Oracle launches over 50 AI Agents for business use
The new agents will automate business processes. The agents show the growth in generative AI and move the market beyond the chatbot use case into a work assistant application.
Oracle on Wednesday launched over 50 role-based AI agents in the Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Suite.
Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications is a suite of applications that enterprises can use to manage different functions.
The new AI agents help employees and managers complete work by automating business processes, Oracle executives said at the tech giant's CloudWorld 2024 conference in Las Vegas.
The AI Agents in Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management can help with shift scheduling, scheduling assist hiring and completing requests to fill existing roles and create new positions, and help employees better understand benefits.
Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain with Manufacturing AI Agents deliver contextualized insights and recommendations for handling order requests. The agents also make recommendations for maintenance and repairs of different assets, the vendor said.
AI agents in Oracle Fusion Cloud Customer Experience perform planning and research tasks, automate routing contract workflows and approvals, and help with communications to sales representatives.
Oracle did not specify when the AI Agents will be available.
The next stage of GenAI
The idea of AI agents is another iteration of generative AI growing and maturing from the popular initial use case of chatbots to have the AI technology perform tasks without human intervention.
"These AI agents are engineered to automate routine tasks and provide personalized insights and recommendations," Gartner Research analyst Sid Nag said.
AI agents also support the view that the generative AI market is moving from ideation to implementation.
"This is the use case that we've really been wishing for," said Mark Beccue, an analyst at TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group. "These are very pragmatic and practical ideas. Something helps me get something done."
Oracle AI Agents for its Fusion Cloud Applications Suite is a good vision and makes sense for an enterprise software application vendor, Beccue added.
Oracle is not the only vendor embedding AI agents in its business applications.
ServiceNow AI Agents
On Sept. 10, SaaS vendor ServiceNow revealed plans to integrate agentic workflows in the ServiceNow platform. The vendor said its first AI Agent applications will be Customer Service Management AI Agents and IT Service Management AI Agents.
The ServiceNow AI Agents will identify and resolve problems independently while being guided by human oversight.
The AI Agents in ServiceNow will be available in November 2024 in a limited release, according to the vendor.
ServiceNow also introduced the Now Assist Skill Kit for enterprises to create custom generative AI skills for specific business needs.
Single task or multitask agents
Regarding AI agents and agentic workflows for completing tasks, the question is whether the agents can only perform one task or can multitask, Beccue said. If an agent can multitask, can it also traverse multiple applications so users do not have to go in and out of applications?
This is the use case that we've really been wishing for.
Mark BeccueAnalyst, Enterprise Strategy Group
Being able to multitask and move within multiple applications could lead to something like a new software user interface in which user communicates with an AI agent and have it perform tasks across multiple applications, Beccue continued.
"That's a vision for where I think agents will end up," he said.
It's unclear how the AI agents will handle industry-specific regulations as well as comply with various rules and bylaws of heavily regulated industries such as finance.
Other AI features
Oracle also introduced AI capabilities in other applications.
New AI features in Oracle Cloud ERP address organizations financial processes with new predictive cash forecasting capabilities, narrative reporting capabilities and automated transaction records in Oracle Fusion Cloud Sustainability.
New AI features in Oracle Cloud CX include new assisted authoring to help sales teams engage buyers with AI-generated answers, and new AI capabilities in Oracle CX Unity that detect signals based on role, title and topic engagement.
Esther Ajao is a TechTarget Editorial news writer and podcast host covering artificial intelligence software and systems.
