The Cloud Wars franchise, part of the Acceleration Economy Network, analyzes the major cloud vendors from the perspective of business customers. In Cloud Wars Live, Bob Evans talks with both sides about these profoundly transformative technologies, and with monthly All-Star guests from across the business community about the trends impacting how the world lives, works, plays, and dreams. Visit https://accelerationeconomy.com/category/cloud-wars/ for more.
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Musician Bob Evans and his special guests embark together on a journey of self discovery, revealing the music that has touched their lives and helped shape them in to the beautifully fascinating weirdos they are today. Bob Evans on Spotify
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Episode 445 | Reflecting on 2 Years of Generative AI The Big Themes: GenAI's Anniversary: Reflecting on the two-year anniversary of GenAI hitting the mainstream, Bonnie notes that in reality, we still haven't seen a lot of changes yet in the sense that AI hasn't taken our jobs. The overall consensus is that many people are using it to increase prod…
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Transforming Business with Cloud The Big Themes: Role of chief integration officer (CIO): Joe Fanutti, originally the CFO of Bill Gosling Outsourcing, transitioned into the chief integration officer role. His role exemplifies the need for businesses to integrate people, technology, and operations, particularly as companies pursue both organic and i…
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Oracle's Bold Moves: Cloud Innovation, Global Expansion, and the Multi-Cloud Era with Mahesh Thiagarajan | Cloud Wars Live
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Oracle's Expanding Multi-Cloud Strategy The Big Themes: Oracle's unique cloud architecture: Oracle’s differentiated cloud architecture offers customers flexibility across different environments, whether public, private, or government. This hybrid architecture ensures that customers can deploy the same services whether they need an on-premises solut…
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Key Insights on ServiceNow, Interoperability, and the Evolving Role of CIOs | Sadin on Digital
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Episode 53 | Future-Ready IT Offerings The Big Themes: ServiceNow's innovation: Wayne Sadin talks about ServiceNow, which Bob recently wrote about, as a first mover in the market, leading the way in creating intelligent solutions that facilitate interoperability between different applications and workflows. This innovation reflects a broader trend …
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Why Oracle Is Leading the Charge in Multi-Cloud Development with Karan Batta | Cloud Wars Live
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The Big Themes: Oracle’s multi-cloud strategy: Karan emphasized how Oracle has been working for nearly a decade to offer customers flexibility in using Oracle’s technology across different cloud providers. It has partnerships with Microsoft, Google, and now AWS, allowing customers to use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) with the same performance a…
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Google Cloud's AI Revolution with Gemini and Partners Driving Business Success | Cloud Wars Live
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Google Cloud's AI Edge The Big Themes: Google Cloud’s AI leadership and Gemini: Google Cloud's Gemini model demonstrates its continued innovation in the AI space. The Gemini AI family integrates advanced capabilities in natural language processing (NLP), machine learning (ML), and large language models (LLMs) to deliver groundbreaking business offe…
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Oracle Cloud Success Strategies The Big Themes: Customer Success Services creation: Oracle established Customer Success Services to provide comprehensive support for customers using its cloud tools. This integration of various service organizations — such as education, consulting, and customer success management — aims to create a unified approach,…
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Workday Rising AI Innovation and Customer-Centric Strategies Driving Business Success | Cloud Wars Live
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Episode 44 | Workday Rising AI Insights The Big Themes: The evolution of AI tools: AI tools have moved from basic task automation to more sophisticated systems like copilots and autonomous agents. Bonnie introduces the concept of "orchestrators," which monitor and optimize workflows based on real-time feedback. This evolution signifies a shift towa…
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AI Transformation at NetSuite The Big Themes: AI integration and customization: NetSuite focused on integrating AI into its platform. Evan points out the importance of large language models and traditional AI working together to identify data patterns and enhance productivity. Features like Text Enhance and the new “Ask Oracle” tool enable business…
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Efficient AI Model Economics The Big Themes: GenAI and its practical application: GenAI has emerged as a major focus in enterprise settings, with organizations exploring its potential to enhance core business processes. While many have successfully integrated generative AI into their workflows, others face challenges moving beyond continuous protot…
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Oracle's Industry Cloud Innovations The Big Themes: AI integration in Industry Applications: AI, especially GenAI is playing a significant role in transforming industry applications. Mike explains how AI technologies are enhancing customer experiences, such as in healthcare, where they automate routine tasks and improve patient interactions. This i…
