Oracle AI World – Day 2 Part 2

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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.

Please note all screenshots are the property of Oracle and are used according to their Copyright Guidelines

Oracle AI World – Day 2 Part 1

~ K8 Mead ~ 1 Comment

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.

Please note all screenshots are the property of Oracle and are used according to their Copyright Guidelines

Oracle AIWorld – Day 1

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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 2

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Following on from my previous blog covering Day 0 of Oracle AI World (do give it a read if you haven’t already), this post shifts the focus to the afternoon’s Partner Success Summit. Day 0 served as the partner-focused launch for Oracle AI World, and while my earlier piece explored the morning sessions, this one dives into the insights and highlights from the summit itself.

The session was hosted by Leah Yomtovian and featured insights from Oracle’s new CEOs, Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia, alongside Steve Miranda, Executive Vice President of Applications Development. It was genuinely refreshing to hear directly from such senior leaders about Oracle’s strategic direction and, importantly, how Partners are being positioned within that vision.

What truly sets Oracle apart from other providers is its comprehensive suite of solutions – spanning Applications, Database, and Infrastructure. For Fusion Apps customers, this means we benefit from the best of all three. The platform is powered by OCI and leverages Oracle’s database technology, all of which is designed to scale seamlessly for AI. This enables customers to access cutting-edge innovation straight out of the box, without the need for complex integrations or custom builds.

I’m already a big fan of AI Agent Studio, it offers our customers the flexibility to use out-of-the-box AI Agents or to copy and tailor the seeded ones to suit their needs. I’m also proud to be among the 32,000 individuals who’ve successfully earned their AI Agent Studio certification.

The slide below summarises the impressive functionality that makes up AI Agent Studio. The features shown in white boxes are all new additions since its initial launch in release 25C, highlighting the rapid pace of development Oracle is driving.

One standout capability is Agent Teams, which allow multiple niche AI Agents to be linked together to deliver complex, end-to-end solutions, which is a real game changer. The ability to call REST APIs opens the door to integrating data from third-party systems directly into the AI Agent, creating exciting opportunities for broader integration.

The introduction of a Prompt Library is another brilliant enhancement. It empowers users to be more creative by browsing, copying and tweaking prompts to meet business needs, all without requiring deep coding expertise.

Support for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and xAI means users can now work with their preferred Large Language Models (LLMs), offering even more flexibility for tailored solutions.

Finally, the monitoring tools introduced in release 25D give organisations clear visibility into how AI Agents are performing. This not only ensures optimal usage but also provides senior leadership with confidence in the value of their AI investment.

Oracle is actively exploring how AI can enhance processes across Finance, HR, Supply Chain and Customer Experience, alongside broader innovation in the development space. These advancements are all aimed at boosting productivity, speeding up processing and freeing people from repetitive tasks so they can focus on more strategic work. Since announcing a target of 100 AI Agents in the first year at Oracle CloudWorld London in March 2025, Oracle has far exceeded expectations, with over 600 AI Agents already released. The launch of the AI Agent Marketplace, where third parties can showcase and promote their custom-built AI Agents, adds even more depth to the ecosystem. Combined with the powerful capabilities of OCI AI Services and the Oracle AI Database, the opportunities for innovation and integration are truly phenomenal.

That wraps up my summary of Day 0 at Oracle AI World in Las Vegas 2025. Keep an eye out over the coming days, as I’ll be sharing write-ups from the remaining three days of the event, there’s plenty more insight and innovation to come.

Please note all screenshots are the property of Oracle and are used according to their Copyright Guidelines

Oracle AI World – Day 0 Part 1

~ K8 Mead ~ 1 Comment

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.

Please note all screenshots are the property of Oracle and are used according to their Copyright Guidelines

AI Use in HCM Cloud

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Oracle has just introduced a new set of AI agents within its Fusion Cloud Applications, and they’re set to make a real difference for HR teams. These agents are designed to support HR leaders throughout the entire employee journey—from hiring to retirement—by streamlining processes, improving the employee experience, and freeing up time for more strategic work. Whether you’re in recruitment, management, or part of the wider workforce, these tools are here to make everyday tasks easier and more efficient.

Built into Oracle Fusion Applications and running on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, the AI agents are secure, fast, and included at no extra cost. They’re designed to work seamlessly within your existing workflows, so there’s no need to learn a new system. From helping employees discover internal job opportunities to assisting recruiters with interview scheduling, these agents are all about making HR more intuitive and responsive.

