Oracle launches AI consulting practice with OpenAI

Oracle has launched an AI consulting practice built on OpenAI technology. The unit will sit within Oracle Customer Success Services.

The new Oracle AI Services Practise is intended to help customers develop, deploy and scale AI systems across business applications, cloud infrastructure, data platforms and security operations. Oracle's consulting teams will lead customer engagements, while OpenAI will help train those teams on its models and tools.

The move comes as large organisations shift from testing AI tools to using them in day-to-day operations. Oracle said customers want faster deployment, tighter cost control and clearer business results as they expand AI use across more of their operations.

Four areas

The practice will focus on four main areas. The first is Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications, where customers will be able to use OpenAI models to build AI agents with Oracle AI Agent Studio for Fusion Applications and support work inside Oracle Fusion Agentic Applications.

Customers will be able to use built-in OpenAI models or bring their own large language models through supported OpenAI connections. Oracle's consultants will support customisation, development, testing, evaluation, model selection and cost management.

The second area covers AI application development on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Customers will be able to use OpenAI Codex and OpenAI APIs with OCI Enterprise AI to build and manage production systems, while Oracle consultants support implementation, connections to company data and post-deployment operations.

A third area focuses on enterprise data. Oracle said it will help customers use Oracle AI Data Platform, Oracle AI Database and Oracle Autonomous AI Lakehouse with foundation models, including those from OpenAI, to build AI applications and agents that work across internal and external data sources.

The fourth area covers security testing. Oracle AI Security Mesh uses OpenAI cyber models to help customers identify and address vulnerabilities across Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, other cloud systems and on-premises environments before those weaknesses are exploited.

Customers will define where testing is authorised and set its scope, while Oracle manages safeguards designed to reduce the risk of outages or disruption during testing.

Customer support

Oracle said the practice is designed to support customers through the full AI adoption process. That includes identifying where AI could have the greatest impact, testing and validating systems, linking them to enterprise data and workflows, setting governance controls, building staff skills and supporting continued use after deployment.

As part of that process, Oracle Customer Success Services will use its Innovation Studios to advise on industry and technology trends and identify potential AI use cases. Specialists will then design, build, test and deploy systems using OpenAI technology, and continue to help customers manage, monitor and secure them after launch.

Training plan

Oracle also plans to train and certify one million developers and professionals on OpenAI technology and products through Oracle University, working with OpenAI. The programme is intended to cover consultants, customers and partners.

The curriculum will include role-based learning for technical and functional roles, hands-on Codex training, AI engineering courses focused on enterprise use cases and Oracle University certifications. Oracle said the aim is to build practical expertise among the people who design, implement and run Oracle systems.

The scale of that target underlines how strongly major technology groups are tying professional services and training to AI software sales. Companies that once sold cloud software and infrastructure as stand-alone tools are increasingly packaging consulting, governance and workforce training around AI deployments as customers seek help moving from pilot projects to broader roll-outs.

Oracle said the investment is meant to strengthen internal customer teams as well as its own consulting and partner network. These efforts are intended to address issues including implementation, security, governance, adoption and ongoing operations.

For Oracle, the new practice also deepens its commercial alignment with OpenAI by linking OpenAI models and coding tools more closely to Oracle applications, infrastructure and support services. OpenAI will contribute expertise in its technology as Oracle prepares its customer-facing teams for delivery.

Enterprise AI adoption depends on skilled people who understand both AI and the business processes it is meant to improve, Oracle said.