Oracle AI World – Day 3

Day 3 was the last day of Oracle AI World and whilst it was only a half day, it was one of my favourites! We all breakfast together, before going our separate ways. It was a lovely start to the day. I managed to fit in two sessions, one on AI Powered EPM and the final one was Amplifying Human Potential. I had lunch with lots of my fellow ACE program members, before we all went off on our ACE Adventure to the Atomic Museum.

The first session was on AI Powered EPM. Not only was the customer panel hosted by Marc Seewald, the EPM Product Manager, but I was able to sit in the front row next to Andy King, the King of EPM. I was surrounded by extensive EPM experience and it was extremely interesting. I particularly liked the inclusion of Andrew, the VP of Finance at Oracle. It was really interesting to hear his perspective on the value EPM brings to Oracle’s internal Finance processes.

All members of the Panel had extensive experience of Finance Transformation. EPM has been a fundamental part of their financial planning, albeit in different areas. As an EPM novice, it was really interesting to hear the different ways EPM has added value. It definitely has made me want to find out more about EPM. Hopefully I can share my learnings in the future.

The second, and last session of the day was Amplifying Human Potential. Again it was a panel discussion, this time about using HCM Cloud to improve business processes. As a HCM Nerd who loves innovation,  this was definitely the session for me.

It was a really good panel, Julie has a HCM background,  Kamwin has a systems background and Paul recently led an implementation of Recruiting Cloud. It was a great balance of Oracle experience and system viewpoints.

Not only was the knowledge sharing from the panel really inspiring, what I took away most from the session was how much I love the HCM Cloud community. During the Q&A at the end, a number of people asked for advice. One key question was around how to handle incorporating innovation when the organisation had only just gone live and were struggling to keep on top of BAU work. The panel were very reassuring and provided personal experiences,  but so did the audience. A number of people, myself included, stopped to speak to the question asker at the end to provide advice and reassurance. I highlighted the importance of Cloud Success Navigator as they could record the new features that are of interest on their roadmap, then review them in the future when they feel in a better place to start switching on additional functionality. The general conversation and support given made me very proud of the community.

I can’t believe this is the end of my AI World blogs. I hope you found them all interesting. I’d love to hear what you think. Thanks for joining me on this journey.

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Oracle AI World – Day 2 Part 2

Welcome to second blog on Day 2 from Oracle AI World. My earlier post on the HCM and EPM sessions from Day 2 can be found here. This post focuses on Steve Miranda’s Key Note, which I was fortunate enough to sit in the front row for.

As a Functional Consultant, Steve Miranda’s keynote was a must see. For those of you who don’t know, Steve is the Executive VP of Applications Development.

This slide was a good summary of the overall content of the Keynote. Fusion Apps are designed to cover all functionality that a customer needs, but continues to bring continuous innovation in areas that customers want and most importantly,  Oracle are completely focused on solutions that will enable customers to succeed in their aims. There was one statement that really resonated, “we are hyperfocused on growth”. This shows the commitment that Oracle are making to developing Fusion Apps but also to their customers.

Oracle don’t only provide HCM, ERP, SCM and EPM solutions, which is what a lot of customers think of, but there are numerous industry specific solutions that are available as well. As mentioned in previous sessions, Oracle Apps have the benefits on having AI available throughout the technology stack. It has embedded AI in the actual applications, but also Oracle incorporates AI into their databases and infrastructure,  all of which Fusion uses. The addition of the flexibility that is now available in selecting the AI Large Language Models (LLMs) that customers can use, gives Oracle customers a significant advantage over users of non-Oracle ERP solutions. For other solutions, AI has generally been an afterthought, and there certainly isn’t the option to pick the LLM that best meets the need of the organisation,  usually it is decided for you.

Whilst this slide was also shown in the Partner Summit, it reiterates that Oracle have AI solutions across all aspects of Fusion, but not just within the functional space, there’s additional AI functionality embedded into the development tools that Oracle offers too. The fact that customers can use the same functionality that the Oracle Dev team uses, for example VBS and AI Agent Studio, shows that Oracle are supporting their customers to extend their applications with the best tools possible.

