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Top 17 Oracle Experts Changing the Game

oracle experts - Top 17 Oracle Experts Changing the Game

From database pioneers and cloud architects to developer advocates and open-source champions, the Oracle ecosystem is driven by many talented individuals.

Below is a curated list of the best currently active Oracle experts – spanning Database, Cloud, PL/SQL, Java, and more – who are renowned for their contributions and continue to shape the Oracle developer community:

  1. Maria Colgan
  2. Steven Feuerstein
  3. Connor McDonald
  4. Tim Hall
  5. Arup Nanda
  6. Mark Reinhold
  7. Jonathan Lewis
  8. Tanel Poder
  9. Dimitri Gielis
  10. Rich Niemiec
  11. Cary Millsap
  12. Brian Goetz
  13. Chris Saxon
  14. Lucas Jellema
  15. Heli Helskyaho
  16. Osama Mustafa
  17. Franck Pachot

Now, let’s delve into each expert’s background and why they are notable:

Maria Colgan

YouTube Video

Talk About Oracle’s Autonomous Database & Cloud Free Tier.

Nationality: Irish

Maria is the VP of Product Management for mission-critical data and AI on the Oracle Database team.

An Oracle employee since 1996, Maria is best known as the Oracle Database Optimizer guru – she was the product manager for the Oracle Optimizer and the In-Memory option, earning the nickname “the Optimizer Lady” among users. She has spent her entire career enhancing database performance, particularly SQL query optimization. Maria played a key role in launching Oracle Autonomous Database and other cutting-edge features.

She is also the primary author of the popular “SQLMaria” blog and a contributing author to the Oracle Optimizer blog, where she shares deep technical insights on how Oracle Database works. A dynamic presenter, Maria appears frequently at Oracle OpenWorld, CloudWorld, and user group conferences, translating complex database concepts into practical guidance. Her decades of experience and approachable teaching style have made her one of the most trusted voices on Oracle Database internals and best practices.

Steven Feuerstein

Nationality: American

Steven is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on Oracle’s PL/SQL programming language.

He has been working with Oracle technology since 1987 and has published ten books on PL/SQL (all with O’Reilly), establishing himself as the authority in this domain. Over his career, Steven served as Oracle’s Developer Advocate (2014–2021) and led a team of developer advocates, helping Oracle Database users write better PL/SQL code. He also founded the PL/SQL Challenge, a daily quiz that engaged thousands of Oracle developers. An Oracle ACE Director and frequent Oracle Magazine contributor, Steven has received multiple awards (including “Developer of the Year” in 2002 and 2006) for his contributions to the Oracle community.

Even after decades in the field, he continues to share his knowledge through writing, trainings, and his work with Insum Solutions as a Senior Advisor.

Connor McDonald

Nationality: Australian

Connor is an Oracle Developer Advocate for SQL, known worldwide for his depth of knowledge on the Oracle Database and his engaging presentations.

With over 25 years working with Oracle systems across Australia, Europe, and the U.S., Connor has co-authored three books and become a fixture at Oracle conferences. He twice won the UK Oracle User Group’s “Inspirational Speaker” award (2009, 2011) for his energetic, insightful talks. Connor was formerly an Oracle ACE Director before joining Oracle’s advocacy team in 2015, where he helps developers and DBAs get the most out of Oracle Database. He is also a host of the Ask TOM Office Hours and a prolific contributor on forums, sharing tips on SQL and PL/SQL performance.

Connor’s passion for education and his knack for explaining complex database features in simple terms have made him a beloved figure in the Oracle developer community.

Tim Hall

Nationality: British

Tim is a veteran Oracle DBA/developer best known as the founder of ORACLE-BASE.com, one of the most expansive libraries of Oracle tutorials on the web.

Since 2000, Tim has published over 1,000 articles on ORACLE-BASE, covering everything from SQL and PL/SQL to Oracle RAC and Cloud features. He has been working with Oracle technologies since 1995 and holds numerous Oracle certifications. Tim’s contributions to the community have earned him Oracle ACE Director status, Oracle Groundbreaker Ambassador recognition, and even the Oracle Magazine “ACE of the Year” award in 2006. He is also a member of the OakTable Network, reflecting his deep expertise. Based in the UK, Tim frequently speaks at user group conferences and was honored with the UKOUG Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 for his service to the Oracle community.

With his approachable writing and willingness to share knowledge, Tim Hall has mentored countless Oracle professionals around the world.

Arup Nanda

Arup Nanda - Top 17 Oracle Experts Changing the Game

Nationality: Indian

Arup is an Oracle database expert with over 30 years of experience, spanning all facets of Oracle DB administration since 1993.

