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."
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Top Hundred overseas picks
London Spirit: Kieron Pollard, Riley Meredith
Welsh Fire: Adam Zampa, David Miller, Naseem Shah
Manchester Originals: Andre Russell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sean Abbott
Northern Superchargers: Dwayne Bravo, Wahab Riaz
Oval Invincibles: Sunil Narine, Rilee Rossouw
Trent Rockets: Colin Munro
Birmingham Phoenix: Matthew Wade, Kane Richardson
Southern Brave: Quinton de Kock
More on Quran memorisation:
FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place playoff
SPEC%20SHEET
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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.
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The specs
Price, base: Dh228,000 / Dh232,000 (est)
Engine: 5.7-litre Hemi V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 395hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 552Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.5L / 100km
Results
6pm: Dubai Trophy – Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,200m
Winner: Silent Speech, William Buick (jockey), Charlie Appleby
(trainer)
6.35pm: Jumeirah Derby Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (T)
1,800m
Winner: Island Falcon, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
7.10pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (Dirt)
1,400m
Winner: Rawy, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer
7.45pm: Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner: Desert Fire, Hector Crouch, Saeed bin Suroor
8.20pm: Al Fahidi Fort – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Naval Crown, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
8.55pm: Dubawi Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Al Tariq, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watsons
9.30pm: Aliyah – Rated Conditions (TB) $80,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Dubai Icon, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor
Cultural fiesta
What: The Al Burda Festival
When: November 14 (from 10am)
Where: Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
The Al Burda Festival is a celebration of Islamic art and culture, featuring talks, performances and exhibitions. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, this one-day event opens with a session on the future of Islamic art. With this in mind, it is followed by a number of workshops and “masterclass” sessions in everything from calligraphy and typography to geometry and the origins of Islamic design. There will also be discussions on subjects including ‘Who is the Audience for Islamic Art?’ and ‘New Markets for Islamic Design.’ A live performance from Kuwaiti guitarist Yousif Yaseen should be one of the highlights of the day.
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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