When it comes to career development, Oracle’s new agents offer some genuinely helpful features. Managers can get support with setting and tracking team goals, while employees receive tailored advice on roles that match their skills and aspirations. There’s even a Learning Tutor agent to help employees get more out of training courses, and a Talent Advisor agent that helps managers plan promotions and career growth using real performance data.

Core HR tasks are also getting a boost. Employees can quickly get answers to questions about pay, leave, or benefits through the Employee Concierge agent, while managers have their own version to help with team-related queries. There’s also a Positions Assistant agent that helps HR leaders make smarter staffing decisions by analysing organisational data and policies.

Finally, the agents support the full employee lifecycle, including onboarding, development, and offboarding. The Succession Planning Advisor helps HR teams stay ahead of leadership gaps, and the Payroll Run Analyst keeps payroll running smoothly by flagging anomalies and explaining any issues. Altogether, these AI agents mark a big step forward in making HR more proactive, personalised, and data-driven.

Please note all screenshots are the property of Oracle and are used according to their Copyright Guidelines

Oracle HCM Cloud Learn 25D

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Release 25D has landed, and Oracle are gearing up for phase 2 of Redwood for Learn—this time turning the spotlight on Learn Admin pages, which are mandatory by release 26A. The focus is on making things smoother and smarter when it comes to resources, recommendations, self-paced learning, and external content. With the deadline fast approaching, it’s no surprise there’s a whole bunch of handy features to help you make the switch. Let’s dive in and see what’s new!

If you’re someone who often forgets to reconcile learning assignments, this new feature is for you. With just a quick tweak to a profile value, any course, offering, specialisation, or self-paced learning you kick off will now automatically trigger the reconciliation process. That means all your linked learning assignments stay up to date, saving you from the hassle of mismatched or outdated info.

25D is bringing with it a new unified catalogue listing page, which will be your central location for all your Learn admin tasks. This new feature changes how admin access works for courses, specialisations, and offerings. Once you switch to the single learning catalogue view, courses, offerings, and specialisations will show up on the Learning Catalogue page. Just a heads-up: the old data security rules won’t apply anymore for the following tasks: viewing, managing courses, offerings, or specialisations in the catalogue. If your admins already have full access, there’s nothing you need to do. If you’ve been limiting access to certain items, now’s a great time to simplify things using catalogue administration profiles. Just set up profiles that define who can manage what, replacing the old security roles. Then, link your courses, offerings, and specialisations to the right profile—HCM Data Loader (CourseV3, OfferingV3, and SpecializationV3) can help with bulk updates.

If your organisation uses external learning content, you can now set default visibility rules for each provider, deciding who gets access and how the content shows up in topics and communities. It’s a great way to make sure the right people see the right stuff in the right places, all while keeping things aligned with your learning strategy. This update gives you more control over how third-party content is delivered, helps avoid misuse, and lets you manage licensing costs more efficiently. To get started, just head to My Client Groups > Learning and Development > Configure External Provider and tweak the audience and catalogue settings for any providers whose content is imported as self-paced learning.

With learning content getting better and richer, it’s no surprise the file sizes are growing too. Oracle’s on the ball, they’ve upped the max file size for Self Paced Learning, so you can now upload videos, SCORM packages (1.2 and 2004), AICC ZIPs, and presentations up to a whopping 2GB. PDFs are still capped at 1GB, but that should cover most needs. If you’ve already got Self Paced Learning switched on, there’s nothing you need to do—just enjoy the extra space!

The final feature I want to highlight, is one that has been a frustration for many people and now it has been resolved. You can now clear out old self-paced learning from your Oracle Learning catalogue—whether it’s inactive or has missing content. Just click the new Delete button and you’ll see how many people completed it. You can choose to keep those completions by moving them to a legacy item, note down a reason for deleting it, and add a quick comment if you like. Once you confirm, the system runs a scheduled process that permanently removes the learning and all its links—like specialisations, communities, recommendations, initiatives, HCM goals and journeys. If you’ve chosen to keep completions, they’ll be safely moved so learner history isn’t lost. Just make sure self-paced learning is switched on and that you’ve added the new security privilege: WLF_DELETE_LEARNING_CATALOG_ITEM_PRIV.

