Shasank Chavan, Group Vice President – Applied AI and Data Technologies, Oracle, will speak in his keynote address on the topic Bringing AI to Data: Lessons and Experiences with Oracle AI Database. His professional interest is around building AI-centric data management systems powered by in-memory optimized techniques, algorithms and data structures, to enable high performance analytics, OLTP, and AI vector search capabilities.
Shasank´s background is primarily in computer architecture and compiler technology, but he enjoys applying that expertise in building database systems, especially when it comes to optimizing for performance.

Like many others, his newest foray is AI (of course). His team built Oracle's AI Vector Search capability into Oracle Database, and will design and deliver even more Generative-AI functionality, such as database-native Agentic Workflows and specialized vector embedding techniques for relational, business data.

Shasank Chavan has over 60+ patents building systems. He leads an amazingly gifted international team of 100+ solid engineers (mostly US, but also Switzerland, India and Mexico). 

He also regularly covers interesting news related to his topics on the Oracle blog.

Shasank Chavan will present his second session, AI Vector Search: What's new and what's next on Tuesday from 1:00 PM to 1:45 PM in the Kyiv room.

Michael Tomaschek is a helicopter pilot on a rescue helicopter in Munich. His career path led him from officer training and studies in aerospace engineering at the Bundeswehr University Munich, through military flight operations and civilian flight training, to humanitarian missions for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in South Sudan. For five years, he flew missions there under extremely challenging conditions in one of the world's poorest countries. Since 2018, he has been a pilot with a major air ambulance company in Germany. His experiences in the military, humanitarian aid, and air rescue share a common thread: successful decisions arise where people take responsibility, communicate clearly, and act as a team. Michael Tomaschek and Oliver Reinke will be sharing these very principles in their presentations today.

Oliver Reinke is a paramedic, HEMS crew member on a rescue helicopter, and group leader with a professional fire department. For many years, he has worked in highly dynamic emergency situations where decisions must be made within seconds. He experiences daily how communication, mutual trust, and actively practiced teamwork determine the success of an operation. With "Operations Decide," he applies this experience to companies and organizations. His presentations demonstrate, in a practical way, how teams can remain effective under time pressure even with incomplete information, and why it's not individual experts who make the difference – but rather teams that make good decisions together.

With their presentation format "Mission Decides," they transfer these experiences to companies, executives, and organizations. Using authentic examples from air rescue, they demonstrate how high-performing teams remain capable of acting under time pressure, even with incomplete information, and why, in the end, it's not individuals who make the difference – but the team.

Experience them both in their keynote: Commitment matters – teamwork and decision-making under pressure.