Every year, Oracle AI World brings together customers, partners, and colleagues from across the globe , but for me, it’s more than just a conference. It’s a week to reconnect with old friends, share innovation, and see firsthand how customers are using Oracle GoldenGate to power mission-critical, real-time data integration across industries. This year’s event was no exception, packed with energy, conversations, and a few unforgettable experiences.

Sunday: Reconnecting and Reminiscing

I arrived a day early to meet old friends from Deloitte, Accenture, and Centroid for dinner at Bazaar Meat. It’s become a tradition, catching up on old times and laughing about projects from our BIAS days. We reflected on how much has changed since those early years, how BIAS’ family-style culture evolved after joining Deloitte, Accenture and etc and how corporate life feels different now. Yet, sitting around that table, the spirit of collaboration and camaraderie was exactly the same. It reminded me how the best teams, whether small or global, are built on trust, humor, and shared purpose.

Monday: From the Racetrack to Real-World Stories

Monday started with lunch and badge pickup before we were handed our GoldenGate team shirts. Then came an unexpected highlight, an afternoon at the Exotic Car Racetrack with a few members of our group. I drove a Porsche GT4 RS, and it was pure adrenaline. It took a few laps to get comfortable, but once I did, it was an incredible experience. The car felt glued to the track, a great metaphor, really, for the precision and control we strive for in our software.

That evening, I joined Delta Airlines for dinner. They shared stories from their GoldenGate migration from Oracle Database 18c to 19c, the challenges, the collaboration, and the successful outcome. We laughed remembering the early days building their HA site in North Atlanta and discussed future plans for expanding to an active-active architecture. It was a night that reminded me why we do what we do: seeing real customers succeed because of the technology we build.

Tuesday: Big Announcements and Bigger Crowds

The conference floor opened Tuesday, and we immediately realized we had a prime booth location in the Database Hub, right in the main flow of traffic. The result was nonstop engagement. With the announcement of Oracle AI Database 26ai and the simultaneous release of GoldenGate 26ai, curiosity was sky-high. Customers wanted to know about new features, migration experiences, and the stability of GoldenGate 23ai Microservices, especially those moving from Classic. We were proud to share that hundreds of customers have already made the transition successfully.

Larry’s keynote was the talk of the day, delayed by an hour and streamed via video instead of live, which surprised everyone. But Juan’s keynote that followed delivered great energy and vision. That night, we had dinner with Gilson, Nara, and Pete Inzana at a Spanish restaurant. After a long first day on the floor, it was the perfect way to unwind.

Wednesday: Customer Success in the Spotlight

Wednesday was one of my favorite days. We hosted a Customer Panel featuring Delta Airlines, Cox Automotive, and Deutsche Telekom, three major enterprises showcasing how they’re using GoldenGate in production.

Lucia from Deutsche Telekom demonstrated their observability framework built entirely on GoldenGate REST APIs, something I’ve been advocating for years. Seeing it in action was extremely rewarding. Roland from Delta discussed the criticality of their crew management system and how GoldenGate ensured their success during the database upgrade. Then Michael from Cox Automotive shared how they migrated from 19c Classic to 23ai Microservices, implementing one of the first true multi-master replication setups I’ve seen in 23ai, six nodes running active simultaneously. Their journey wasn’t easy, but it was a powerful example of scale, resilience, and modernization of GoldenGate.

Back at the booth, we logged nearly hundreds of customer interactions, a record for us. Even if a fraction of those turn into engagements, it shows the strong interest and confidence in the GoldenGate current stage and roadmap. We wrapped up the day with a well-deserved team dinner, great Korean barbecue, plenty of laughter, and the kind of tired satisfaction that only comes after a truly successful day.

Thursday: My Hands-On Lab and a Strong Finish

Thursday began with our Customer Advisory Board meeting, a roundtable discussion where customers shared their success, feedback and priorities.

At 11 a.m., it was time for my Hands-On Lab session, and to my surprise, it was completely full, with attendees even standing in the back. We guided participants through GoldenGate configuration, management, and patching using the web UI and REST APIs. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, especially about how simple patching has become in the 23ai release. Many attendees were amazed to learn that the same process can be automated end-to-end through APIs.

After the session, I grabbed lunch with Gilson, said my goodbyes, and headed to the airport, where of course my flight was delayed four hours. I finally made it back to Houston late that night, exhausted but happy to see Kobe and Lidia waiting for me, and grateful for such a rewarding week.

Reflections

Oracle AI World 2025 was an incredible week, full of innovation, collaboration, and connection. GoldenGate’s momentum continues to grow, with customers moving confidently into 23ai Microservices and preparing for 26ai’s new AI-driven capabilities. Beyond the technology, what stays with me most is the people, the customers, partners, and colleagues who make this community so special.

As always, I left inspired, with new ideas for our roadmap, notes for our next releases, and a renewed appreciation for the power of real-time data and the community that drives it forward.

Below I am sharing a few pictures from the event.