What Oracle Is Actually Doing with AI

Oracle Cloud / By /

What Oracle Is Actually Doing with AI

And Why It Matters More Than You Think

Oracle is not approaching AI the way most enterprise software vendors are. Most vendors are building AI features. Oracle is building an AI native platform. There is a meaningful difference, and understanding it will help you make smarter decisions about where to invest your modernization dollars and what to expect from your Oracle investment over the next three to five years.

Let me break down what Oracle is doing across three distinct layers: AI that is embedded and non-optional, AI that is available but requires a choice to enable, and agentic AI through the Oracle AI Agent Marketplace. Each layer represents a different relationship between the user and the intelligence, and each requires a different organizational posture to take full advantage of.

Embedded AI: The Floor Is Rising Whether You Are Ready or Not

The first and most important layer to understand is the AI that Oracle is embedding directly into core product functionality. This is AI you will consume whether you explicitly set it up or not, because it is woven into how the product processes transactions, surfaces information, and executes workflows.

Examples of this include anomaly detection in financial transactions, intelligent matching in accounts payable, and smart suggestions within journal entry workflows. Oracle has been systematically building AI into the foundational logic of Fusion Cloud, and as they continue releasing quarterly updates, more of that intelligence becomes part of the baseline product.

This is actually good news for customers, even if it requires some adjustment in how you think about your system. You are not being asked to stand up a separate AI tool and integrate it. You are being given a smarter version of the system you already have. The implication, though, is that your teams need to understand what the system is now doing on their behalf, what it is flagging, what it is recommending, and when human judgment should override the model. AI literacy in your user base is no longer optional. It is a baseline competency.

Elective AI: Capabilities You Can Choose to Turn On

The second layer is AI functionality that Oracle makes available but that organizations need to deliberately enable. These are features that sit in the product but are off by default, often because they require some configuration, some data setup, or some organizational readiness that not every customer will have on day one.

Think of capabilities like AI driven forecasting in Oracle Planning, intelligent document recognition in Payables, automated recommendations in procurement, or skills matching in HCM. These features are there, but your team needs to assess readiness, configure the experience, and build change management around them before flipping the switch.

This is where implementation partners add real value. Knowing which AI features are available in your licensed modules, understanding the prerequisites for enabling them, sequencing the rollout to match your organizational maturity, that is consulting work that makes a meaningful difference in whether AI adoption sticks or gets shelfware treatment.

Agentic AI: The Oracle AI Agent Marketplace

The third layer is the most forward leaning and the most exciting from a transformation standpoint. Oracle has launched an AI Agent Marketplace, a platform where autonomous agents can be deployed to perform tasks, not just answer questions.

These agents are not chatbots. They are goal oriented systems that can reason through multi step processes, access enterprise data, take actions within the Oracle environment, and report on what they have done. Early agents in the marketplace cover things like expense processing, supplier inquiry resolution, candidate screening, and financial close acceleration.

What makes this genuinely significant is the combination of trusted enterprise data with autonomous execution. Oracle agents operate within the governance framework of the Fusion platform, with role-based access, audit trails, and compliance controls intact. You are not deploying a general-purpose AI into your ERP and hoping for the best. You are deploying purpose-built agents designed for the specific workflows your business runs on Oracle.

Most of my clients today are in the awareness and planning phase around agents. But the organizations doing proof of concept work now are building an enormous competitive advantage for when these agents reach full production maturity, and based on Oracle’s release cadence, that is coming faster than most people expect.

Oracle’s AI strategy is layered, serious, and deeply integrated into the platform roadmap. If you are on Oracle today, you are already getting smarter software. If you are thinking about moving to Oracle, AI capability at the platform level is a legitimate reason to accelerate that decision.

Written by

Zubin Shah is a technology and transformation leader specializing in Oracle implementations, with a track record of delivering complex ERP programs across industries. As an Oracle ACE, he is recognized for his expertise, thought leadership, and contributions to the Oracle community. Zubin focuses on bridging the gap between business strategy and system execution—helping organizations modernize operations, scale efficiently, and unlock value from their technology investments. When he’s not leading implementations, he shares insights on ERP strategy, delivery best practices, and the evolving role of enterprise technology.

He holds a dual degree in Finance and Spanish from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. Zubin began his career in consulting, working across several leading system integrators where he built deep experience spanning both sales and delivery—giving him a rare end-to-end perspective on how Oracle programs are positioned, sold, and successfully executed. Today, he serves as a Practice Director at Alithya, where he leads Oracle-focused initiatives and helps organizations navigate complex transformation efforts from strategy through execution.

This blog is a personal platform where Zubin shares perspectives on Oracle technology, ERP strategy, and the rapidly evolving role of AI in the enterprise software landscape. Drawing from real-world delivery experience, his writing focuses on practical insights—what works, what doesn’t, and where organizations should be investing as platforms continue to evolve. Topics span Oracle Cloud, implementation strategy, and how emerging technologies like AI are reshaping how enterprises operate, make decisions, and extract value from their systems.