Artificial intelligence will change the way databases operate and open up new opportunities in the future, as explained by the expert.
Oracle has announced the renaming of its Database 23c version to 23ai, emphasizing the integration of features that simplify the development of AI-based applications. This move reflects changes in the company’s strategy, focusing on developers as key growth drivers.
Olga Badiukova, an international expert and Oracle database administrator, believes that Oracle’s decision is driven by current trends—working with AI is the key to future growth for companies. Throughout her long career, she has restored damaged databases, implemented optimization procedures, upgraded Oracle versions, and successfully migrated a large system to PostgreSQL. The expert views the renaming as a signal to the market that the company is not just adapting to changes but is actively embracing the upcoming challenges.
How new trends are impacting the database administrator profession and why adapting to technological changes is not a problem but an opportunity for career growth and business development, as explained by Olga Olga Badiukova.
New Opportunities: Vector Data and Process Optimization.
The latest version of Oracle Database 23ai has introduced many new features, including AI-powered vector search and process optimization to improve performance and availability.
This feature allows semantic content from documents, images, and other unstructured data to be stored as vectors, enabling fast similarity-based search. It includes a new type of vector data, vector indexes, and SQL operators for vector search.
Additionally, it supports answer generation using search results (retrieval-augmented generation, RAG), enabling the integration of large language models (LLMs) with business data to provide more accurate natural language responses.
Also included is intelligent connection rebalancing in Oracle RAC, which automatically redirects sessions to instances where the necessary objects are cached, reducing inter-instance traffic and improving performance for highly concurrent workloads.
Olga Badiukova believes that the popularity of vector databases is driven by the need to process and analyze unstructured data such as text, images, and audio. Information retrieval becomes much faster, especially when dealing with large datasets, and the results are more accurate and relevant. New ways of analyzing data emerge, while storage and processing costs are reduced.
“Using vector databases can significantly enhance a company’s performance by speeding up the information processing. For businesses, this means improved customer service, more accurate data analysis, and better-informed decision-making. For example, in the areas of recommendations, search engines, or text analysis, this can greatly improve results by reducing response times and increasing prediction accuracy,” notes Olga.
At the core of these innovations is data optimization. Throughout her 22-year career, Olga Badiukova has repeatedly encountered such challenges. For example, under her leadership, the data migration of the State Treasury Service of Ukraine was successfully carried out.
Additionally, the expert configured the Oracle Data Guard system, which ensured high availability, data protection, and effective disaster recovery. All of this enhanced the overall stability of the system.
“Oracle Database works excellently with large volumes of data and is optimized for handling complex queries. This is why it is so widely used by government agencies and many banks,” says Olga.
The changes occurring with the implementation of artificial intelligence in databases may pose a number of challenges for specialists.
First and foremost, this is related to the large amount of information. And most importantly, according to the expert, is to maintain balance: to introduce the new trend in a way that improves the performance of the entire system.
“AI requires a lot of data, and it must be of high quality. If there are errors or chaos in the database, the neural network will start learning incorrectly and provide inaccurate results. Moreover, all of this consumes a large amount of resources. If the system is not properly prepared in advance, the process will slow down. And the final challenge is security. The more complex the system, the more vulnerabilities it has, which means the risks of leaks or hacks increase.”
When working with large volumes of data, it is crucial to analyze the current parameters of the database. This is one of the key challenges that IT specialists will face. While optimizing the database operations for the Ministry of Statistics of Ukraine, Olga’s primary focus was eliminating performance slowdowns in the ISpro product.
The complexity of the task lay in the fact that the processes had to be optimized in real time without causing any delays in the operation of the service.
“During the project, we eliminated the slowdowns through fine-tuning the system, which allowed the clients to continue working without disruptions. This was important not only for improving performance but also for ensuring the reliability and availability of the data.”
Vector search is a breakthrough in IT.
Working with large volumes of data in government agencies and banks in Ukraine, Olga encountered the need to speed up data analysis while maintaining accuracy and high performance. This is precisely why Oracle has introduced vector search.
Such databases are ideal for processing unstructured data, such as text, images, and videos, converting them into vectors. This significantly speeds up data search and processing, which is critical when implementing AI solutions.
The feature enables efficient data analysis and extraction of necessary information without significant time and resource expenditures. Integrating such solutions into infrastructure will enhance not only performance but also the system’s adaptability, which is especially important for businesses aiming to leverage AI for analysis and forecasting.
“Working with one of the largest banks in Ukraine allowed me to understand how important it is to have a reliable and high-performance system for working with big data. Vector databases and vector search are a technological breakthrough that helps solve these challenges in the context of AI,” says Olga.
New Requirements for Database Specialists.
Innovations in databases and the active integration of artificial intelligence will require IT specialists to respond quickly — through continuous learning, flexibility, and the ability to work in rapidly changing environments. For many years, Olga Badiukova has been preparing and training specialists in the field of databases.
The expert believes that database specialists need to know not only SQL but also study modern practices. For instance, neural networks can help identify hidden patterns in data and make informed decisions. When dealing with massive amounts of information, this saves time without compromising quality. At the same time, an important aspect is protecting data from leaks and cyberattacks.
“It is important to understand that DevOps is an approach that accelerates the development and implementation of new solutions. Artificial intelligence and its integration into databases are challenges that provide opportunities for growth,” emphasizes the expert.
Database administration automation and big data management systems are areas that help accelerate processes and reduce the likelihood of errors.Olga Badiukova notes that using these tools in database work will help specialists quickly adapt to rapidly changing conditions.
“Modern artificial intelligence algorithms will play an increasingly significant role in data analysis, helping to uncover hidden patterns and valuable information that might have otherwise gone unnoticed,” emphasizes Badiukova.
Security and Adaptability.
In addition, data security issues are becoming particularly important. Information protection will take center stage, and security measures will be improved to effectively counter threats.
New approaches to database design will accelerate the development and updating of applications, making them more adaptive and efficient. These technologies will be key to sustainable growth and innovation in the field of databases, shaping the future of the industry.
