The current momentum of artificial intelligence has created "the single most exciting period in technology in decades", the chief executive of US technology major Oracle has said.
Consequently, companies that will be able to properly leverage AI's benefits are placing themselves in a "perfect position" to prosper going into the future economy, Safra Catz told the Oracle CloudWorld conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
"We have waited for this moment where the data, compute, GPUs [graphics processing units], and all the technologies come together ... you’ve done the hard work in many ways, now you’ve got all of your data," Ms Catz said.
"It’s exciting to see a company that is hyper-focused on the customer and on better outcomes, all by building the platform first to bring it all together – and that puts you in the perfect position to use the newest technologies moving forward."
AI has come a long way and has been widely used across categories, and the advent of generative AI has changed all that and created a new race.
Companies, led by global majors Google and Microsoft-backed OpenAI, have thrown their hat into the AI race, jockeying for position to take the early lead in the emerging technology.
Texas-based Oracle, meanwhile, has been using AI for more than 20 years, having integrated it into its various global services, including across its analytics, the cloud and database portfolio.
In June, Oracle announced plans to develop "powerful" generative AI services that aim to help organisations automate end-to-end business processes, as well as improve decision-making and customer services.
Also that month, Oracle announced that it was spending “billions” of dollars on chips from Nvidia, as it seeks to boost its position in generative AI and cloud computing.
Companies need to have "courage and leadership to have that mindset for action", Ms Catz said.
That mindset is "having that attitude to really use the newest technologies because this is a very, very important time and things are changing around us", she said.
Ms Catz, who reports to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, was joined in her keynote speech by a number of executives whose companies are championing AI.
"AI will be one of the biggest topics here and in the future for quite some time," said Lori Goltermann, chief client officer and chief executive for enterprise clients at consultancy Aon.
While acknowledging that the new wave of AI technology is still in its early days, Ms Goltermann said it was moving fast and would promote the same pace of progress should companies pick it up.
"Thoughtfully, the message around AI is that it’s going to make us wildly more efficient on the brilliant basics; what would take weeks would take seconds and we know it’s going to unlock innovation," she said.
Data from London-based Aon shows that 35 per cent of companies say they have the right skills to meet their strategy, but this goes down to 5 per cent when it comes to AI.
Companies can improve on this by building skills and assembling a capable staff but without compromising on the security of the organisation's data, Ms Goltermann said.
"While we’re really helping the fast-paced discussions, we’re also really also thinking through the risk mitigation strategies; we need to protect their data, privacy and intellectual property," she said.
AI, like other technology, has been key in transforming and scaling enterprises, including in helping them identify customer habits and predict trends, which in turn would be helpful in boosting revenue generation and bottom lines.
This kind of expansion, in any company, requires a continuous and forward-looking strategy that will support growth on all fronts, said Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Uber Technologies.
"All of the growth requires incredible innovation," he said. "It means building out new products."
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Types of fraud
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
* Nada El Sawy
Rooney's club record
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Indika
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Liverpool’s fixtures until end of 2019
Saturday, November 30, Brighton (h)
Wednesday, December 4, Everton (h)
Saturday, December 7, Bournemouth (a)
Tuesday, December 10, Salzburg (a) CL
Saturday, December 14, Watford (h)
Tuesday, December 17, Aston Villa (a) League Cup
Wednesday, December 18, Club World Cup in Qatar
Saturday, December 21, Club World Cup in Qatar
Thursday, December 26, Leicester (a)
Sunday, December 29, Wolves (h)
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
