An Incredible Week at ASCEND 2026

Another ASCEND conference is in the books, and what an incredible week it was!

Datavail was proud to sponsor ASCEND 2026, held June 8–11 at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, where Oracle users, technology leaders, partners, and industry experts came together to explore the future of enterprise technology.

Hosted by the Oracle Applications & Technology Users Group (OATUG) and Oracle HCM Users Group (OHUG), ASCEND continues to be one of the premier events for Oracle professionals looking to learn, collaborate, and prepare for what’s next.

From insightful keynotes and educational sessions to hands-on discussions in the exhibit hall, this year’s conference reinforced one clear message: organizations are moving beyond talking about artificial intelligence and they’re actively looking for practical ways to apply it to solve real business challenges.

Meaningful Conversations Across the Oracle Community

One of the greatest aspects of ASCEND 2026 is the opportunity to connect directly with Oracle customers and partners. Throughout the conference, our team had the chance to meet with organizations from a wide range of industries, each at different stages of their Oracle Cloud journey.

Whether they were planning new Oracle Cloud implementations, preparing for quarterly updates, optimizing existing environments, or exploring AI-powered capabilities, many attendees shared remarkably similar priorities.

Among the most common topics we discussed were:

• Accelerating Oracle Cloud adoption
• Simplifying quarterly release management
• Reducing manual effort across IT operations
• Improving testing and governance
• Leveraging AI responsibly
• Modernizing business processes without increasing risk

These conversations highlighted a shift in mindset. Rather than asking whether AI has a place in enterprise applications, organizations are now focused on identifying where AI can deliver measurable business value first.

AI Moves from Buzzword to Business Strategy

Artificial intelligence was impossible to miss throughout ASCEND 2026.

Across educational sessions, customer presentations, and conversations on the show floor, AI emerged as a central theme—not as a futuristic concept, but as a practical technology already helping organizations automate routine work, improve decision-making, and accelerate digital transformation.

For Oracle Cloud customers, this means looking beyond isolated automation projects toward intelligent systems that continuously learn, adapt, and improve operational efficiency.

The excitement surrounding AI was balanced by thoughtful discussions about governance, change management, and ensuring technology complements people rather than replacing them. Organizations are seeking solutions that improve productivity while maintaining confidence, compliance, and business continuity.

Sharing a New Approach to Oracle Cloud Testing

One of the highlights of the week for Datavail was presenting our breakout session: From 3 Weeks to 3 Days: Transforming Oracle Cloud Testing at Scale – The Agentic AI Revolution in Oracle Cloud QA.

Pramod Alluri, VP of Strategy & Solutions at Datavail, and Adam Jones, Principal of Innovation & Excellence at Opkey, shared how Oracle Cloud customers are moving from manual regression testing to autonomous, AI-driven quality assurance. Rather than presenting theory, they showcased three real customer journeys that revealed a consistent pattern for success.

Traditional regression testing often requires weeks of manual effort, making it difficult for organizations to keep up with Oracle’s rapid innovation cycle. Our presentation introduced a different approach by using Agentic AI to create intelligent testing systems capable of adapting, learning, and executing with minimal human intervention.

Rather than relying on static automation scripts that frequently require maintenance, autonomous testing can continuously validate critical business processes, identify potential issues earlier, and dramatically reduce the effort required to prepare for each Oracle Cloud release.

The response from attendees confirmed that this challenge resonates across virtually every industry.

From Automation to Autonomous Testing

During the session, we explored how Oracle Cloud testing is evolving beyond traditional automation.

Agentic AI introduces capabilities such as:

• Autonomous regression execution
• Self-healing test assets
• Predictive risk identification
• Intelligent prioritization of test coverage

Combined with Datavail’s Oracle expertise and Testing-as-a-Service (TaaS) delivery model, these capabilities help organizations establish a continuous testing strategy rather than treating testing as a one-time project.

The result is faster release readiness, broader testing coverage, and greater confidence in every Oracle Cloud update.

Looking Ahead

As we reflect on ASCEND 2026, one takeaway stands above the rest: the future of Oracle Cloud isn’t simply about adopting new technology, it’s about applying innovation in ways that create measurable business outcomes.

Whether through AI-powered testing, cloud optimization, managed services, or enterprise transformation, organizations are looking for solutions that improve agility, reduce risk, and allow their teams to focus on higher value work.

The conversations we had throughout ASCEND reaffirmed that this journey is already underway, and we’re excited to continue helping Oracle customers navigate what’s next.

Thank you to everyone who made ASCEND 2026 such a memorable event. We look forward to continuing these conversations throughout the year and we’ll see you at the next Oracle community event! In the meantime, get in touch with our experts.