Oracle often slip in a few extra new features throughout the month, so it’s always worth keeping an eye out. If anything truly exciting drops, I’ll put up another blog post to keep you in the know and make sure you’re not missing out. In the meantime, please check out my latest write-up on the new Core HR features in Release 25D, you can find it here.

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Oracle HCM Cloud Recruit 25D

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Great news – 25D has landed! Unlike most modules, Recruit has a two-step journey to Redwood, and 26B is the big one to focus on to make sure users stay compliant and fully switched over for core Recruit tasks. If you’ve already got 25C, you should be handling requisitions, job applications and candidates in Redwood by now. The next wave is all about offers, interviews, campaigns, events and agency hiring. While 25C gave us a few Redwood features for offers, 25D really ramps things up to help you stay on track for the 26B deadline, but even more excitingly, it’s full of AI features to make your lives easier! So let’s dive in and explore what’s new….

This first feature isn’t actually a Redwood specific one, but it’s a great one that I’m very excited about! Given Oracle’s push to embed AI into Fusion, wherever it is relevant, this feature is a great use case for it! The new AI Agent for Candidate Experience introduces an AI Chatbot called Career Coach directly onto the Career Site. It will be much easier for candidates to search for a new role with the Job Recommendations Agent and Job Fit Agent, as they get tailored suggestions based on their experience and skills. The candidate just need to upload their CV, answer a couple of questions and then the Job Recommendations Agent will highlight roles that match their profile, while the Job Fit Agent helps them figure out if a particular job is the right fit and answers any questions. Both agents can even use uploaded documents to give more personalised advice, making the whole process smoother and more relevant.

There’s another AI feature I’m excited about. This was shown at CloudWorld London and customers have been asking me about it ever since! The Job Applicant Screening Agent Template lets you create a handy agent team in AI Agent Studio, which Recruiters can get to straight from the Job Application page. It’s a super helpful “ask me anything” assistant that can dig up all sorts of info, including feedback scores, background checks, recent updates, and what’s happened over the past few weeks. You can ask things like “What’s going on with this application?” or “Give me the full lowdown,” and it’ll even suggest things like interview feedback, timelines, assessments, and offer details. It’s a real time-saver, especially for people who don’t use the system much and just want quick answers without the faff.

If you’re anything like me and find creating job offers a bit laborious, you’ll definitely want to check out the new Job Offer Creation Agent in AI Agent Studio. It’s like having a helpful friend on hand, it’s ready to answer all your questions, whether they’re general or specific to certain fields. You can customise it with your own documents and prompts, so it fits your organisation’s policies perfectly. Wondering if you can tweak the start date after sending an offer? Not sure about the typical job grade for a Chief of Staff? Curious about salary differences between cities, or what to do if a candidate already has another offer? This agent’s got your back. It helps you breeze through the offer process smoothly, fills in the right info, and cuts down on errors, so you can focus on getting the right people on board, faster.

The final Recruit AI Agent I want to highlight is one I particularly love, the new Job Requisition Creation Agent to help speed up the process of creating Job Reqs. Think of it as your go-to FAQ buddy, it answers all sorts of questions, whether you’re wondering about salary grades, attachments, or who’s recruiting in a specific location. It works entirely off the documents you upload and the prompts you set, so it’s easy to tailor to your company’s policies and ways of working. Whether you’re asking if you can change job grades later or need to know the salary range for consultants in Dallas, this assistant helps you get it right first time, no interruptions, fewer downstream issues, and a smoother, more efficient experience all round.

In 25C, the Candidate Sourcing tile was added. In 25D, the Campaigns and Events tabs are no longer under Hiring, but moved to Candidate Sourcing. When you head into the Candidate Sourcing tab, you’ll find everything you need to start building your talent pipeline – from Candidate Search and Pools to Messages, Campaigns, and Events. Over in the Hiring tile, you’ve got quick access to the Activity Centre, Messages, Requisitions, Offers, and you’ll spot Candidate Search and Pools again here too, so you’re never far from the tools that help you keep hiring on track.

Oracle often sneak in new features throughout the month, so it’s worth keeping an eye out. If anything truly game-changing drops, I’ll write up another blog post to keep you posted and make sure you’re not missing out. In the meantime, feel free to check out my latest write-up on the new Core HR features in Release 25D, you can find it here.

