Innovating Cloud Infrastructure: Pradeep Vincent on Oracle’s Strategy

In an exclusive conversation with Dataquest, Pradeep Vincent, Chief Architect at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), delves deep into Oracle’s cloud strategy, AI innovations, and the role of dedicated regions in enterprise cloud adoption. He discusses how OCI is uniquely positioned to cater to enterprise clients, the importance of a multi-cloud ecosystem, and how Oracle is expanding its AI capabilities to support businesses in India. The discussion also touches upon GPU shortages, startup ecosystem support, and the broader implications of cloud security in a rapidly evolving tech landscape.

Excerpts:  

DQ: India has seen rapid cloud adoption across industries. How does Oracle differentiate itself in this highly competitive market with hyperscalers like AWS and Microsoft Azure?  

Pradeep Vincent: Oracle has a unique offering, shaped by our deep understanding of enterprise customer needs. When we entered the cloud market, we realized that traditional hyperscalers were not fully catering to enterprise clients. To address this gap, we took a different strategy by launching multiple small cloud regions across different countries, often deploying two regions in each location to ensure disaster recovery (DR) within national boundaries. This approach allows customers to keep their workloads closer to their data. Additionally, Oracle introduced Dedicated Region, a fully operational OCI region deployed within a customer's data center, providing a cloud experience without migration challenges. This has resonated particularly well with customers in India, who require flexible and localized cloud solutions.  

DQ: Many enterprises in India still have legacy IT environments. How is Oracle helping these organizations transition to the cloud without disrupting their existing business processes?  

Pradeep Vincent: This is precisely why we designed Dedicated Region and Alloy. Many organizations struggle to migrate fully to the cloud due to regulatory constraints, legacy system dependencies, and complex on-prem applications. OCI brings cloud infrastructure directly to their on-prem environments, ensuring seamless migration at their own pace. For instance, we have successfully deployed dedicated regions for Vodafone in Europe and NRI in Japan, helping them transition mission-critical workloads with minimal disruption. This model is particularly beneficial for Indian enterprises navigating cloud adoption while maintaining control over their IT landscape.  

DQ: Oracle Supercluster is a powerful infrastructure with over 131,000 CPUs, essential for Gen AI workloads. However, is it cost-heavy for the organization? How is Oracle addressing challenges like GPU shortages and AI model scaling within OCI?  

Pradeep Vincent: While AI infrastructure requires substantial investment, the return on investment (ROI) is significant. AI advancements, such as algorithm optimization and efficiency improvements, are making inference and training more cost-effective. The recent DeepSeek AI developments highlight how AI model efficiency is improving, reducing costs over time. Additionally, Oracle is actively working with industry partners to optimize hardware platforms, particularly low-cost AI infrastructure, making AI workloads more accessible.

On the GPU shortage, it has been a fluctuating issue. While there was a period of scarcity, the situation has improved. Oracle has secured GPU capacity and is collaborating with key partners, including Nvidia, to ensure availability. Moreover, we are investing in alternative AI hardware solutions to provide cost-effective performance at scale.  

DQ: There is a major push toward multi-cloud adoption. How does Oracle position itself in the multi-cloud ecosystem, where enterprises use multiple providers for different workloads?  

Pradeep Vincent: Oracle has been a pioneer in multi-cloud integration. While initial discussions with other cloud providers faced resistance, we recognized early on that enterprises wanted seamless interconnectivity between clouds. We led industry efforts to build direct integrations with Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. OCI now offers deep network integration, low-latency connectivity, identity and billing integration, and unified management across multiple clouds. For example, Oracle Database on Azure allows enterprises to use OCI’s high-performance database services within the Azure environment, managed as if they were native Azure services. This level of integration is unmatched in the industry and demonstrates our commitment to multi-cloud adoption.  

DQ: Oracle has increased its AI investment by 80% in the past year. What are Oracle’s new investment plans for India, particularly in AI, research, and cloud data centers?  

Pradeep Vincent: India is a strategic market for Oracle, and we are expanding our AI and cloud investments significantly. All SaaS customers in India will automatically receive AI functionality, powered by OCI’s infrastructure. We are also deploying additional GPU capacity to support AI workloads, especially for inference tasks. Furthermore, Dedicated Region for AI is gaining traction, ensuring compliance with data sovereignty regulations while providing full-fledged AI capabilities.

We are also expanding cloud data centers in India to support the growing demand for AI-driven solutions. This aligns with the government’s digital transformation initiatives and the increasing reliance on cloud-native AI applications.  

DQ: With India’s booming startup ecosystem, what specific offerings does Oracle have to attract and support AI startups and deep tech ventures?  

Pradeep Vincent: Indian startups are looking for cost-efficient, high-performance AI cloud solutions. Two factors make OCI highly attractive to startups:

• Best-in-class Price-Performance: Startups often operate with tight budgets but require high computing power for AI workloads. OCI offers a compelling balance between cost and performance, making advanced AI processing accessible to early-stage ventures.  
• Integrated AI Capabilities: Startups need AI-ready infrastructure without complexity. OCI provides built-in AI solutions that integrate seamlessly across the stack, allowing startups to focus on innovation rather than infrastructure management.  

We are seeing great traction among Indian AI startups who want scalable, cost-effective cloud solutions without compromising performance.  

DQ: Closing thoughts on Oracle’s long-term vision for OCI?  

Pradeep Vincent: OCI has come a long way, and while we were not the first cloud provider in the market, we had the advantage of learning from the challenges faced by early entrants. Our fresh approach to security-first cloud architecture, dedicated regions, and AI-driven infrastructure puts us in a strong position to support enterprises in their digital transformation.

As AI reshapes industries, OCI is uniquely positioned to combine security, performance, and cloud proximity to meet evolving enterprise needs. We look forward to working closely with Indian businesses and supporting their journey toward innovation and growth.