economy to go. And I give Christian Klein credit:.04:14 —SAP partner AWS has now pledged about $8.5 billion for the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. I also thought it was interesting that SAP Chief Technology Officer Philipp Herzig came said, “We've got cloud sovereignty, we've got data sovereignty—now we need to be sure that SAP is a leader in AI sovereignty.”05:00 — So, fascinating time here on the technology front. I think SAP is going to continue to do very well with its sovereign cloud efforts. But I think even more than that, its CEO, Christian Klein, really stood out. He did a great service by getting them off of this idea of imitating what's already been done. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore Microsoft's new Facilitator Agent in Teams and how it's quietly revolutionizing meeting collaboration through agentic AI.Highlights00:07 — Microsoft has added a Facilitator Agent to Teams. This new agent can create agendas, take notes, help keep discussions on track, create follow-ups, and even pressure-test discussion points. There's a difference between this agent and other note-taking and summarization tools already available. The Facilitator Agent participates in the discussion, as a silent partner.00:41 — It can alert users when time is running out and ensure that participants don't stray too far from the core discussion points. It can even answer open-ended questions during a chat.Now, as someone who has a lot of online meetings, I can really see the benefits here — not only from a time management and efficiency perspective, but also from a collaborative standpoint. 01:22 — It's important to highlight innovations like these that, at first glance, don't seem particularly new or exciting — especially when we think we already have the capabilities that they are presenting at our fingertips. Instead, this demonstrates the incremental progress happening in the agentic AI space. It's encouraging to see refinement in core use cases. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore how Microsoft and Oracle are battling for AI data center supremacy.Highlights00:15 — I want to talk about a couple of high-disruption companies — actually, three: Microsoft, Oracle, and OpenAI. And I think right now, it's safe to say that those three companies, together with SoftBank, are pursuing investments upwards of a trillion dollars in what they're calling AI data centers. I think this is a great thing for them to do.01:19 — Microsoft has become more vocal about its role and leadership in these areas. Oracle, OpenAI, and SoftBank are jointly building what is called Stargate, sort of the infrastructure brand for OpenAI. Now, Microsoft has introduced its own brand for its AI data centers, Fairwater. It's in the final stages of building what it is calling the world's most powerful AI data center.02:18 — And I have no doubt that fairly soon, we're going to hear from Google Cloud about some of its plans. I am less sanguine, in some ways, about what Amazon and AWS might do. I know that runs contrary to what a lot of people like to say — that AWS is still the king of the cloud. I haven't — you know, I just haven't taken that seriously in the last two or three years.03:14 — So, Microsoft is doing very well with AI. Now, OpenAI, led by Sam Altman — they're still doing some work with Microsoft on the cloud and AI. But it's putting — starting in a year or two — a $300 billion investment with Oracle to build a chain of just absolutely staggeringly big, powerful data centers under the Stargate name.04:09 — It'll work with Oracle very closely on that. They're also — in concert in some places and separately in others — pursuing some new data center deals with SoftBank. So OpenAI is working with Microsoft, working with Oracle, working with SoftBank — all in different ways. Oracle also has its own data center network for its rapidly growing cloud and AI business.05:01 — So lots of talk right now, lots of action, lots of investment going into this. But ultimately, the beneficiaries of all this incredible — what I think is unprecedented — competition, will be businesses and regular individuals like you and me. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I look at how Oracle's new co-CEOs plan to blend AI, OCI, and industry expertise into a powerful growth equation.Highlights00:13 — Big things happening at Oracle. Safra Catz has stepped over and up to the role of Executive Vice Chairman, opening the door for two new CEOs at Oracle: Clay Magouyrk, the leader of their Oracle Cloud Infrastructure business, and Mike Sicilia, the leader of their industries business. I thought it was fascinating.01:00 — Mike Sicilia, co-CEO, said in this discussion with financial analysts that AI enables new opportunities across industries, not just within an industry. With AI and better sets of data and being able to use OCI's computational power of OCI, new operating models and relationships can be created across industries like banking and healthcare and many other combinations.02:25 — And so he said the foundation on the technology side — which Clay Magouyrk has been leading so much — is to enable all the leading large language models to work with enterprise-level data in a highly private and secure, fully compliant way. That's why the Oracle Database 23AI was specifically designed for that.03:22 — Now I think this is one of those cases where we see companies pushing a vision. In this AI revolution, it's important for that vision not just to be a slightly better version of what we've done in the past, but something completely different. I think big vision, big imagination, and big risk-taking are called for here.04:34 — Then, closing out the call, we had comments from Magouyrk and Sicilia, and in a longer article today on Cloud Wars, I go into some detail on that. I allow Sicilia to explain with a lot more color how these cross-industry ecosystems will work, and Magouyrk also offers some perspective on that. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I dive into how the U.S. House of Representatives is reversing its ban on Microsoft Copilot, signaling a major shift in government AI adoption and a strong endorsement for Microsoft's AI capabilities.Highlights00:07 — Last year, staffers at the U.S. House of Representatives were prohibited from using Microsoft Copilot with official documents. This was due to concerns about House data security. Now that decision has been overturned. Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives, said that technology could unlock extraordinary savings for the government, "if we do it right."01:10 — This news has two key takeaways. First, as Speaker Johnson stated, the U.S. government wants to win the AI race. To achieve this, it must lead by example. This approach not only helps to instill public confidence in the technology, but also demonstrates direct support for the companies it hopes will drive U.S. dominance in AI.01:39 — Secondly, this serves as an excellent advertisement for Microsoft — in particular, for Microsoft Copilot. With the House of Representatives selecting Microsoft Copilot as the first widely implemented AI technology to be rolled out to staffers — I say first because more initiatives are in the pipeline — they couldn't provide a more authoritative endorsement.  Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I analyze Larry Ellison's decision to appoint Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia as the company's new co‑CEOs.Highlights00:21 — Oracle's entering a new era now with two new co-CEOs being named to replace Safra Catz. On Monday, Oracle announced that Safra Catz, is going to be stepping out of the CEO role and becoming executive vice chairman. She clarified in a follow-up call that she's still an Oracle employee.01:10 — She'll still be there, eager to work with the two new CEOs along with Larry Ellison, as they've done, but that it's time for her, she said, to hand over the reins of CEO. Both Catz and Ellison appear to be extremely confident and bullish on the capabilities of the two new CEOs, Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia. Why these two? Why now?02:15 — Magouyrk has been the leader of OCI, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. He's been the one behind a lot of the plans that has made OCI one of the fastest-growing businesses the tech industry has ever seen. The other executive, Mike Sicilia, came in as part of Oracle's industry solutions unit through the Primavera acquisition, focused on project management.03:07 — Sicilia has gotten deeply into the business models of various industries: the way they use technologies, the way they want to use technologies, and how AI can be a true game-changer for their revenue models. They've been picked because Ellison believes that they can pull off his ultimate vision: hardware and software engineered together to drive incredible performance.04:10 — They become indistinguishable, so their performance gets much greater, and that is going to be so important here in the AI Revolution. Also, Oracle wants to build this notion of fully integrated, end-to-end industry suites — not just, you know, complementary suites for HR or finance or ERP, but rather industry-specific solutions.04:46 — Why is the co-CEO model appropriate here? I have not been a fan for a long time of the co-CEO model, but here's why I think it makes sense. Somebody had to come in and replace the legendary Safra Catz. That's huge shoes to fill. I think it's good for the two of them, Sicilia and Magouyrk, to know that neither of them is going to be expected to be a one-for-one replacement for Safra Catz.05:24 — Larry Ellison, as always, has set a wildly ambitious technology agenda for the company. So, in addition to running the technology parts of their business, they're going to have to handle all the other things that a CEO has to handle — from finances and Wall Street investors to more. They've also got to fill what is rapidly approaching a half-trillion-dollar pipeline.06:01 — I think Larry Ellison said in the press release announcing this, “I look forward to spending the coming years working side by side with Magouyrk and Sicilia.” Ellison is signaling he's not going anywhere. And Catz said again, she's not disappearing. We'll be talking lots more about this and related issues in the weeks to come, leading up to Oracle AI World, October 13. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I break down Microsoft's historic $30 billion investment in UK AI infrastructure — and what it really means for the balance of power between global tech giants and national innovation.Highlights00:05 — Microsoft has announced plans to invest $30 billion in AI infrastructure and ongoing operations in the UK. The investment includes $15 billion for capital expenditure to expand Microsoft's data center footprint in the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Microsoft's landmark investment is a powerful vote of confidence in UK leadership in AI and cutting-edge technology.01:07 — This announcement was made during Donald Trump's second state visit to the UK. Accompanying him during this journey were Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The U.S. tech industry holds significant bargaining power. A collaboration like this is incredibly important for a country like the UK.01:35 — However, I'm also reminded of comments made by Siemens CEO Roland Busch and SAP CEO Christian Klein, who urged the EU to reconsider its AI legislation, arguing that current laws were causing Europe to fall behind. There's a risk that countries like the UK, despite financially benefiting from AI investment, will ultimately serve as a conduit for U.S companies. