This week, I was thrilled to finally make it to Las Vegas for Oracle AI World, our annual customer conference! More than 15,000 people descended on the Venetian to explore the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and enterprise technology. I've been trying to attend this event since joining Oracle in 2015, but something always seemed to get in the way. Eleven years later, I finally made it! Apparently, the future of AI was willing to wait for me.
I've loved attending technology conferences ever since I got started in this crazy industry 33 years ago. There's something exciting about getting a firsthand look at new technologies that can change how people live, work, and create things we never thought possible. I've seen some incredible innovations over the years, but AI feels like an entirely different animal. It's as if someone took everything I already loved about technology, put it on steroids, and removed the speed limit. I can't wait to see where this takes us!
Generative AI is exciting, but I think Physical AI is where things will really get nuts. I saw three robots roaming the conference, including this little guy who navigated the crowds all by himself. He'd stop just short of running into someone, then look up like they were the idiot blocking his path. Imagine when these things can think and communicate like ChatGPT while actually doing useful chores around the house! I'm ready to embrace our robot overlords, provided they can fold laundry, clean toilets, and don't expect a tip.
Since Oracle acquired Cerner a few years ago, healthcare has become a huge focus for the company. Larry Ellison devoted his entire keynote to sharing personal stories and his ambitious vision for AI in medicine, including the possibility of eliminating cancer within the next 5–10 years. One fascinating exhibit was this ambulance of the future, demonstrating how AI and connected medical technology could help emergency responders diagnose and treat patients before they even reach the hospital. Pretty amazing stuff! Although I'm still hoping they figure out how to make hospital gowns that cover your entire backside.
Ever since Oracle partnered with Red Bull Racing, you can't attend an Oracle event without seeing a Formula 1 car. Fine with me! It's a great symbol of high-performance engineering, and Oracle's technology actually helps the team win races. Using Oracle Cloud, Red Bull ran an astonishing 6 billion race strategy simulations per race in 2025, helping engineers make split-second decisions about tires, pit stops, and changing conditions. They're even using Oracle technology to develop their engines. Pretty cool seeing what the cloud can accomplish when every millisecond counts!
They even had these awesome racing simulators where you could get behind the wheel of a Red Bull F1 car and see how badly you'd embarrass yourself on a virtual racetrack. I was seriously tempted to jump in line, but figured I should leave the fun to our customers. With my luck, my manager would walk by at the exact moment I was crashing into a wall, wondering why Oracle was paying me to play video games in Las Vegas. Apparently, that's called a customer experience when you're a customer and a performance improvement plan when you're an employee.
The highlight of my week was Oracle CEO Clay Magouyrk's OCI keynote. I got a firsthand look at some incredible new technologies I'll actually get to sell, including exciting AI solutions we're developing with OpenAI. Then, to everyone's surprise, Sam Altman himself walked onstage to discuss the partnership and where AI is headed next! I'd shown up early to snag a good seat and ended up sitting about 50 yards from two of the people helping shape the future of technology. After 33 years in this industry, it's pretty cool to still have moments that make me feel like a kid in a candy store!
Back home, we had another fun adventure with our good friends Sue and Ron Korkowski at Can Can Wonderland in St. Paul. This wonderfully bizarre underground playground features artist-designed mini golf, vintage arcade games, and enough psychedelic decorations to make you question what somebody slipped into your drink. One of the things we love about Sue and Ron is that they're always up for an adventure, and between the four of us, there's never a shortage of crazy ideas! It's nice having friends who don't immediately change their phone numbers whenever someone suggests another ridiculous outing.
The Timberwolves season is underway again, and Miss Sheri and I have already enjoyed a couple of games from our new seats this year! We were excited to see what this team could accomplish, but naturally, the basketball gods couldn't let us enjoy that optimism for more than about five minutes. Anthony Edwards needed surgery and is expected to miss a couple of months, which really sucks when he's the guy you most want to watch. Being a Minnesota sports fan is basically a lifelong experiment to determine how much disappointment one person can absorb before losing their mind. There's always something!
We came into the new Timberwolves season with some pretty high expectations, especially with Anthony Edwards getting some exciting new teammates like LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga. In my first game I got to see LaMelo score 24 points, Jaden McDaniels add 23, and the Wolves absolutely demolish the Clippers 127-101. Even without Ant, there's clearly plenty of talent on this team. They're sitting at 4-3 right now, so I'm hoping they can hang around .500 until our superstar returns, then go on a massive run into the playoffs. I've already started mentally preparing for our first championship parade. You'd think I'd learn by now!