He has designed and managed massive Oracle environments (leading global DBA teams at organizations like Starwood Hotels and others) and specializes in performance tuning, security, and disaster recovery. Arup has written 500+ articles for Oracle Magazine, OTN, and user group journals, and has presented 300+ technical sessions at conferences such as Oracle OpenWorld and IOUG Collaborate.

He has also co-authored five books on Oracle technologies – covering topics from security to PL/SQL – sharing practical expertise with the community. Oracle Magazine recognized Arup as DBA of the Year (2003) and he received Oracle’s Technologist of the Year (Enterprise Architect) award in 2012. An Oracle ACE Director and OakTable Network member, Arup is a regular speaker at user groups worldwide. He is revered for his real-world insights and mentorship of DBAs on how to solve complex database challenges.

Mark Reinhold

Nationality: American

Mark is the Chief Architect of Oracle’s Java Platform Group, serving as the technical lead for Java Standard Edition (Java SE).

He has been guiding the evolution of Java since 1996, when he joined Sun Microsystems (now Oracle) to work on the core Java libraries. Mark has made numerous contributions to Java over the years – from implementing fundamental APIs (like Java I/O and concurrency utilities) to leading major projects such as the Java SE 5.0 release and the Java 6 specification. Most notably, he was the lead architect behind Project Jigsaw, which introduced the Java Module System in Java 9, and he has chaired the OpenJDK governing board, overseeing the open-source development of Java.

Reinhold has led the development for Java 7, 8, and 9 (as both project lead and spec lead), shaping features like Lambdas and Modules that modernized the platform. He holds a Ph.D. from MIT in Computer Science, and his deep engineering background informs Java’s design philosophy. Mark remains a key spokesperson for Java’s future, advocating for timely releases (he drove the move to a 6-month release cadence) and ensuring Java continues to innovate while maintaining backwards compatibility. In the Java community, Mark Reinhold is respected as a steady hand balancing academic rigor with real-world developer needs.

Jonathan Lewis

If you trust in yourself and believe in your dreams and follow your star you’ll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren’t so lazy.

Nationality: British

Jonathan is a legendary Oracle consultant with over 30 years of experience working with Oracle Database. He has authored three acclaimed books on Oracle and contributed to numerous others. Jonathan is particularly famous for his expertise in Oracle performance tuning and the query optimizer- his book “Cost-Based Oracle Fundamentals” is considered a classic in the field. Over the years, he has written more than 1,400 technical articles on his blog and in user group publications, sharing granular knowledge of Oracle internals.

He was a founding member of the OakTable Network and was an Oracle ACE Director for many years. Jonathan has traveled to over 50 countries, consulting and speaking at conferences and user groups worldwide. Even “semi-retired” now, he continues to publish new insights and answer tough Oracle questions, remaining a go-to authority for Oracle DBAs and developers who need to solve the knottiest database problems.

Tanel Poder

Tanel Poder - Top 17 Oracle Experts Changing the Game

Nationality: Estonian

Tanel is a world-renowned Oracle performance specialist and a long-time champion of understanding database internals.

Originally from Estonia, Tanel has helped solve complex Oracle Database performance issues for clients in over 25 countries on five continents. He became one of the first Oracle ACE Directors in the region for his community contributions and research. Tanel built many widely used Oracle monitoring tools and scripts (like Snapper) and co-authored the book “Expert Oracle Exadata”. In 2015, he co-founded Gluent, a startup bridging Oracle databases with big data platforms, reflecting his belief that traditional DBAs must embrace Hadoop and cloud technologies.

Tanel is also known for generously sharing knowledge: he blogs about low-level performance diagnostics and delivers popular conference talks (often live-demonstrating advanced troubleshooting). He has over 20 years of DBA experience spanning Oracle on Linux/Unix and is recognized for his deep expertise (Oracle Certified Master) and his status as an open-source advocate. Even as he expands into technologies like Hadoop and Kubernetes, Tanel remains an authoritative voice on making Oracle databases run faster.

Dimitri Gielis

Nationality: Belgian

Dimitri is a global leader in the Oracle APEX community (Application Express, Oracle’s low-code development platform).

He is the founder and CEO of United Codes, a company specializing in Oracle APEX solutions. Dimitri has built a suite of popular APEX development tools – he created plugins and products like APEX Office Print (AOP) for reporting, APEX Office Edit, and others that extend APEX’s capabilities. An Oracle ACE Director since 2013, Dimitri is a frequent presenter at major Oracle conferences worldwide, where he shares best practices for building web applications with APEX.

In fact, he was recognized as “Oracle APEX Developer of the Year” for his contributions. Dimitri started in the Oracle world as a database and PL/SQL developer, and when APEX (then HTML-DB) emerged, he quickly became one of its most enthusiastic adopters. He co-founded the APEX Evangelists group in 2007 and has been blogging about APEX techniques for over 15 years. Through his blog “DGielis” and instructional videos, he helps developers globally to become successful with APEX. Dimitri’s passion for bringing ideas to life with minimal code has made him an inspiration in the APEX community.