Its remarkable to consider how much progress Oracle have made in their AI journey. I did know it had progressed rapidly, but this time line really brought it all home. To think we’ve moved from the introduction of the first AI Assistant in 2023, to the AI Agent Studio and Marketplace in 2 years is phenomenal. Whilst I know Oracle won’t be resting on their laurels, its hard to think where they can go to next. Having said that, Oracle have reassured us that there will always be a ‘Human in the Loop’.

This is an eye watering number and I think it should be appreciated. At Oracle CloudWorld in London in March, Steve announced there would be 100 AI Agents developed in 2025, 7 months later and there are over 600! It should be caveated that 400 are within Fusion and the remaining 200 are across the Industry specific solutions. On top of this, there are a significant number of AI Agents available on the AI Agent Marketplace that was announced this week. As more Partners have their AI Agents vetted by Oracle, this number will continue to grow. This means the development of AI Agents will increase two fold, by Oracle’s in house Development Team but also by third parties who can share their own solutions on the Marketplace. This gives customers the greatest flexibility in obtaining the latest technology in AI Agents without the need to have internal development resource.

This screenshot shows the flexibility of LLMs that Oracle now allow users to utilise in their AI Agents. As the image shows, when creating or modifying an AI Agent, on the Credentials tab,  you can select the appropriate LLM and enter the relevant key. It should be noted that some options can only be used with the premium options and therefore aren’t free.

Steve also reiterated that Oracle will never share customer’s data via AI tools as it always remains within customer’s systems, but equally as importantly Oracle will never use a customer’s data to train their LLMs. This is a frequent question that customers often ask, so it was really good to have this reiterated.

That wraps up my summary of Day 2 at Oracle AI World in Las Vegas 2025. Day 3 was a short one, but was one of my favourites. Please keep a look out for my blog on this which will be coming imminently.

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Oracle AI World – Day 2 Part 1

Day 2 was a jam packed day! I started with a session on using AI to accelerate HR processes; had another wander around the stands learning about all the upcoming features, attended Steve Miranda’s inspirational Key Note and finished the day with a session on AI use in EPM, which is a product I’m trying to learn more about. It was also the day of the Oracle ACE dinner and the party with Def Leppard, but I was so tired I gave the party a miss! There was so much happening on Day 2 that I’ve had to split it out into 2 blogs. This one will cover Accelerating HR with AI and EPM and AI. Steve Miranda’s key note will be in the second blog.

As soon as I saw Nancy Estell Zoder was presenting this session, I knew I wanted to see it. Having attended the Partner Day following Oracle CloudWorld in London, Nancy was a really dynamic presenter and it made me want to attend this one, I wasn’t disappointed! There was the added bonus of Jon MacGoy presenting too.

The overall introduction was really interesting. As someone who loves a stat, I loved hearing how successful the HCM Cloud product has been this year. It also recapped the breadth of the product, which whilst it is known by most, it’s always helpful to see the info graphic listing them all and how they relate to each other.

The feature that Jon demoed was one of my absolute favourites of the whole conference. Oracle are introducing a new way to use Journeys, Personal Journeys. If a user has some tasks they wish to carry out, but don’t want to write a to do list to remind them, Oracle have now provided a systemised solution. A user can now add tasks to a Personal Journey and create their own custom checklist of activities. On top of this, an AI Agent can be used to make the creation of the Personal Journey more streamlined. By asking what tasks do I have outstanding, the AI Agent will generate a Personal Journey that will incorporate all outstanding tasks that the user wishes.

AI World has really triggered an interest in EPM. I’ve enjoyed discussions with Product Managers, colleagues and other attendees on EPM. Given this, I was very keen to learn more about AI use in EPM. The session was a customer forum, but was really interactive. Numerous questions were asked of the audience who responded by displaying paddles with responses on.

It was an interesting discussion giving the perspective from both IT and Finance. The key points were the speed and accuracy of Financial Planning, which was cumbersome prior to the use of EPM. It has definitely triggered a lot more questions for me, which I will do further research on. When I do, I will share it with you!

That wraps up my summary of the first part of Day 2 at Oracle AI World in Las Vegas 2025. Keep an eye for more posts, as I’ll be sharing write-ups from Steve Miranda’s key note and also from day 3.

