Jim Grisanzio and Sandesh Rao in Pune, India, during the Oracle Groundbreakers India Yatra (“Journey”), July 2019.

Sandesh Rao has always been focused on solving complex problems. He’s an Oracle vice president for AIOps and machine learning for Oracle Autonomous Database, and one of the most dynamic personalities you’ll meet when mixing with Oracle’s customers and database development communities.

Sandesh’s team builds advanced tools to automate systems throughout the stack supporting Oracle Autonomous Database—tools that fix problems before the customer even knows there was a problem. According to Sandesh, that’s where AI really comes in handy.

Clearly, he loves this stuff. In this wide-ranging discussion, Sandesh talks about Oracle’s latest technologies in the AIOps space, how he manages diverse technical teams, how he deals with change and motivation, and how industry trends are changing absolutely everything everybody does. Obviously, those meta changes have been accelerating since the pandemic because more and more people are using more AI-based systems to get work done virtually.

“Some things that used to take three days to do, now take three hours,” he says. “That’s a huge savings. So instead of doing things myself to help each customer individually, I build tools and ecosystems that can actually help hundreds of thousands of people to do their jobs way more effectively.”

But it’s not all about leveraging automation technology to do more at work. It’s also about engaging with development communities, such as Oracle User Groups and Oracle ACEs. Sandesh values these interactions tremendously. He’s constantly talking about how important personal relationships are in technology—and in life.

There’s more, of course. More tech, more perspectives. Give a listen to the discussion, and let us know what you think. Cheers.