Oracle’s annual flagship event has officially embraced the AI era. Renamed Oracle AI World 2025 (from Cloud World), the conference drew more than 20,000 delegates to Las Vegas last week — a clear signal that generative AI has become the centerpiece of enterprise innovation.
But amid the excitement over AI-driven applications, Oracle’s message was clear: cloud remains the backbone that makes AI possible. For African enterprises, especially in South Africa, that foundation is now being built at speed — with Old Mutual standing out as a regional leader.
Old Mutual’s Cloud-First Transformation
“Old Mutual has been a very early and fairly aggressive adopter of cloud — we’re almost a 100% cloud organisation now,” said Dhesen Ramsamy, Group Chief Information Officer of Old Mutual, in an interview with Gadget ahead of the event.
He credited strong leadership and board-level sponsorship for ensuring the company’s cloud migration was executed swiftly and with minimal disruption.
“We completed the bulk of our migration in 2023,” Ramsamy said. “Our next huge focus now is on cost efficiencies on cloud and continuing the cloud-first approach towards innovation and new product build.”
Old Mutual’s journey places it far ahead of most enterprises on the continent, many of which are still evaluating their migration strategies. The insurer has already reaped benefits in agility, infrastructure reliability, and operational efficiency — key advantages as it begins embedding AI into its operations.
Oracle’s Focus: AI That Delivers Business Value
Opening the conference, Oracle CEO Mike Sicilia said that financial services are leading global AI adoption because “banks, insurers, and capital markets firms all run on data.”
“They don’t want AI for its own sake,” Sicilia noted. “They want AI that delivers faster reporting, better risk management, and stronger compliance.”
Steve Miranda, Oracle’s Executive Vice President for Applications Development, added that clients are already seeing tangible returns:
“Our customers are using AI to close their books faster, recruit better, and manage supply chains more effectively. These are real business outcomes happening today — not experiments.”
Africa’s Cloud Acceleration
For Oracle, Africa’s growing cloud market represents one of the most dynamic frontiers of digital transformation.
Richard Smith, Oracle’s Executive Vice President for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), told Gadget that demand is rising rapidly across the continent:
“It’s not just South Africa. We’re seeing acceleration in East Africa, West Africa, and North Africa too. The need is the same: resilient infrastructure, secure systems, and a partner that will stay the course.”
Cormac Watters, Oracle’s Vice President for Applications in EMEA, described Africa as “a market in motion”:
“Many companies want AI — even if they don’t fully understand it yet. They’re making sure they’re on a platform that allows them to turn it on when they’re ready. That’s the state of mind right now.”
The Road from Cloud to AI
Old Mutual’s experience reflects this shift in mindset. After a successful migration, Ramsamy said the next chapter is embedding AI into the company’s operating model:
“Like many organisations, we’re in the early stages of our AI journey. Our leadership is committed to real business use cases — not just experimentation. Over the next few years, AI will shift from pilot programmes to mainstream applications that drive efficiency, insights, and customer value.”
For Oracle, that evolution from cloud adoption to AI innovation is precisely the transformation it hopes to accelerate across Africa.
“If banks and insurers can achieve faster reporting, stronger compliance, and meaningful AI-driven insights,” Sicilia said, “the rest of the market will follow.”
A Regional Inflection Point
As Africa’s enterprises navigate cost, compliance, and capability challenges, Oracle’s strategy — combining AI-ready infrastructure with proven industry solutions — positions it to anchor the continent’s digital evolution.
For companies like Old Mutual, the journey demonstrates that AI success begins with cloud confidence — and that the future of African enterprise will be written on data-driven, cloud-native foundations.