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Oracle AIWorld – Day 1

Day 1 was a completely different experience to Day 0. The crowds descended, and to be honest, it was a bit overwhelming. On Day 0, I had the freedom to drop into any session I fancied; by Day 1, everything was packed and sessions were full to the brim. Rather than resting on my laurels, I took the opportunity to explore the exhibition stands, chat with Oracle Product Managers, and get a sneak peek at what’s coming soon in the Fusion product line.

My background is in HCM, so I really appreciated the chance to speak with the ERP and SCM Product Owners and watch their demos, which, unsurprisingly, centred around AI Agents. There’s been a fair bit of frustration among customers over the limited AI functionality in the ERP space, so I’m genuinely pleased to see how much is now in the pipeline. There are some brilliant AI Agents on the horizon, and it’s clear that ERP customers have a lot to look forward to.

The big Key Note of Day 0 was Larry Ellison! Sadly he wasn’t able to join us in the room, but his presence was still very much felt! The key points that I immediately think of are the innovations that Larry and Oracle have been involved in, but might not directly impact our work in Fusion, but actually listening back to it, there were a number of changes covered that actually are relevant to us all.

I think this slide is particularly significant. It highlights that Oracle isn’t just focused on training AI models, but also on developing AI Reasoning. If, like me, you weren’t familiar with the term, AI Reasoning refers to the ability of AI systems to apply logic to analyse information, draw inferences, and reach conclusions, essentially mimicking human thought processes. It goes beyond basic pattern recognition by using structured logic and knowledge to solve problems, make decisions, and deliver transparent, explainable outputs. This approach will enhance the quality of AI Agents and, in turn, improve the experience for all Oracle Fusion users.

This is another crucial point. Many organisations are understandably concerned about how their data is handled when using AI. It’s reassuring to know that not only is your organisation’s data not shared, but it’s also not used to train Oracle’s AI models. Another exciting development is the flexibility around which AI models can be used. You’re no longer limited to a single provider, Fusion AI Agents now support models from OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, xAI and Meta. So, if your organisation has a preferred or approved model, there’s a much greater chance it can be integrated seamlessly.

This slide really captures the essence of Larry’s announcements. Oracle stands out by offering a complete stack, infrastructure, database, and applications, all from a single provider. On top of that, there are industry-specific solutions, such as those tailored for healthcare. By choosing a fully integrated Oracle solution, organisations can ensure they’re getting the most out of the available AI functionality. It’s a exciting proposition for customers looking to maximise value and innovation.

Larry’s passion was unmistakable throughout his keynote, but I’ve aimed to keep this focused on the key takeaways that matter most to Oracle users. If you get the chance, I’d highly recommend watching the keynote back online, the future really is here. Keep an eye out over the next few days, as I’ll be sharing write-ups from the remaining two days of the event. There’s plenty more insight and innovation still to come.

Oracle AI World – Day 0 Part 1

I’d never been to Vegas before, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. It’s a city that’s often described in extremes, and I was curious to see how it would all unfold. Thankfully, Oracle made the transition smooth with their Partner-focused Day 0 sessions, which offered a relaxed and informative start to what promised to be a busy and exciting week.

The first session was a brilliant way to kick things off, featuring none other than the AI legend himself, Chris Leone. If you’ve even a passing interest in how AI is being used within Fusion Apps, you’ll know exactly who Chris is. I was incredibly fortunate to hear him speak in an small setting alongside a group of fellow partners, where he shared insights, which led to lots of interesting discussions afterwards.

The big announcement from Oracle AI World for Fusion Applications was the launch of the AI Agent Studio Marketplace. Chris gave us an early preview ahead of the official reveal later in the week. In essence, it’s an App Store for Fusion AI Agents, allowing third parties to showcase and share the agents they’ve developed, while customers can browse and purchase those that meet their needs. This opens up exciting possibilities for organisations to access ready-made AI Agents for use cases where Oracle hasn’t yet built a native solution.

