There are over 400 Oracle ACEs globally, all with a wide range of stories to tell and technical knowledge to share. We want to introduce you to some of these incredible ACEs and their stories, so we will be highlighting an Oracle ACE member every month or even more often in our Oracle ACE Spotlight series.
Today we are presenting Abi Giles-Haigh, an Oracle ACE Director who has been active in the community for over five years.
Dr. Abi Giles-Haigh is the Chief Data and Technology Office (CDTO) at Vertice. She has over 10 years’ experience in working with data from database management, business analytics through to Data Science and Machine Learning (DSML). Previously she was part of the Data Analytics Team at the NHSBSA, identifying savings and improving patient care. Abi holds a PhD in Computational Modelling of the human heart.
You can find her on: 
- Hi Abi, thank you for accepting to kick-start the Oracle ACE Spotlight section! Let’s start with the beginning: please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m a data crazy Brit, who when I’m not at a computer screen I’ll be out on the football (Soccer) pitch, coaching children, and adults the beautiful game. I’m always keen to figure out how something works, by breaking the code, the computer or both.
- What was your journey to becoming an Oracle ACE?
I heard about the Oracle ACE Program at my first UKOUG conference, and I always said, “one day I’ll be an ACE”. When I started the journey, I honestly thought ACE Director was sooooo far away, but I built confidence in presenting and my knowledge kept growing. The day I got the email about the ACE Director – it was amazing – to be recognized at such a high level by your peers, is the most humbling experience.
- What do you remember from the first time you attended events as a speaker? What was that like?
The first event I presented at was the UKOUG main event in December, a whole 2 days after getting married! It was my first large technical conference and having the opportunity to co-present was excellent introduction to technical arena. From there I’ve not stopped, and I’m always looking for the next conference to present at!
- What would you recommend to others who want to present? How should they start?
I’ve always been a presenter rather than a blogger. For those who want to get into presenting, then I’d say the first step is to find a topic they love and that they can be enthusiastic about. That could be an implementation success story or how they managed to get a new technical aspect to work.
When you get onto stage, remember you are the expert in your story, no one else is, do be confident in telling your story. After that, enjoy it, there will be many times where you think “that could be better” – but that’s all part of the journey.
- What would you say is the biggest (career) achievement you had so far?
So many highlights, and those highlights have been achieved with incredible people who become friends all around the world. If I had to pick one, then probably being part of OpenWorld and having the opportunity to meet Safra Catz – such an inspirational female leader.
- How about the biggest disappointment?
Not having enough time to attend all the conferences I want to.
But honestly, it’s probably when a presentation or recording doesn’t quite go how I want. I always want people to engage and learn from my presentations.
- How do you think being part of the Oracle ACE Program has helped you?
Apart from forming some great friendships, then it’s the ability to have in-depth conversations on the technology as well as how it affects business and wider populations. I find having these conversations thought provoking and expand my mind on where we could go next with the technology.
- What is something you really like about the Oracle ACE Program and the reason you would recommend someone to join this community?
I love the community spirit, the desire to help each other in the ACE community, but then going beyond that – helping everyone we speak to at conferences, online or in blogs. That desire to give back, to help others. We can’t know everything about everything, but we definitely know at least one ACE who will be an expert.
- Towards the end, please tell us what you do for fun and recommend us a movie, a book and a city you really like.
Away from work and technology, I love to coach football (soccer) and educating girls/ young women through sport.
I would recommend Star Wars – The Empire Strikes Back, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling and I really love Barcelona.
Thank you, Abi, we’ve really enjoyed the conversation!