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How Google Cloud Leverages AI and Partner Ecosystem to Deliver Advanced Security Offerings | Cloud Wars Live
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Google Cloud AI Security Insights The Big Themes: Google’s ecosystem-driven security approach: Google Cloud's partner ecosystem, consisting of entities such as managed security service providers (MSSPs) and global systems integrators, helps deliver top-notch security services. While Google maintains a small in-house service capability, partners are…
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Oracle’s Vision for AI, Multi-Cloud, and Passwordless Security at CloudWorld 2024 | Cloud Wars Live
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Episode 43 | Oracle's AI and Security Innovations The Big Themes: Completeness of suite: Oracle has an integrated approach across industries, offering a full suite of applications and services. Its multi-cloud offerings and the inclusion of infrastructure and vertical-specific applications set it apart. This completeness was emphasized with custome…
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Oliver Parker and Miku Jha Discuss Google Cloud's Generative AI Strategy and Open Ecosystem | Cloud Wars Live
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Scaling Generative AI The Big Themes: Prioritizing cost and impact: Businesses are focused on the dual priorities of cost efficiency and impactful results when implementing generative AI. With numerous potential applications for generative AI, organizations need to evaluate which projects will deliver the highest value. This approach involves colla…
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Teradata’s Hillary Ashton on Open Table Formats Driving Value for Customers | Cloud Wars Live
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Creating Value with Teradata The Big Themes: Open Table Formats: Datasets are one of the most common ways that organizations use open table formats, as it enables them to combine several types of data and access that data. Open table formats are improving performance which will help drive a more flexible, low-cost storage option for enterprises. Ha…
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Google Cloud's Gerrit Kazmaier & Rayn Veerubhotla On Unlocking the Future with AI and Multimodal Systems| Cloud Wars Live
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Google Cloud Data Innovations The Big Themes: Integration of unstructured data with AI: Google Cloud is shifting how enterprises leverage their data by integrating unstructured data (which makes up 85-90% of all data) with structured data through its BigQuery multimodal data foundation. This integration allows for a more comprehensive data landscap…
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Kevin Icchpurani on How Google Cloud’s AI and Ecosystem Strategy is Redefining Industry Standards | Cloud Wars Live
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AI-Powered Cloud Transformation Insights The Big Themes: Google Cloud's strategic growth and AI integration: Google Cloud has experienced unprecedented growth, becoming a leading cloud provider by evolving beyond traditional cloud services. Integrating AI into its offerings is a significant factor in this growth. The focus has shifted from merely m…
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What to Expect from Oracle Cloud World, Workday Rising, HR Tech Conference, and SAP SuccessConnect 2024 | Tinder on Customers
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Episode 43 | Upcoming Conference Insights The Big Themes: Upcoming HR and tech conferences: Oracle CloudWorld will cover AI in Fusion Applications, Oracle's autonomous database, and cloud innovations, with keynotes from Safra Catz and Larry Ellison. Workday Rising will focus on employee empowerment, new global payroll offerings, and AI in HCM. The …
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Trusted AI Models and Strategies The Big Themes: Data reliability: After conducting a survey, Teradata found that 40% of executives don't trust their own data to generate accurate AI outputs. AI requires traceability and transparency around where data comes from. Teradata helps combat this disconnect by providing access and opportunities for compan…
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SAP's Falk Rieker and Standard Chartered's Tom Pfaff on Driving Digital Transformation | Cloud Wars Live
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Cloud Tech in Banking The Big Themes: Principles and people-centered transformation: Core principles such as standardizing processes and ensuring data integrity drove Standard Chartered's transformation. The transformation was not merely about technology but about enabling its people to perform their jobs more effectively. This people-centered appr…
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Workday's Tim Faith on AI and Data-Driven Strategies for Construction Industry Success | Cloud Wars Live
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AI & Data in Construction The Big Themes: AI in construction: Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the construction industry by automating routine tasks and enhancing project management. Tim discusses AI's capabilities in predictive maintenance, which prevents equipment failures and reduces downtime. Additionally, AI-driven tools assist in opt…
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Episode 42 | Workday Partner Insights The Big Themes: Role of Workday Marketplaces: The Workday Marketplace and the Workday AI Marketplace help customers find partners and specific products tailored to their industry, geography, and particular needs. These centralized resources streamline the search process, enabling customers to make more informed…