One statement that really stood out for me was: “2026 is the year to operationalise AI.” It struck a chord, especially as so many organisations have told me they’re keen to adopt AI but struggle to justify it with a clear business case. Often, the ‘why’ hasn’t been considered — it’s simply a case of needing AI because senior leadership says so. What’s exciting about AI within Oracle Fusion Applications is that it changes this narrative entirely. The AI isn’t bolted on as an afterthought; it’s embedded within the core applications, designed to enhance everyday business processes seamlessly. With Oracle’s quarterly release cycle, there’s no room to rest on your laurels — innovation is constant. The AI functionality is a key driver in this ongoing cycle of continuous improvement.

The second session of the morning was a long one, but packed with valuable insights. As soon as I saw that it included the Cloud Success Navigator, I knew I was in the right place! I even persuaded my colleague Marc to join me so he could see just how brilliant the tool is. It was also a real pleasure to finally meet Lorin Bookout in person, after having exchanged messages with her for so long — putting a face to the name made the experience all the more rewarding.

The core focus of the session was on how Oracle Customer Success Services can collaborate with Partners to deliver the best possible outcomes for our customers. The Cloud Success Navigator has played a pivotal role in enabling this three-way success, so it was encouraging to hear that Oracle Customer Success Services are embedding this collaborative approach across everything they do. It’s a clear sign that the commitment to partnership and customer value isn’t just a talking point — it’s being actively put into practice.

The introduction to Cloud Success Navigator was very well received in the room. Having been involved since the pilot phase and watching it grow into such a powerful tool has been genuinely rewarding. That said, I was quite surprised by how many organisations admitted they weren’t using it yet. It’s clear there’s still work to be done in raising awareness and helping teams understand the value it can bring.

The demo of Success Navigator was very well received by the audience, but the real highlight was the new AI functionality that went live just a few weeks ago. Rather than having to trawl through Oracle documentation or Cloud Customer Connect to find answers, you can now simply enter your query into Success Navigator’s chatbot and get an instant response, complete with links to the source material. What’s more, this functionality is available to customers in the UK Gov Cage, who don’t yet have access to the full suite of Oracle AI features within Fusion Applications, as it operates as a standalone tool. This means UK Gov Cage customers can begin exploring Oracle’s AI capabilities sooner than they might have expected, giving them a valuable head start.

All in all, it was a brilliant start to my first AI World experience. If you enjoyed this, do keep an eye out for my second blog from Day 0, coming soon! I’ll be covering the key takeaways from the Partner Summit held that afternoon — definitely not one to miss.

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Redwood Updates from Oracle HCM Cloud CoE Summit

I’ve already blogged about the Key Note from Chris Leone that kicked off the HCM Cloud Centre of Excellence Customer Summit. If you haven’t seen it, check it out here. The main themes for the summit were AI and Redwood. The ‘Jump Into Redwood Session’ with Laura Froehlich and Todd Wall was extremely interesting and a good follow up to the key note on the first day.

Having recently completed my Prosci Certified Change Practioner qualification, I was delighted when the session kicked off with ‘Why Change’. I think this question is often skipped because it’s a mandated change from Oracle, but as there are so many benefits to moving to Redwood, it’s a really important question. It’s true that change can be scary and users and organisations can be reluctant to do so, but there are so many advantages when you embrace that change.

One of the key benefits is the integration of AI. It’s so fundamental to the way businesses anticipate operating, a number of customers have added objectives to their team to incorporate AI into their daily work. Oracle are making it so much easier to achieve this goal by embedding AI and AI Agents into the Redwood applications. Whilst not everyone wants to use AI, Oracle have incorporated in such a way it can appease both those who do and those who don’t want to use AI. For those who don’t want to use it, it is delivered switched off. For those that do, a quick change to the page in VB Studio, involving ticking a box and publishing it and you have AI embedded in the particular page. It really is that easy! It should be noted that AI functionality is not available to all users, it depends on the server / region the organisation is in. Those in the UK Government Cage cannot access it at present, but it will be available in 2025.

When talking to customers about the new features being delivered in a particular quarterly release, they often only apply to the Redwood versions of the pages. So, if you want the latest functionality, switching to Redwood is your only option. The final key benefit is the improved performance Redwood brings. This wasn’t just a ‘lift and shift’ project to create the Redwood pages, they were completely rewritten from scratch in a new toolset.