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore how the long-dismissed "legacy" giant Oracle continues to defy the odds and outperform expectations — particularly in the cloud database space.Highlights00:14 — It's interesting what a little bit of time reveals to us. I was looking over Oracle's numbers last week. It made me think back not too long ago, 10–12 years, we heard about all the Oracle Database killers, these startups with different companies that were going to knock Oracle off. So that whole fantasy fizzled.01:42 — There were some wild fantasies that some high-level executives were willing to attach their names to publicly. So here's a good one: The Oracle killer, was supposedly a new project by AWS — a database service 10 years ago, a database migration service brought out by AWS. It had been out for one week, and Business Insider called it the Oracle killer.02:26 — The former MongoDB CEO, in multiple articles, prophesied Oracle's doom. He said they'd lost the heart and soul of the developers, that they were legacy, that they couldn't keep up. I wonder what this guy's doing now — see if he's got his storyline a little bit more tightly fastened to what reality is doing.03:02 — We see that Oracle's cloud database services for Q1, which ended August 31, were up 32% to almost $700 million — so getting close to a $3 billion annualized run rate. And its multi-cloud business — where they've got the Oracle Database that wasn't killed, now being sold by Microsoft, AWS, and Google Cloud — that revenue was up over 1,500%.05:10 — I love these startup tech companies — they're creating lots of new value. It's when one, two, three, or four of those startups start chirping about how they're going to rule the world soon, and they're going to be the “so-and-so killers.” That, to me, is a good sign that you should look elsewhere to give your business. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore Workday's bold entry into the ERP space and share insights from my interview with Gerrit Kazmaier on how AI and data are reshaping enterprise software.Highlights00:24 — Last week, 30,000 people were at Workday's big Rising event in San Francisco. I had a chance to sit down with Product and Technology President Gerrit Kazmaier to talk about his views on how the Workday approach to ERP is going to be different from what we see from other players.01:08 — Kazmaier brings enterprise applications, data, data cloud, hyperscale — all those different backgrounds, expertise, and experiences — to Workday. And now he's taken a very aggressive agenda in these first six or seven months, leading up to this notion of ERP. Workday moved into the ERP space with a lot of new introductions, agents, and more at last week's Rising event.01:48 —And a couple of things that Kazmaier talks about: Kazmaier believes the ERP concept is right — giving business leaders a chance to see what's going on inside their companies from multiple perspectives with fully integrated applications. But he feels that the tools have been outdated, too difficult, too slow, too fragmented.02:08 —So Workday, although for its first 20 years had avoided getting into ERP, now feels that the time is right to give huge value to customers. Also, for the Data Cloud, it's now got partnerships to enhance the way it's able to give customers better use and value from the data they have. These include partnerships with Databricks, Snowflake, Microsoft, and Salesforce.02:54 —So that full interview with Gerrit Kazmaier, President of Products and Technology at Workday, is coming up here. It's got not just him in a new role, but also Rob Enslin, over the last several months, as Chief Commercial President and Chief Commercial Officer, and a new Chief Technology Officer, Peter Bayless, who came to Workday from Google Cloud. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In this episode, Bob Evans chats with Gerrit Kazmaier, President, Products and Technology, Workday. They explore how Workday is evolving into a platform company, the role of AI agents in reshaping enterprise workflows, and why trust, accuracy, and extensibility are key to future-ready business solutions. Kazmaier also discusses Workday's approach to ecosystem innovation and composable ERP.Workday's AI FutureThe Big Themes:AI at the Core: Workday is reshaping how enterprises operate by embedding AI into the core of their business processes. This isn't about slapping AI onto legacy systems as a side panel or assistant. It's about redefining how people work, with AI-led experiences, purpose-built agents, and intelligent orchestration. From onboarding to payroll, Workday is transforming each layer of the enterprise with tools that understand business context.Open Platform and Data Integration: Customers demand flexibility and interoperability. Workday is responding by making openness a foundational principle — not just a tagline. Through partnerships with Snowflake, Databricks, Microsoft, and Salesforce, Workday ensures that enterprise data is not locked away but is seamlessly integrated across platforms. Whether you're building a forecasting model in Snowflake or enriching financials in Workday, the data now flows freely.Workday's Focus: Kazmaier referenced a quote: “Technology evolves from primitive to complex to simple.” Today's ERP systems sit in the “complex” phase — bloated, hard to manage, and expensive. Workday's goal is to move ERP into the “simple” era. That means intuitive, intelligent systems that just work — powered by AI, open by design, and personalized for each user. The aim is to empower CEOs to drive outcomes, and employees to thrive at work, without wading through process chaos or outdated tools.The Big Quote: “I frankly think that today, the default is that vendors have a slew of generic agents, they hand them over to their customers, and wish them good luck in figuring out how it's supposed to work. When we say, open AI platform, I talk about purpose-built frameworks and tools like our new Agent Builder . . . so that you can seamlessly compose, you know, workflows in the definition and context of your business and expect them to work with high accuracy and reliability, without becoming an AI expert yourself."Learn more:Follow Gerrit on LinkedIn, and read more about Workday and agentic AI. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I look at Microsoft's decision to bring Copilot into the living room through Samsung TVs and monitors.Highlights00:02 — Copilot will be launched on select Samsung TVs and monitors. David Washington, Partner and General Manager of Microsoft AI, stated, “Copilot on Samsung TVs and monitors brings AI out of your pocket and into the heart of your home."00:37 — Interestingly, Copilot will not just appear as a logo or button on smart TVs and monitors. Instead, it will take the form of an animated character that reacts and lip-syncs while conversing with users. The small responses will not be limited to just text and voice; they will also be represented through flash cards, including ratings and other important details.01:17 — As users begin to encounter Copilot in multiple places throughout the day — whether while writing in a Word document, using their phones, or ultimately switching on their TVs or monitors — the presence of Copilot will become normalized. For me, this is the most important takeaway from this significant extension to Microsoft's existing partnership. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I look at Workday's bold pivot into the ERP market — after 20 years of steering clear.Highlights00:14 — Workday has been having a lively week here in San Francisco at its big Rising event. But I think the biggest news here is that Workday says that after 20 years of saying, "Hey, we don't do ERP," now Workday's going into the ERP market. But they say it's ERP for the AI Era, it's going to be powered by agents and AI.01:05 — It introduced a fleet of new agents that will become available later this year or into 2026. Workday introduced its own Data Cloud. Workday is striving, it said, to be the most open platform company, the most open agents-and-applications company. They're applying more AI into all parts of their core platform and their existing applications.01:59 — They're making it easier for developers to jump into this new AI and ERP world, where they are leveraging very aggressively 20 years of HR and financial data. And of course, now, with their Agent System of Record, Workday says it can not only help you manage your people and your money, but also your agents. So again, all of this is bound into their new approach to ERP.03:06 — Now, Snowflake calls itself the AI Data Cloud. It's had a partnership with Workday. It's expanded that so Snowflake users can easily access all their Workday data and vice versa. Workday will make it as easy as possible for customers to take full advantage of its data, to tie processes together, to get agents to work together in seamless ways, and more.04:06 — It's always been moving in this direction, but with its full embrace now of ERP, rather than in the past, when it either tried to pretend ERP didn't exist, or that it was above that, and they were leaving that to what they always referred to as the legacy players, or the dinosaurs.05:00 — The good news is, with all of this, ERP continues to be — in its new modular form — agent-driven. It continues to be an essential force for companies to run their businesses as well. Glad to see Workday get into this. The competition is going to be great for Workday. It's going to be great for its competitors. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Gary Miller, Executive Vice President and Customer Success Officer, Oracle, talks to Bob Evans about how Oracle is helping customers navigate their AI journeys — whether they're just starting out or scaling enterprise-wide adoption. He shares how Oracle is embedding AI across its entire technology stack, aligning partner and customer success strategies, and empowering organizations through tools like Cloud Success Navigator, Innovation Studios, and democratized AI training to deliver real, measurable business value.AI-Powered Customer WinsThe Big Themes:Embedding AI Across the Entire Stack: Oracle is not just adding AI as a feature — it's fundamentally integrating AI into its entire technology stack. Gary Miller notes that many customers are surprised to discover that large language models are being trained and deployed on OCI, and that hundreds of AI capabilities are embedded directly into Fusion Applications and Oracle Database. Once customers understand this depth of integration, they quickly shift from curiosity to action, asking for guidance on how to adopt AI now, what use cases to prioritize, and how to define success.Cloud Success Navigator Is Central to AI Adoption Strategy: The Oracle Cloud Success Navigator has emerged as a pivotal tool for AI and cloud adoption. What started as a promise in a previous conversation is now a robust, free digital platform that helps customers and partners create innovation roadmaps, prioritize features, and accelerate time to value. With over 6,000 customers and 235 partners using the platform since March, the tool enables organizations to track over 11,000 adopted features — including 450 AI-specific ones.AI World 2025 Will Spotlight Real Customer Outcomes: At the upcoming AI World 2025 event, Oracle plans to go beyond product announcements to highlight customer success stories. Miller will host a keynote titled “Bold Outcomes,” featuring innovative customers and partners sharing their journeys. Oracle is also gamifying the learning experience with “AI Industry Adventure,” a theme-park-style game in Customer Success Central. Attendees will solve real-world industry challenges using Oracle Cloud AI solutions, making learning both interactive and fun.The Big Quote: “Customers are often unaware of how Oracle has embedded AI capabilities across the whole stack. Once they understand that, then they ask us for expert guidance on how best to achieve their transformation goals using Oracle AI solutions. I had one CEO, he said, after he saw this, he said, 'Well, don't let us fumble around in the dark looking for value. You know, where it is, point us there.' And so they asked, how can I start adopting AI in my current environment? . . . How do I define AI, success metrics, and realize AI value? That's the key thing."More from Gary Miller and Oracle:Connect with Gary Miller on LinkedIn or learn more about Oracle and AI. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I'm sharing why Revolut's decision to scale with Google Cloud shows the power of AI-first infrastructure in fintech.Highlights00:03 — While I'm almost 100% certain that everyone is very familiar with Google Cloud, perhaps fewer are aware of Revolut. This fintech company, started in the UK in 2015, now serves 60 million people globally with a range of financial products. Revolut and Google Cloud have announced the two companies are significantly expanding their strategic partnership.01:01 —Tara Brady, President of Google Cloud EMEA, said: "Revolut is consistently pushing the boundaries of the financial sector. Google is proud to provide the secure, scalable, and intelligent infrastructure powered by our leading AI to fuel this ambitious global expansion and help it deliver the next generation of financial services to a new audience."01:26 — This is a great example of how AI-enhanced infrastructure is enabling companies to achieve incredibly ambitious targets—such as increasing a customer base from 60 million to 100 million users. Not only does it support the existing tools that companies already rely on, like data storage, access, and security, but it also allows them to think bigger. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Highlights00:12 — Now on the Cloud Wars Top 10 growth chart, this is one of the great representations of this greatest growth market the world has ever known, and for about the sixth or seventh straight quarter, Google Cloud emerges as the world's hottest major cloud vendor, 32% growth, but Oracle and Microsoft were also rocking recently, and it overall shows a picture of enormous growth here.00:37 — Of the Cloud Wars Top 10 companies, only one, that was SAP, reported declining growth rate from Q1 to Q2, all the others went up. So let's take a look at those. As I said, Google Cloud up 32% to 13.6 billion, Snowflake, the smallest company on the Cloud Wars Top 10, also up 32% to 1.1 billion. Oracle was up 28% to 7.2 billion.AI Agent & Copilot Summit is an AI-first event to define opportunities, impact, and outcomes with Microsoft Copilot and agents. Building on its 2025 success, the 2026 event takes place March 17-19 in San Diego. Get more details. 01:03 — Those are nice numbers. But the big thing for Oracle is it has had just an absolutely explosive RPO. Oracle's RPO is $455 billion. Microsoft, another remarkable quarter growth rate of 27% of $46.7 billion. Now it's interesting that the quarter before that, Microsoft's growth rate was 20% so it went from 20 to 27. Google Cloud over the last two quarters, went from 28% to 32%.02:09 — Then if we look at AWS, 17.5% to 30.9 billion, excellent numbers, and in any, just about any other industry that would be seen as by far the best. But look at this growth rate, 17.5% for AWS, 27% for Microsoft, one of its major competitors, 32% growth rate, almost twice as high as AWS for Google Cloud. Yes, AWS is big, but it doesn't account for almost like a 2X difference there.03:47 — I think what we see with Google Cloud now that it's established themselves as a very high flyer here, but I think we're going to see Oracle to keep moving up. Microsoft, at the size of its revenue base, to grow 27% is extraordinary. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I unpack how Oracle's $455B RPO surge signals a massive shift in cloud leadership.Highlights00:15 — We see across the Cloud Wars Top 10 an incredible sense of demand from businesses across the world — to help those businesses create their futures. And in fact, we've now got, just among the four hyperscalers, a pipeline totaling $1.1 trillion. We've got Oracle in the top spot there at $455 billion. Microsoft is number two in the RPO race, $368 billion.01:17 — So here, I've got the four hyperscalers with RPO and the RPO growth rate, then quarterly revenue and quarterly growth rate. Oracle is on the top, its RPO now sits at close to half a trillion dollars, with a growth rate of 359%. Microsoft: $368 billion in RPO, up a whopping 37%, off that huge base. Quarterly revenue for the Microsoft Cloud — almost $47 billion, up 27%.02:25 — AWS' RPO is now $195 billion, up about 25%. That's coming off its Q2 revenue of almost $31 billion, up 17.5%. AWS is growing more slowly than the other hyperscalers. Google Cloud: backlog $106 billion, up 38%. For Q2, Google Cloud revenue at $13.6 billion, up 32%. So it was the fastest-growing in Q1, doing very well here.03:33 — Now altogether, this adds up to $1.1 trillion. I'm just not used to saying “trillion.” Got to get more used to that as this market gets bigger. Oracle CEO Safra Catz said that there were multiple huge deals that Oracle signed for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and more coming. Catz said that, “We anticipate that in the near future, Oracle's RPO will reach $500 billion — half a trillion.”04:32 — Going into the future, as AI comes along and changes so much, RPO — or backlog — gives us a great idea of who the hot companies are coming up. And right now, undisputedly, that is Oracle. The other three companies are doing quite well, but I think AWS has become the “slowpoke” in this sprint that the others are undertaking. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I break down how Microsoft is redefining the agentic AI landscape with Copilot Studio Lite and Full Experience, offering tailored tools for both low-code creators and enterprise-grade developers.Highlights00:03 — Microsoft has announced the launch of Copilot Studio Lite and Copilot Studio Full Experience, two versions of Copilot that, in the words of Principal Solution Architect Rémi Dyon, "empower everyone from information workers to developers to build intelligent agents tailored to their needs."00:23 — Microsoft Copilot Studio is a low-code platform that enables users to build and customize AI agents to operate across Microsoft 365 and LOB (line-of-business) systems. Now, Copilot Studio provides two ways to operate: a Lite experience (formerly Agent Builder), which is integrated directly into the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, or a Full Experience, as a standalone web portal.01:17 — When choosing which option is right for you, Microsoft suggests acknowledging four key criteria: audience, deployment, scope, functionality, and governance needs. Dyon describes the changes as a "clarity upgrade," which is significant.01:34 — The AI Wars have evolved into the Agentic AI Wars. One defining trend is the emphasis on clarity. This clarity applies to how tools are operated, the range of users who can access them, and marketing strategies. A simple name change like this may not seem like a huge leap, but Microsoft is defining a category focused on agent development rather than just agent deployment. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I break down how Oracle's $455 billion RPO surge is being driven by Larry Ellison's bold vision to lead not just in AI training — but in the even larger market of AI inferencing.Highlights00:46 — First, Ellison talked about AI training. Then, he discussed AI inferencing, which will be much, much bigger than AI training. Ellison said that AI inferencing will be used for everything — from robotic cars, robotic factories, and robotic greenhouses, to biomolecular synthesis to come up with new drugs.01:20 — He said, “We think Oracle is particularly well-positioned to go after this because of Oracle's history.” He said AI inferencing is the key, and Oracle is going to succeed because it's going to be able to provide data of multiple types for businesses that they can then use with these AI-trained models to be able to answer any sort of questions.02:33 — So Ellison thinks, therefore, business customers using Oracle Database and Oracle AI, Oracle inferencing, will be able to get any question answered they want, and that will also help them develop the AI agents that Oracle goes deeply into. Ellison and Oracle are redefining the whole nature of what data means, what AI means, what's possible.03:42 — CEO Safra Catz said she thinks that it won't be long before Oracle has RPOs above half a trillion dollars. So they're doing some remarkable things. Larry Ellison has always been a master of the long game. We're really seeing this play out here, and it's, I think, very interesting to see how he perceives these two multi-trillion dollar markets04:15 — The Oracle way is to go after them both, AI training and AI inferencing. No doubt there'll be lots of competitors. It's going to be a great market — great opportunities for businesses. And as we always say, the biggest winners in the Cloud Wars are always, always the customers. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I discuss Oracle's amazing Q1 results.Highlights00:17 — Oracle yesterday released its fiscal Q1 results for the quarter ended August 31. And while its revenue figures for those three months were nice, the killer here was its RPO: remaining performance obligation. Oracle reported remaining performance obligation up 359% to $455 billion.01:24 — Microsoft's cloud revenue is almost seven times bigger than Oracle's. Who's winning the most business out into the future? Several weeks ago, Microsoft reported its RPO was up 37% to an astonishing $368 billion, the biggest RPO number I had ever seen. Several weeks later, we see Oracle blow that away. It's got an RPO nest egg out there that is 25% bigger than Microsoft's.02:35 — Now, Oracle CEO Safra Catz, in perhaps the understatement of the year, said, "Oracle is off to a brilliant start in FY26." My point there is, I've just never seen anything like this. Astonishing. And we can point to the OpenAI deal that's due to start in a few years, where OpenAI has contracted with Oracle to pay Oracle $30 billion a year for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.03:09 — Catz referenced a number of gigantic contracts that Oracle has signed, and they'll be talking about more soon. Catz did take the unusual step of projecting future revenue for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure — OCI — and its growth over the next five years, including the current year we're in. And I want to emphasize: These numbers don't include Oracle's cloud applications business.03:50 — So, for this year — FY26, ending May 31, 2026 — OCI revenue will grow 77% to $18 billion. Then next year, up 44% to $32 billion. Then it's going to take a spectacular leap — up 128% to $73 billion. I believe that's when the OpenAI revenue starts to kick in. Then 56% to $114 billion for fiscal '29. Fiscal '30, up 26% to $144 billion. Again, I've never seen any numbers like this.05:06 — It's a very different approach Oracle has taken. These numbers show just an astonishing future for Oracle, and I think it's fair to say too that these results from Oracle — and the indication of its future success — have definitely, completely rattled — turned upside down — the balance of power in the Cloud Wars. Oracle is the hottest hyperscaler in the world now, by far and often. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I dive into the growing debate between SaaS and agentic AI, sparked by Satya Nadella's December 2024 remarks suggesting that AI agents could spell the end of SaaS.Highlights00:32 — We've all been hearing a lot about SaaS dying — the demise of SaaS — triggered by AI, an opinion expressed in December of 2024 by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who said that the rise of AI and agents is going to lead to the collapse of SaaS, the hollowing out of it, to become little more than a third-tier support product.01:18 — Well, Marc Benioff said basically that this view, it's just so much nonsense. And Benioff even went biblical. He said, we've got to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, and we need to be able to determine what's going on here with SaaS, what's going on with AI, and what's going on with agentic AI. How are they going to play together, along with Data Cloud and so on?02:26 — And he said, that's very much not the right question. He used some pretty tough language in explaining this. He said we've got thousands of customers who are very happily using Salesforce applications along with our Agentforce platform, to drive better business results. It's very beneficial to believe both in the future of SaaS and the future of agentic AI.04:02 — And on the earnings call, he went into detail about how many customers now are investing heavily in Agentforce. And the number of new business deals coming in — or repeat business — on agentic AI and Agentforce coming from existing customers. The Data Cloud that underpins this and Agentforce, he said, are now on a $1.2 billion run rate.04:32 — I wish that there would be a point at which Satya Nadella could say, with the experience of nine months now of feedback in the market and from people he's talked to: “Hey, I'm going to double down on what I said in December 2024.” Or he could say, “You know what, maybe I was a little too aggressive on that.” I'd love to hear that. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, ServiceNow's push into CRM meets Salesforce's expansion into ITSM (IT Service Management), powered by agentic AI.Highlights00:14 — While I'm focusing here on Salesforce and ServiceNow, and some changes each is making to get into markets dominated by the other, the larger point here is about how agentic AI is triggering new competition and new approaches. Today, I'm going to share about five repercussions with you.01:15 — On Salesforce's Q2 earnings call, Marc Benioff said, “Hey, we're going to get into IT Service Management.” Salesforce is changing from being an apps company to a data company. It just so happens that ServiceNow and CEO Bill McDermott have been making it very plain that they intend to move aggressively into the CRM business, which has been Salesforce's prime area.02:34 — So, I'm going to mention big implications. One, these companies are looking for new hunting grounds — new areas to help customers do more and to allow these vendors to make more money. Agentic AI is also blasting out boundaries, because agentic AI, I think, optimally works on an end-to-end basis.03:36 — Benioff, on the earnings call, said Data Cloud and agentic AI — Agentforce — are "at the heart of our company strategy", not their applications. Which leads into this: I don't think, as Satya Nadella said, “apps are dying,” or “SaaS is dying,” but I do think that agentic AI is going to change profoundly what apps do, how they work, and how customers can extract value from them.04:44 — We are seeing agentic AI knock down a lot of boundaries. You're going to have more wide-ranging tools that let [customers] see all of their data, be able to develop end-to-end processes that are more effective, more successful, and give them better insights — and, mostly, better business outcomes. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Highlights00:03 — Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman has published a blog post that criticizes the notion of seemingly conscious AI. He argues that the pursuit of this idea, particularly regarding AI model welfare, is misguided.00:19 — Suleyman explains that these concepts are already causing mental health issues among users. He is growing: “more and more concerned about what is becoming known as the psychosis risk and a bunch of related issues. I don't think this will be limited to those who are already at risk of mental health issues.”00:56 — Suleyman argues that we should “build AI for people not to be a person.” He is adamant in his neglect of this previous approach, saying that: “The arrival of seemingly conscious AI is inevitable and unwelcome. Instead, we need a vision for AI that can fulfill its potential as a helpful companion without falling prey to its illusions.”AI Agent & Copilot Summit is an AI-first event to define opportunities, impact, and outcomes with Microsoft Copilot and agents. Building on its 2025 success, the 2026 event takes place March 17-19 in San Diego. Get more details. 01:18 — Meanwhile, companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind are actively pursuing AI consciousness or welfare research. Now, while there are complications and not everyone is on the same page, here, it is clear that the evolving scenarios and possibilities presented by AI are increasingly reaching into the realm of the surreal and in some cases, they're fantastical.01:42 — This is largely because, for the first time in human history, we have a tool that is evolving at a pace beyond which we can conceive. While some of these ideas may sound far-fetched, the warnings accompanying them are serious based on real concerns coming from leaders in the AI space, the ones leading this new AI revolution.02:04 — What everyone must do, and though it will be challenging, is to start imagining the unimaginable. Once you accept the vast possibilities of AI, both good and bad, you can begin to take the warnings that come with them seriously. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Welcome to the Cloud Wars Minute — your daily cloud news and commentary show. Each episode provides insights and perspectives around the “reimagination machine” that is the cloud.In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I spotlight Google's stunning 33x reduction in AI power consumption, what it means for the future of sustainable tech, and how bold innovation is driving the AI revolution forward. Highlights00:23 — Google says it has achieved a 33x reduction in power consumption for Gemini apps' text prompts. A remarkable number. Google, rather than just saying, “Well, hey, we're going to go invest all our money in getting as many users as we can, and we'll deal down the road with some of the energy implications,” have said, “No—now is the time to do it.”01:37 — Now it's got a larger metric here that it uses for the total—what it calls carbon footprint—down by 44x. All of the details behind this have been released in a blog post by a couple of executives.02:31 — Google has adopted a completely end-to-end approach to doing this, where it's taking a look at all of the different technology up and down its stack that could have an input on this. And the data it's collecting is going to give them a fantastic foundation to continue this effort into the future.The AI Revolution, we can safely say now, is not going to boil the Earth.AI Agent & Copilot Summit is an AI-first event to define opportunities, impact, and outcomes with Microsoft Copilot and agents. Building on its 2025 success, the 2026 event takes place March 17-19 in San Diego. Get more details. 03:42 — Several years ago, Google Cloud was number nine on the Cloud Wars Top 10. I'm not sure at the time why it was not number ten, but it had fantastic technology, but could not fully put that in the service of their customers. It was sort of like a mismatch. It's harnessed it over the last several years, under Thomas Kurian, to be fully in service of what customers want and need.04:44 — These breakthroughs by Google and Google Cloud, across the board (again, the details of this in the article coming up later today) show that there's incredible potential to keep doing this. And I think it's this power of innovation that says: Don't be afraid of big ideas. Go after them. Dig into it. Try new approaches to it. There are better ways forward. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Bonnie Tinder is the founder and CEO of Raven Intelligence, an independent B2B peer review site that amplifies the voice of the customer. She focuses on software customers, consulting partners, and software vendors and helps identify the best partners for their needs. In this episode, Bonnie shares seven hard-earned lessons from over 1,000 customer reviews, covering everything from data migration and partner selection to change management, over-customization, and planning beyond go-live.Episode 54 | Avoiding Project PitfallsThe Big Themes:Choose Your Partner Strategically, Not Cheaply: Raven Intelligence data reveals customers who chose systems integrators (SIs) based on price often ended up spending weeks onboarding the partner—because they lacked industry expertise. Others defaulted to familiar names or existing vendor relationships without assessing fit. A well-matched SI should offer deep, relevant experience—not just a good rate.Over-Customization Leads to Long-Term Pain: One of the most common regrets customers share with Raven Intelligence is excessive customization. While it's tempting to rebuild old workflows in new systems for comfort or continuity, Bonnie Tinder warns this strategy almost always backfires. One company customized so heavily that their upgrade a year later cost nearly as much as the original implementation.Clarity on Requirements Prevents Costly Detours: Poorly defined requirements derail even well-staffed projects. A client lost three months mid-project because two departments had opposing expectations for payroll reporting. Before implementation, all stakeholders—from executives to end-users—must agree on goals, deliverables, and boundaries.The Big Quote: “Vendors and SIs are really good at presenting the highlights reel during the sales process. What customers really need to be successful is the actual game footage." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

00:03 — ServiceNow has announced that it's joining forces with SENAI-SP to launch a major AI training and certification program in Brazil as part of ServiceNow University. The new program aims to train hundreds of users by 2025 contributing to the University's overall global goal of upskilling three million people by 2027.00:30 — This new program will equip learners with technical skills in AI digital workflow automation and low-code/no-code development. Additionally, it will provide certification pathways and job readiness support, connecting learners with potential employers.01:14 — AI upskilling is not only providing people from incredibly diverse backgrounds with the tools to thrive in a new AI-driven work landscape. It's also helping to level the playing field. Every country, regardless of its historical wealth generation, has an opportunity to excel in the AI space, and each country needs to provide users with skills and upskilling initiatives to do so.01:42 — Companies like ServiceNow that are entering these jurisdictions with specific, targeted programs are playing a crucial role in shaping a hopefully more balanced future. In this future, everyone, from independent employees to companies start, from a level playing field with a brand new set of tools and, importantly, opportunities. Visit Cloud Wars for more.