Please note all screenshots are the property of Oracle and are used according to their Copyright Guidelines

Oracle HCM Cloud Payroll 25D

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I’m a big fan of innovation, which is why I always look forward to the Oracle Fusion Quarterly Releases. While this one doesn’t bring a huge wave of new features for Global Payroll, there are still some important updates across various legislations worth noting. In this blog, I’ll give you a quick rundown of the key highlights from both the global and local perspectives. Oracle’s got plenty more in the pipeline this quarter, so keep your eyes peeled, and if anything particularly exciting crops up, I’ll be back with another post to keep you in the loop!

The first feature in Global Payroll is the new Redwood Archive Results page. Whilst this isn’t a glamourous new feature, it is an important page. The redesigned Redwood Archive Results page offers payroll admins the modern Redwood functionality for managing their payroll data with greater efficiency and accuracy. With enhanced navigation, flexible search, customisable views, and inline editing, it’s easier than ever to identify and resolve errors, unprocessed assignments, or missing records directly within the archive. These improvements help reduce manual effort, minimise rework, and ensure smoother payslip generation and external payment processing. The feature is enabled by default via the Redwood Payroll Activity Enabled profile option, so you don’t even need to do anything and can start benefiting straight away. 

Payroll Activity Centre

All Payroll admins know that reporting is critical to the job! Oracle have made a small, but helpful update to the Payroll Costing Report. Prior to 25D, the report was a standard BI Publisher output, but listening to feedback, Oracle have rewritten the report as an extract-based one. This new version will handle larger payroll volumes and has added in more report output options, including Excel, XML and text. There are some simple steps to enable this new version of the report. First go to the Switch Task Action Version flow. Select Run Payroll Costing Report from the task list, choose the Extract-based Report version, and set it as active. From then on, all flows using this task will automatically run with the new version.

Moving on to the different legislations. There are a number of key features for Local Government in the UK. The first one is for the MCR for Teacher’s Pensions. A new input value, Error Number, is now available on the predefined TPS When Earned Details element, enabling employers to directly record error numbers linked to corrections for MCR files, particularly for When Earned U lines that typically require a TPS When Earned Details entry. This enhancement streamlines the reconciliation process for Teachers’ Pension errors. It’s easy to apply this update, navigate to Submit a Flow → Payroll, run the Run Feature Upgrade payroll flow task, and select Update Element Eligibility to Link Error Number for TPS When Earned Details Element.

There are two changes for LGPS included. Firstly a solution for the Pensionable Pay calculation for non-recurring payments. You can now easily work out the right Pensionable Pay for employees who’ve had time off mid-month and received one-off pensionable payments during their working days. With new balances in place, regular and irregular earnings are handled separately, so the LGPS employer contribution is calculated correctly without needing to prorate the monthly Pensionable Pay. Creating a new Main Pension Scheme element allows you to feed regular and irregular earnings into dedicated balances, ensuring accurate Pensionable Pay calculations for periods with one-off payments during working time. The second LGPS change relates to KIT and SPLIT days. You can now mark earnings as KIT or SPLIT days so they’re added to the right pensionable pay balances (CPP1 or CPP2). Just make sure to include the actual date worked when entering these, so the system can compare the day’s earnings with the assumed pensionable pay and use whichever is higher. If the day falls during unpaid leave, the full KIT or SPLIT earnings will be included in the pensionable pay.

With the introduction of Irish legislation for the first time, it is unsurprising that there are a significant number of new features in this release for it. These include Illness Benefit Payment or Offset; Public Sector Pensions; Salary Sacrifice; Send File Submission Process; Additional Superannuation Contribution (ASC) Forms; Check Revenue Submission Request; Payroll Submission Correction Request and Payslip Template. Additionally there are enhancements to reporting; Create Element template; Shadow Payroll; Special Assignee Relief Program and Withholding Taxes only on Irish Income. We know a few of you are already ahead of the curve when it comes to Irish legislation, so this’ll definitely be of interest. But even if you’re just starting to think about switching to Oracle Payroll, it’s still worth a look for our Irish customers.