5 Myths about Redwood

One of the stand out parts of the session was the 5 myths about Redwood. Some I’ve heard before and some I haven’t, but I thought they were interesting and I wanted to share them with you. The first one about the profile options being automatically switched on when reaching the the quarterly update uptake date is actually a complex one. Whilst the quarterly release date is when it is mandatory to have made the move, it’s not actually delivered switched on. If you raise an SR after the uptake date, the analyst will advise you to move to the Redwood page, as the non-Redwood pages are out of support. One key announcement during this session was that in 25B, Learn will be delivered switched on in Redwood and in 25C, Timecards will be delivered with Redwood switched on. Whilst this isn’t on the uptake date, it’s 2-3 quarters later, it does mean that at some point Redwood will be automatically switched on for all organisations.

The second myth is around the product not being ready yet and therefore there is no point in starting work on testing and personalising pages. Whilst new features are constantly being released in Redwood, the uptake date is just that, the date you should have made the move for that module, it’s not a date to start making the move. The third myth is that it’s a massive and complex reimplementation. The move is only complex if the organisation chooses to make it such. It is possible to switch on the Redwood pages, make the appropriate security changes, migrate personalisations (using the Personalisation Helper Tool), test and deploy. If you wish to make it more complex by revisiting features that weren’t previously implemented or fundamentally change your existing configuration, this is when it becomes a reimplementation.

The fourth myth is that Redwood is optional. It really isn’t, if you wish to continue being in support, you must make the move. As announced on the session, eventually Oracle will force Redwood on users by delivering it switched on. It’s better to do it early so you’ve got time to test and update users as once it’s automatically applied, it will be too late. The final myth is not one I’ve come across, but that organisations are going to wait until ERP and SCM is available in Redwood, before moving HCM over. It might be because I’ve been regularly discussing the disparity between the timelines of ERP and HCM in terms of Redwood, that I haven’t heard this discussion before. With regards to SCM, Self Service Procurement is mandatory in Redwood from 25C, so this is on a similar timeline to HCM anyway.

The final item I want to share from the session is the Redwood Adoption Checklist. This is really helpful to remind us all of the steps involved in moving to Redwood. If you’re anything like me, you’ll love ticking items off the list!

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Key Highlights from Oracle’s HCM Cloud Centre of Excellence Summit

This week was the HCM Cloud Centre of Excellence Customer Summit. This was my first one, but I believe it was Oracle’s fifth summit. Oracle tried to be as inclusive as possible with the timings to accommodate different time zones, but I will be honest the 4-9pm UK time was a bit tricky to juggle, but I was able to go to every session and I’m really glad I did.

Chris Leone, the EVP of HCM and SCM apps development kicked things off. Some of the things announced on Chris’ key note were so new, the session couldn’t be recorded. It’s always a delight to hear Chris speak, he’s so passionate about Cloud Apps and makes you want to join him on his journey. As you would expect, the theme of the whole summit was Redwood and AI as these are the main two key areas of interest from HCM Cloud customers at the moment.

It was nice to get a recap on the functionality that Redwood brings, both embedded within the new pages, but also the ability to extend them using VBS. There was a recap on the Personalisation Helper Tool, both for HCM and SCM. If you don’t know what this is, check out my earlier blog on the tool. If you’ve never used it, I would recommend you check it out!

The piece that excited me the most, was the AI. We’ve all heard of Gen AI, check out my earlier blog on the use of it within Oracle HCM Cloud, if you missed it. Agentic AI takes it to the next level and I’m delighted that Oracle are incorporating it into their applications. Agentic AI is a type of AI that can independently make decisions and solve problems. It takes Machine Learning (ML), Large Language Models (LLM) and Enterprise Automation to create agents that can learn and adapt over time. The slide above refers to RAG based agents, but what are they? RAG stands for Retrieval Augmented Generation and RAG agents are part of RAG applications, which combine external data retrieval with LLMs to generate answers to user queries. In terms of practical application, the AI Agents can complete tasks autonomously, but also know when to loop in an actual user, either for approvals or review.

Oracle already have all of the above AI Agents available now. They can be activated in any process flow that supports Guided Journeys. This is just the start though, Oracle are in the process of developing more AI Agents, with plans for Agentic Agents too, for solutions such as sourcing candidates and scheduling interviews in Recruit and Succession Planning within Talent.