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Episode 52 | Cloud Innovation Impact The Big Themes: Cloud industry dynamics: Wayne discusses the competitive landscape of cloud computing, emphasizing Oracle's evolving strategies to compete with giants like AWS and Microsoft Azure. He discusses how Oracle's Autonomous Database and other innovations are crucial in this race, reflecting broader tre…
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How ServiceNow's AI and Partner Ecosystem Drive Business Transformation | Tinder on Customers
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Episode 42 | ServiceNow's AI Partner Strategy The Big Themes: Shift in ecosystem strategy: Companies like ServiceNow are shifting from viewing partners as mere distributors or implementers to integral parts of their business strategy. This shift emphasizes collaboration and joint value creation rather than just sales margins, marking a significant …
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Driving Innovation at SAP The Big Themes: Focus on business transformation: SAP's new board area, customer services and delivery, aims to help customers with business transformation rather than just technology transformation. This involves moving to the cloud and adopting innovations like AI to enhance business agility and efficiency. Collaboration…
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Episode 41 | Oracle's AI-Driven Future The Big Themes: Oracle's AI advancements: Oracle showcased rapid advancements in AI capabilities, introducing 50 new AI features, including generative AI models for tasks like creating job descriptions and email templates. It aims to ensure speed in innovation, with 25 of these capabilities specifically tailor…
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AI Frontiers The Big Themes: Shift from digital to AI transformation: There's been a significant evolution in the focus of businesses from digital transformation to AI-driven innovation. Initially, companies aimed to enhance their existing digital processes using the latest technologies. However, the current emphasis is on leveraging AI to fundamen…
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ServiceNow Knowledge24 Highlights: AI Innovations, Microsoft Partnership, and Ecosystem Growth | Cloud Wars Live
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AI Drives Transformation The Big Themes: ServiceNow's strong partner ecosystem: ServiceNow showcased its commitment to a partner-first strategy with a substantial presence of partners at the event. The Partner Innovation Zone and Partner Pavilion demonstrated partners' critical role in ServiceNow’s ecosystem. Erica mentions PartnerFinder, a Service…
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Episode 51 | Strategic IT Budgeting The Big Themes: Integrated investment approach: Wayne advocates for aligning IT investments with broader company goals, urging against treating IT as a separate entity. This approach ensures that IT projects are evaluated alongside other investments, prioritizing those with the highest strategic value. Time alloc…
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SAP's Scott Russell Delivers Key Insights Into Generative AI and Sapphire Expectations | Cloud Wars Live
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Cloud ERP and Generative AI The Big Themes: Generative AI in cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP): Russell discusses how SAP is responding to evolving customer demands by prioritizing integrating generative AI technologies into its cloud ERP offerings. This proactive stance not only aligns with market trends but also underscores SAP's commitmen…
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The Big Themes Customer priorities: Josyula identifies top priorities for ServiceNow customers, including business transformation driven by technology, a focus on GenAI and AI more broadly, and vendor consolidation (choosing a few strategic platforms and going all in). With customer priorities in mind, ServiceNow is on a journey to becoming the AI …
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Episode 40 | AI Empowerment at Workday The Big Themes: Rapid innovation with Workday Extend: Workday Extend is a pivotal aspect of Workday's platform strategy. It facilitates rapid innovation, enabling quick responses to emergent needs such as workforce adjustments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform's flexibility empowers users to develop b…
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Episode 50 | Securing the Digital Frontier The Big Themes: Multi-cloud complexity & AI: The adoption of multi-cloud environments presents significant management challenges for IT teams, including complexities in configuration, monitoring, and integration. Simultaneously, there is increasing interest in harnessing AI to enhance cybersecurity, with d…
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Episode 39 | The Shifting Tech Landscape The Big Themes: Significant M&A activities: After a quiet period last quarter, there's been a notable trend of merger and acquisition (M&A) in the HR technology space. Specifically, Bonnie outlines key acquisitions by major players like Ceridian, Workday, ServiceNow, and Cornerstone, emphasizing the strategi…
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Note: this episode contains explicit language. Episode 33 | Entrepreneurial Insights The Big Themes: A "radical experiment in self-governance": Chris shares his experience becoming a U.S. citizen and talks about the country's immense opportunities for individuals. The U.S., he says, is a beacon of democracy and freedom. He stresses the importance o…
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Telecom SaaS Evolution The Big Themes: Telecom SaaS defined: Telecom SaaS refers to a set of cloud-native services delivering business outcomes. Networks are evolving from traditional connectivity-focused structures to dynamic, capability-driven ecosystems. Telecom SaaS signals a transition from conventional telecommunication models to a more agile…