There’s just one update this time for our US customers, but it’s worth flagging. The Retroactive Overpayment and Recovery for Earnings Elements feature is now switched on by default. Honestly, I can’t think why you wouldn’t want to use it, but just so you know, it’s no longer optional. This functionality gives you more control over how Retropay results are managed, especially when they reduce an employee’s net pay. Instead of the full overpayment being automatically deducted, you can now set up a repayment plan for the employee.

As I mentioned earlier, Oracle tend to roll out new features throughout the month. If any of these updates turn out to be game-changers, I’ll pop up a fresh blog post to keep you in the loop. In the meantime, feel free to check out my latest write-up on the new Core HR features in Release 25D, you can find it here.

Please note all screenshots are the property of Oracle and are used according to their Copyright Guidelines

Oracle HCM Cloud Core HR 25D

~ K8 Mead ~ 4 Comments

This year seems to be flying by — it’s hard to believe we’re already talking about Release 25D! That said, Oracle has now published the initial set of documents for 25D. As is usually the case, further features are expected to be added throughout the month, but for now, let’s take a look at what’s been announced so far.

Unsurprisingly given AI Agent Studio was released in 25C and the current focus on AI, this is an AI heavy release. The first feature I want to highlight is for AI Agents. Oracle has introduced a smart enhancement to Guided Journeys on Redwood pages by allowing AI Agent tasks to appear at the section level, not just across the whole page. This means users get more focused, real-time support exactly where they need it, helping them move through transactions faster and with more confidence. Once enabled via a profile option, this feature brings cleaner UI design, smarter guidance, and reduced reliance on support teams—all without storing any interaction data. It’s a subtle but powerful upgrade that makes Redwood journeys more intuitive and intelligent.

AI Agent Embedded in Guided Journeys

Another key focus for Oracle lately has been the embedding of Analytics into pages. As a data nerd I love any opportunity to embed a graph or other visualisation of data into a page. Oracle have now introduced a new enhancement to the Analytics task type in Journeys, the Visualization Configuration subtask, which enables users to seamlessly view Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence (OTBI) analyses, including any supported parameters, directly within a journey task. This integration allows for real-time insights and decision-making without leaving the task flow. It should be noted that users configuring these will not only need Journeys config access, but also security access to the new Visualization Configurator. There are three new privileges for this: ZCA_VIEW_DATA_VISUALIZATION_CONFIGURATION_PRIV, ZCA_MANAGE_DATA_VISUALIZATION_CONFIGURATION_PRIV and HRC_MANAGE_SYSTEM_SEARCHES_PRIV.

Visualization Configuration in Guided Journeys

The next feature might not be the most thrilling, but it’s one you’ll want to be aware of. Oracle’s been steadily shifting notifications from the old Responsive style to the newer Redwood look, and now it’s Employment notifications getting the makeover. If you’re using Oracle’s seeded notification, it’ll automatically switch to the Redwood version, just a heads-up, there’s no going back unless you move to a custom notification. If you are using custom notifications, you’ll need to tweak your template to the Redwood style. On the plus side, the new notifications automatically adjust to the screen they’re being viewed on, so they’ll look spot-on whether you’re on a laptop, tablet or mobile. If you haven’t customised your existing notifications, the update rolls out without you lifting a finger. The fresh design is cleaner, more user-friendly, and helps you get things done quicker. Plus, it now supports date, time and number formats based on each user’s preferences.

The final update I’d like to highlight is for those who’ve not yet transitioned to Redwood. I understand some organisations have held off for various reasons, so it’s important to note that from release 25D, the Redwood Document of Records page will be automatically enabled, and the Responsive page will no longer be displayed. If you’re not quite ready to move to Redwood, you can revert to the Responsive version by setting the profile value ORA_PER_DOCUMENT_RECORDS_REDWOOD_ENABLED to ‘N’. However, as with other Redwood transitions, once the deadline has passed, any issues with the Responsive page will no longer be supported, and Oracle Support will only recommend using the Redwood version. That said, the Redwood page offers a significantly improved experience, including the need for fewer clicks and faster load times, so this change should be seen as a positive step forward rather than a forced inconvenience.

Redwood Document of Records

As previously mentioned, Oracle is set to introduce new features in Core HR later this month. Should these enhancements prove to be particularly noteworthy, I’ll publish an updated blog post. In the meantime, please keep an eye out for forthcoming blogs that will explore additional modules within Fusion as part of Release 25D.

Please note all screenshots are the property of Oracle and are used according to their Copyright Guidelines