It’s a very exciting time in the Oracle HCM Cloud world and I can’t wait to see all the upcoming AI developments. I’ve got so many things to share from the Summit, so keep an eye out for more blogs. I’ll also write more updates on AI as Oracle announce them.

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UKOUG Conference Discover 2024 – Key Learnings Part 1

I attended my first ever UKOUG conference in Birmingham this week and it was a wonderful experience. Sadly I was only able to attend one day of the three, but I certainly made the most of it. I managed to squeeze in 1 key note, 5 sessions and also present my own paper! I reunited with old colleagues and contacts and made lots of new connections. I came home buzzing and looking forward to putting my new learnings into action.

I arrived on Monday morning just in time to hear the Opening Keynote where Leona Chauhan put questions to Jason Bowers and Jeremy Tricker from Oracle. It was really interesting to hear what their priorities are for 2025, particularly given my focus on Fusion, what Jeremy discussed really resonated with me. Customer Success is a fundamental part of Oracle’s plans for the next year. Jeremy and his relatively newly created team are ensuring that their customer’s success is at the heart of everything Oracle do. Unsurprisingly there was discussion on AI, and how Oracle are embedding Gen AI into all aspects of their applications, both On Premise and Cloud. The strength of data linked in with the use of AI are fundamental in allowing the use of Oracle products to develop.

The first session I attended was driven by my passion for all things ESG and my desire to know more about EPM Cloud. You might not know this, but I’m the Environmental Champion for my office location. I’ve been aware of the ESG reporting functionality within EPM, but didn’t know anything about it.

Imagine my delight to discover that the session was being presented by the Queen of ESG Reporting – Saloni Ramakrishna from Oracle. She walked us through all of the complexities of ESG reporting, for example individual country’s legislation; industry specific legislation; the different rating systems that are used. When organisations are operating within multiple legislations and / or industries, this becomes even more complex.

Saloni’s passion was infectious and her understanding of the balance of ESG within a business is difficult. The ethics within a business context is fundamentally different to ethics and sustainability within your personal life. Having a low carbon footprint etc is important, but it is redundant if the costs associated means the business can no longer operate.

I found the factors that drive organisations to be more sustainable particularly interesting. In addition to the potential statutory requirements to achieve, there are other factors. The fact that it is being investor driven delighted me. Additionally consumer demand is a significant part. The key one was that over 50% of US students would take a lower salary to work for an organisation who prioritised sustainability.

So what does Oracle provide? The ESG reporting part of EPM Cloud provides the full end to end process and is included in all EPM Cloud licences with no extra cost. The tool can help you gather your ESG data, blend this data to create a unified view of your data. It also incorporates statutory requirements to ensure that the required data is stored. The ESG reporting incorporates Machine Learning to model, predict and plan your ESG data. The final process is the production of both internal and external reports, which can be used to drive business change.

The final part of the session covered use cases for utilising Gen AI within ESG. Given the huge focus on Gen AI and the forward thinking ESG product within EPM Cloud, it’s not surprising the tool incorporated AI. The use cases showing the predictive tools for the maintenance of wind turbines, was particularly of interest. Being able to predict maintenance requirements and acting early has saved an energy company both money and downtime.

Saloni’s key takeaways were important for all businesses, irrelevant of whether they are using EPM Cloud or not. Firstly that ESG is not something that will only impact people in the future, it has a direct impact on people and businesses now. Those who ignore ESG might find their role or organisation ceases to be required. Secondly technology is at the heart of managing ESG, and particularly utilising Gen AI to predict changes that are coming will improve processes. The final point is that businesses shouldn’t just implement ESG policies because they have to, there are so many other benefits too.

I learned so much on Monday that it would be too long a post to cover in one. I’ll do a follow up to this blog shortly, so please keep an eye out for it.

About the Author:

Kate Mead is an Oracle-certified HCM Consultant and Solution Architect at Version 1 with 155 years of experience in Oracle HR and Payroll systems, including 8 years with Oracle HCM Cloud. She has worked across implementation projects and managed services, has a sound knowledge of UK Payroll legislation and — before becoming a consultant — was an HR Manager.

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