Rich Niemiec

Nationality: American

Rich is a world-renowned Oracle performance expert and one of the most recognizable names in the Oracle community.

He co-founded TUSC, a major Oracle services firm, and has spent over 30 years architecting and tuning Fortune 500 Oracle systems. Rich is an Oracle ACE Director and was one of the first six people globally to become an Oracle Certified Master. He served as President of the International Oracle Users Group (IOUG) in the 2000s and currently leads the Midwest Oracle Users Group, reflecting his longtime advocacy for user communities.

Rich has authored five best-selling books on Oracle performance tuning (covering Oracle8i through Oracle12c), and his “Oracle 12c Performance Tuning Tips & Techniques” is a go-to reference for Oracle DBAs. Now the CIO of Viscosity North America, Rich continues to advise on advanced Oracle implementations (including AI and cloud initiatives) and speaks globally on Oracle database technology. He was inducted into the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame in 1998 for his business and technical leadership. With his mix of real-world expertise and community service, Rich Niemiec remains a mentor to many and a respected Oracle thought leader.

Cary Millsap

Cary Millsap - Top 17 Oracle Experts Changing the Game

Nationality: American

Cary is a highly respected Oracle performance guru, known for revolutionizing how people approach database optimization.

He started his career at Oracle Corporation in the 1990s, where he founded and led Oracle’s internal System Performance Group, personally helping over 100 customers solve critical performance issues. By the late 1990s, Cary had assembled an 85-person elite team of performance specialists at Oracle, and he co-developed the “Method R” approach – a rigorous response-time analysis method – which transformed Oracle tuning practices. He left Oracle in 1999 to co-found Hotsos Enterprises and later Method R Corporation, providing tools and training for Oracle performance optimization.

Cary has educated thousands of professionals through his writing and teaching. He authored the book “Optimizing Oracle Performance” and more recently “How to Make Things Faster”, which distills lessons on performance for both tech and everyday life. After 24 years running his own companies, Cary returned to Oracle in 2024 as a Distinguished Product Manager, but he remains an independent voice – an Oracle ACE Director, a sought-after conference speaker, and a teacher at heart. His disciplined yet accessible approach to tuning has had a lasting impact on Oracle best practices.

Brian Goetz

Nationality: American

Brian is the Java Language Architect at Oracle, responsible for the design and evolution of the Java programming language.

He was the specification lead for JSR-335: Lambda Expressions for Java, which introduced functional programming constructs (lambdas and streams) in Java 8 and marked one of the most significant changes to the language in its history. Brian is also the mastermind behind Project Amber (bringing small productivity features like var, records, pattern matching to Java) and is heavily involved in Project Valhalla (enhancing Java’s type system with value types).

Prior to joining Oracle (through Sun), Brian had over two decades of industry experience and was already well-known as the lead author of “Java Concurrency in Practice,” the seminal book on multithreading in Java. In his role at Oracle, he has driven Java’s evolution in a balanced way—adding modern language features while maintaining Java’s philosophy. He frequently communicates proposals and rationales to the community (e.g., via the Inside.java blog and conference talks). With over 75 articles on Java development to his name, Brian Goetz is revered as both a language theorist and a pragmatic engineer, ensuring Java remains vibrant and developer-friendly for the next generation.

Chris Saxon

Nationality: British

Chris Saxon is an Oracle Developer Advocate for SQL whose job is “to help you get the best out of the Oracle Database and have fun with SQL.”

A former Oracle ACE, Chris joined Oracle’s Developer Advocate team to continue the legacy of Ask Tom, focusing on SQL and PL/SQL education. He is well known for infusing creativity and play into learning Oracle – for example, he incorporates magic tricks into technical talks (“SQL Magic”) to illustrate query concepts in memorable ways. Chris is the quizmaster for the Oracle Dev Gym (formerly PL/SQL Challenge) database design competitions, where he creates challenging quizzes and workouts that help developers deepen their SQL skills.

He also co-hosts the monthly SQL Office Hours sessions and has written numerous articles and videos demonstrating SQL techniques, from basic query tuning to the latest 19c/21c features. Chris has co-authored a book chapter in “Real World SQL and PL/SQL: Advice from the Experts”. Above all, he is a passionate advocate for making learning fun – whether through gamified quizzes, puzzles, or his interactive “SQL Sudoku” tutorials. His approachable style has made him a favorite mentor for many in the Oracle SQL community.

Lucas Jellema

1721810976 img 9470 edited edited 1 - Top 17 Oracle Experts Changing the Game

Nationality: Dutch

Lucas is a seasoned solution architect and the Chief Technology Officer at Conclusion in the Netherlands (previously CTO of AMIS Services).

