Oracle’s Gary Miller Leads With GEMS

I think so much of the magic we make and progress we spark for 德勤 ’s clients comes from the way we collaborate with the world’s leading tech organizations. ?

As Deloitte’s US Chief Commercial Officer, I have the privilege of connecting with so many forward thinking, innovative, creative, dynamic, humble, courageous and influential business leaders across our vast network of ecosystems and alliances. I always learn something new from their perspectives and the ways they lead their teams - in collaboration with our own Deloitte team. ??

That’s why I’m excited to kick off this new “Sparking Progress” series and share some of my conversations with colleagues and friends! ?

More than that, I couldn’t be happier to do this first one with Gary Miller , Executive Vice President and Customer Success Officer at 甲骨文 ???

Check out our conversation below to see how Gary prioritizes connection, his daily “GEMS” approach (love this!), what he is looking forward to at Oracle CloudWorld 2024, and our teams’ collaboration to spark progress for our clients:?

Dounia: Gary, thank you so much for joining me today. We value our relationship with Oracle so much!?

Gary: Thank you, Dounia. It's great to be here.?

Dounia: What motto or leadership philosophy do you live by???

Gary: I really believe in the power of people connection. My kids make fun of me; they say, “Dad, you can talk to anyone - why is that?” And I say, “Because I'm interested in people, I'm interested in getting to know them as a person, interested in their challenges, interested in their dreams. And I'm always looking for a way of connecting with someone. If you can connect with somebody, then you can help them be successful. ?

Dounia: I love that – so important in work and in life. My mom always talked about the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would want done unto you, and so that one always sticks with me too.?

Dounia: What’s the best sales or business advice you've received??

Gary: I think it's about humility and being humble. It's not about you looking good or your product looking good, it's being humble and then seeing how that can play back so the customer looks good in their company or with their customers. ?

I tell my team a lot: “However positive things are, however good things are, don't get out there and say, ‘rah, rah, rah! We've done it.’” You haven't. Stay humble and that will pay off in the long run. ?

Dounia: So much happening in the world of technology these days – in emerging tech, what’s top of mind for you??

Gary: There's been a huge explosion in generative AI, IoT, machine learning, etc. But what we're really focused on is the enterprise-grade embedded AI. How do we really help bring AI to customers’ data or bring AI to the end user through the application? Oracle [is] a leader in that space. [We’re] making it real to get better insights, better processes, better outcomes.?

Multicloud is the second one. Oracle has always been an open company and our cloud used to be called “Open World” and now we're kind of the open cloud. We're open to collaborate with anyone to help customers get the most. Some [workloads] make sense to work in one cloud, others in another, and we want to break down those walled gardens and let customers really get the most out of whichever cloud works. We want to be the connective tissue to help them achieve that. Lower cost, better performance, better flexibility.?

Dounia: So important. The data, the insights, and the ability to figure out how you're going to manage the day-to-day. How we can keep humans at the center as we're taking advantage of the technology. It always comes back to trust, which is important as we're continuing to take advantage of generative AI.?

Dounia: Ahead of CloudWorld, what are you looking forward to the most??

Gary: I think what I'm looking forward to is the energy from our customers and partners - you and Mauro and the rest of the Deloitte team.?

The first CloudWorld after Covid, everyone was like, “Hey, it's great to be out, back together!” ?

Last year was different. It was more focused: “Okay, there's some really amazing things that have come that we can use.”?

And I think this one, the energy and momentum is building even more around the topics I talked about – the enterprise-grade, embedded AI, or multicloud. ?

[Our] customers are happier than ever, and I think that comes from trust. Not just the technology, as you said Dounia, but the people connection. How our services help them, how our partners are doing a great job. ?

Dounia: Beautifully said. I'm super excited. I've got my red jacket ready for every day!??

I'm really looking forward to speaking with your colleague, David Knox, and Rayn [Veerubhotla] from Google Cloud on Wednesday, September 11th, where we'll be talking about data and AI strategies in a multicloud world - to your point earlier. So, lots of fun things happening over the course of the week!?

Dounia: What would you say are our greatest strengths and impacts together??

Gary: We complement each other. Your client relationships at the executive level are really incredible. I’ll just pick one example - we have a big program together where the client has trusted you [in] many different areas over many years. Together, we're looking at how we take your client knowledge with our technology capabilities and knowledge and put together the best solution for them - but also guiding them businesswise, technology-wise, [and] on how to reduce the risk and improve time to value. ?

As we get into the program, you can't even tell who's Deloitte, who's the customer, who's Oracle? We're just one team - we pull it all together. We get it right the first time. ?

Also, we're not afraid of bringing up issues with the client. I tell my team: Bad news doesn't get better with age. So, bring it up. Get it on the table. Let's fix it. That's really important for us to do with clients. ?

Working together, combining those skills, and teaming up for the good of the client, I think that's the magic that we have. ?

Dounia: What you said is so true - the success stems from the open, honest, consistent conversations about whatever outcome you're trying to achieve. When you can do that, you can really get through anything.?

Dounia: Gary, anything else I haven't asked or mentioned that you wanted to share??

Gary: Well, I would just reach out to the team at Deloitte first. Thank you for teaming with us, working with us, putting your trust in us. Let's strive for amazing things together with customers, big things, little things. But I think you know the opportunity there is huge, and we are here to support you. We need you. We're just looking forward to taking the collaboration to an even greater level over the next few months and years, and let's kick that off at CloudWorld!?

Dounia: We will kick it up at CloudWorld. Back at you, Gary, thank you so much! ?