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Episode 38 | IT Project Mastery The Big Themes: Handling turnover: Partners should recognize turnover as an inherent facet of dynamic IT projects. It's important to obtain commitment, preferably in written statements within the project's scope to ensure the assigned team's stability. Such statements can offer a safeguard against abrupt team changes…
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RaceTrac and Workday | A Unified Platform Sponsored by Workday The Big Themes: Workday's impact: The adoption of Workday's unified platform, encompassing both HCM and financials, has played a pivotal role in RaceTrac's ability to streamline processes, reduce post-processing time, and enhance overall efficiency. Cultural shift: Implementation has no…
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Episode 49 | AI Realities The Big Themes: SaaS and AI terminology clarification: Wayne discusses the need to distinguish between various technology terms. He points out the common misuse of terms like SaaS and AI. He cautions against the trend of "SaaS-washing" and "AI-washing," where everything is labeled one or the other to generate excitement. S…
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Digital Minds The Big Themes: d'Skills' mission and focus: d'Skills is addressing a significant problem in the current education system. The obsolete education model fails to prepare students for the modern workforce. d'Skills aims to bridge the gap between traditional education and the demands of the future job market, with a focus on giving "nati…
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Episode 37 | Lessons from 500 Reviews The Big Themes: GenAI feedback: Despite being a central 2023 technology discussion theme, GenAI did not substantially transform software implementation outcomes, as indicated by data from over 500 reviews. Bonnie says the feedback she received was more about project fundamentals, such as data quality, project p…
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SAP Industries Live: Key Trends in Insurance Industry Innovation with Co-operators, Deloitte, and SAP
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Co-operators, Deloitte, and SAP: Digital Trends in Insurance Sales Sponsored: SAP The Big Themes: A pivotal shift: The insurance industry is shifting towards digitization and GenAI to enhance digital transformation and sales performance management. Experts stress a holistic approach, prioritizing interconnected ecosystems for maximum benefits from …
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Episode 16 | Talent Acquisition Growth Mindset The Big Themes: Shift from talent acquisition to talent attraction: Pat and Bob discuss moving from a reactive talent acquisition approach to a proactive talent attraction strategy. Rather than waiting for job openings, Pat encourages companies and recruiters to explore the market, identify top talent,…
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Episode 32 | Youth, AI, and Innovation The Big Themes: Emergence of new startup models: There's a new model of startups that leverage AI to create and innovate. These startups can emerge quickly, requiring less capital and fewer people compared to traditional startups. The example given is of a startup achieving in one year what used to take three …
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AI, Industries, and Customer Experience The Big Themes Unified SAP strategy: SAP strategically integrates Customer Experience (CX) and Industries, leveraging its status as a big enterprise with 400,000+ global customers. Its unique approach of combining strengths offers comprehensive tools from supply chain to enterprise resource planning (ERP) for…
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Episode 48 | Vendor Challenges The Big Themes: Contract management: Wayne and Bob discuss contract renewals and price hikes with a focus on SaaS agreements. There's an enduring need for a proactive approach and transparent communication with vendors. Metrics, scalability, and adaptability are touched upon as ways to assess value. AI washing: Some c…
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Episode 36 | Guarding Against IT Amnesia The Big Themes: IT amnesia: Bonnie introduces the concept of IT amnesia syndrome in tech projects, where post-success, lack of documentation leads to project failures. A culture of documentation is necessary to counter challenges. Employee turnover: Documentation ensures knowledge continuity as team members …
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Episode 31 | Current Affairs Unmasked Note: this episode contains explicit language. The Big Themes DEI and MLK: Christopher surveys the contemporary DEI landscape, expressing concerns about its focus on groupism rather than individual merit, citing instances of what he perceives as discrimination against certain groups. He draws a sharp contrast b…
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Episode 47 | 2024 CIO Wisdom The Big Themes: Multi-cloud strategies: Wayne advises against traditional server purchases, except for edge computing. He advocates for a multi-cloud approach, which aligns with the diverse landscape of software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications. He encourages CIOs to optimize cloud choices for different workloads. In th…
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What's Next for Industries The Big Themes: Industry convergence: Industry convergence is the reshaping of traditional value chains as well as business processes and models as different sectors integrate horizontally and vertically, creating new markets and revenue streams. SAP plays a pivotal role in industry convergence by helping businesses acros…
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