He has been working with Oracle technologies since 1994, when he started his career at Oracle Corporation as a consultant. Lucas has extensive experience across architecture and software engineering, having led numerous projects in industries ranging from retail and finance to government. He is an Oracle ACE Director and was named an Oracle Developer Champion for his advocacy in the developer community.

Lucas is known for his prolific writing and speaking: he has authored two books with O’Reilly (on Oracle SOA Suite and PaaS), and published hundreds of articles on the AMIS Technology Blog and Medium, often exploring cloud integration, microservices, and front-end development with Oracle JET. He’s a regular presenter at global events like Oracle OpenWorld, Code One, and JavaOne – even earning a JavaOne Rockstar award in 2015 for his engaging presentations. A recurring theme in Lucas’s work is knowledge sharing; he mentors teams and delivers live demos to demystify complex concepts. With over 25 years in IT, Lucas Jellema’s enthusiasm for innovation (from database to middleware to cloud) continues to energize the Oracle developer community.

Heli Helskyaho

Nationality: Finnish

Heli is one of Europe’s most accomplished Oracle experts, with a career in IT dating back to 1990 and Oracle since 1993.

She is the CEO of Miracle Finland Oy, an Oracle consulting and training company, and has been an Oracle ACE Director since 2013. Heli specializes in database design, data modeling, and more recently machine learning integration with databases. She has published several books on Oracle technologies – including “Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler for Database Design Mastery” (2015) and “Machine Learning for Oracle Database Professionals” (2021) – sharing her expertise in bridging Oracle DB with emerging tech. Known as a talented educator, Heli is a frequent speaker at Oracle conferences around the globe.

She has presented in dozens of countries, often teaching DBAs and developers how to leverage Oracle’s latest features (from analytics to AI). Heli also serves on the board of the EMEA Oracle Users Group and has been an Oracle Groundbreaker Ambassador. With multiple Master’s degrees and ongoing doctoral research, she combines academic rigor with real-world experience. Her contributions earned her the title of Oracle Developer Champion and solidified her status as a role model, especially for women in database technology.

Osama Mustafa

Nationality: Jordanian

Osama is a prominent Oracle technologist from the Middle East, known for his expertise in databases, Cloud, and DevOps.

He is the founder of Gurus Solutions, an IT consulting firm, and became the first Oracle ACE Director in the Middle East. Osama is also the creator and leader of the Jordan Amman Oracle User Group – the first Oracle user group in Jordan – through which he has built a local Oracle community and organized many knowledge-sharing events. With a wide-ranging skill set (Oracle, AWS, Azure, and even Alibaba Cloud MVP status), Osama has implemented cloud and automation projects for companies around the world.

He is the author of two technology books (including “Oracle Cloud Cookbook”), and has written 100+ articles for user group publications like IOUG SELECT and UKOUG Tech Journal. A self-described “technology geek”, Osama actively shares tips on his blog and social media, covering everything from RAC tuning to Docker containerization for Oracle. He frequently presents at international conferences (Oracle OpenWorld, Oracle Groundbreakers tours, etc.), bridging the gap between traditional database administration and modern cloud DevOps practices. Osama’s passion and community leadership have made him an influential Oracle expert in his region and beyond.

Franck Pachot

Franck Pachot - Top 17 Oracle Experts Changing the Game

Nationality: Swiss

Franck is a database performance guru with 25+ years of experience in development, data architecture, and administration across multiple database platforms.

He became widely known in the Oracle world as an Oracle Certified Master and Oracle ACE Director, revered for his deep knowledge of Oracle internals. Franck has worked on some of the world’s most challenging database environments – for example, he was a senior DBA at CERN, managing petabyte-scale Oracle databases for the Large Hadron Collider experiments. A natural teacher, Franck actively engages with the community: he speaks at conferences, blogs, and is very active on forums and social media to share performance tuning tips.

In recent years, Franck expanded his focus to include PostgreSQL, NoSQL, and cloud databases; he joined Yugabyte as a Developer Advocate and later MongoDB as a Developer Advocate, reflecting his “polyglot” database expertise. He is also recognized as an AWS Data Hero, highlighting his contributions to cloud database practices. Whether it’s Oracle, PostgreSQL, or distributed SQL, Franck approaches technology with a “find the root cause” mindset. His precise and thorough blog posts and conference demos (often diving into things like execution plans and hex dumps) have earned him a loyal following among database professionals seeking to understand systems beneath the surface.

Wrap Up

These legends represent exceptional talent, making them extremely challenging to headhunt. However, there are thousands of other highly skilled IT professionals available to hire with our help. Contact us, and we will be happy to discuss your hiring needs.

Note: We’ve dedicated significant time and effort to creating and verifying this curated list of top talent. If you intend to share or make use of it in any way, we kindly ask that you include a backlink to the original source – EchoGlobal.

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