The spotlight is on Jayson Hanes, Senior Principal Product Manager, Oracle, United States.

If you search for Jayson Hanes, you will find him in a multitude of YouTube videos promoting the product he has spent 20 years developing with and advocating: Oracle APEX. He is an APEX Senior Principal Product Manager at Oracle. Based in Lutz, Florida, he is an experienced solutions architect, and an engineering professional skilled in the APEX development platform, PL/SQL, the Oracle Database and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).

Early in 2025, Hanes took on an additional volunteer role: Oracle Academy Ambassador. His brief is to promote APEX within current and prospective higher education institutions that teach Oracle Academy technology curriculum in computer science and other courses.

As an Oracle Academy Ambassador, Hanes expands his outreach beyond the Oracle technology installed base to universities, high schools, and other Oracle Academy member institutions across the Americas. The role fits Hanes like a glove. In particular, it allows him to help create future generations of Oracle technology users by reinforcing the use of APEX in higher education teaching programs.

Hanes contributes to Oracle Academy Tech Chat podcasts, regularly provides input to the Autonomous Database Learning Lounge, and is a speaker or presenter at major technology conferences throughout the Americas. This year he has presented at bootcamps in Austin, Reston, Dallas, Santa Monica, and Guadalajara, as well as at Kscope25, the annual jamboree of the Oracle Developer & Technology User Group (ODTUG).

And for those who enjoy acronyms, in June he ran APEX and OCI sessions at Ascend25 in Orlando, another Oracle user community event staged jointly by the Oracle Applications & Technology Users Group (OATUG) and Oracle HCM Users Group (OHUG). Plus, in the summer of 2025, Hanes joined the Latin America Users Groups Community (LAOUC) tour.

Speaking of acronyms, Hanes states that APEX means just what it says: the best of the best, the highest peak, as reflected by mountain summit imagery in marketing materials.

Oracle Academy: Why did you become an Oracle Academy Ambassador, a distinguished new role?

Jayson Hanes: Our big mission as product managers for APEX is to expand awareness of the incredible benefits to be had from this amazing product. Every week we meet customers who have been with the Oracle database for 10 or even 20 years and are unaware of this no-cost feature. When they learn that APEX is bundled with the database, that it enables rapid web-based and mobile application development, that there are no additional licensing fees, it’s a whole new ball game — adoption soars.

Oracle Academy: That must resonate strongly with Oracle database users. What about higher education institutions?

Jayson Hanes: That’s exactly why I’m here. We need to push Oracle technology into computer science education — at university level, at high school too. The earlier students know about APEX, the more it will be productively used when they join the working world. It is a great platform for students to understand how modern cloud environments operate. They learn how APEX — on premises or in OCI — integrates with the database, while deepening their understanding of SQL and PL/SQL, and skilling them up in web development and application design.

Oracle Academy: What ambassadorial activities are in your pipeline?

Jayson Hanes: I have done three Oracle Academy Tech Chat podcasts recently, and this summer will see me speaking at LAOUC events in Mexico, Guatemala, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, mostly at local universities, many of them Oracle Academy members.

The program is new but if my travel and schedule coincide, I am willing to address students and faculty members whenever called upon to do so. I am never happier than when I can help push for greater awareness of Oracle APEX.

In the U.S.-based bootcamps this year — in partnership with ODTUG — the whole idea has been to get more students interested in APEX. In fact, the bootcamps were created for this purpose.

Oracle Academy: And the fact that Oracle Academy member institutions have access to the full Oracle stack must make it even easier to connect?

Jayson Hanes: That’s right. A university offering Oracle Academy database curriculum has access to OCI, the Oracle Autonomous Database, APEX, and a raft of other tools through the Oracle Academy Cloud Program. APEX now offers GenDev support through the APEX AI Assistant. This allows students to sign into an APEX workspace, create a data model using AI, build an app on top of that model — and all without a lick of code, no manually created SQL statements. Not getting them exposed to what they can do with APEX is a missed opportunity for every interested computer science student. APEX and the Oracle stack signify a huge competitive edge to help build successful careers.

Oracle Academy: What enthusiasm! When did you become an APEX warrior?

Jayson Hanes: I call myself a reformed Java and .NET developer, because those were the tools I used up until learning about APEX in 2006, just a few years after it was launched as an Oracle product bundled with Oracle Database, in 2004. I used APEX in all my jobs prior to actually joining Oracle — there’s nothing like it!

Oracle Academy: And how did you come to join Oracle?

Jayson Hanes: I joined in 2018 after the local government organization I worked for acquired new leadership that, for whatever reason, didn’t favor Oracle, which we had been using for apps development for the previous eight years. During that time, I networked closely with the APEX product team, attended their conferences, and eventually became an asset. Looking for a fresh start, I was hired by Oracle, initially developing solutions for HR systems, which are still in use today at Oracle.

After a while I landed in a role on the APEX team and here I am, working closely with the product development team and spreading awareness wherever and whenever I can.

Oracle Academy: What messages do you deliver in your talks to students?

Jayson Hanes: All the rage now with students is building (or vibe coding) apps. In one hour, I cover enough APEX components to have them thinking: “Wow, I don’t have to become a superstar software engineer to create an app that delivers what most users need and expect it to be able to do.” They realize that with APEX, they already have a foot in the door and only have to figure out how to hone it and make it more fun. They don’t need to know code, nor JavaScript or APIs; they don’t have to worry about the data storage, reporting, web hosting — all the computational capability is there inside the Oracle stack.

And so the message here is ‘why not learn more about APEX, learn how to build apps that work on mobile, almost like native apps, seamlessly and for free.’

Another aspect I cover, very relevant to students who are excited to put their ideas into an app, often without considering the business case, is that with APEX, you don’t need to labor over detailed business functionality maps. Once you know the functional needs of, say, an employee vacation or expenses system, APEX lets you skip the heavy upfront analysis and get straight to building what the app requires. And if you want to deliver a report that end users can customize, there’s a component called Interactive Report — just one of our many world-class features that are available out of the box and can be used with no code at all!

The talks I give become real eye openers. I usually conclude by saying that there is no reason to be an Oracle Academy student today and not be successful using the entire breadth of Oracle technology.

And although many of these students have gone through the path of learning whatever their curriculum is for software engineering development, being able to see the full depth and breadth of a tool like APEX — allowing them to deliver apps with a lot less effort and pain — that’s a win; who wouldn’t want to embrace something like that?

Oracle Academy: Powerful. Any parting thoughts, Ambassador Hanes?

Jayson Hanes: I would say that if I could hit every major university in North America, that would be a job well done, contributing to my career goal of getting airtime for APEX. Some like the idea of webinars, but I prefer in-person talks because — I know this from feedback — I generate excitement, and that’s a great reward. Speaking to young people is an unparalleled opportunity for interaction, Q&A, maybe chatting later at a social venue. But the important thing is that APEX, 20 years after it came into being, is stronger than ever before and it only keeps getting better. Today it integrates with Oracle Database 23ai, now known as 26ai, and will be increasingly valuable in the world of artificial intelligence that is expanding daily. By the way, did you know that Oracle APEX is the O.G. Vibe coding platform? The difference is that, with APEX, you can build apps that you can trust that are also easy to maintain!

Oracle Academy: Lastly, outside of Oracle and APEX, what are your interests?

Jayson Hanes: Well, I’m from Canada but have been living in Florida for 30 years. I love the hot and humid weather, being outdoors. We live beside a lake, love the beaches and the boating on the coast, which is not far away. I am also a DIY person, making everything myself. One of my big hobbies is drones. There’s a lot about that on YouTube.

I also embrace animal welfare and practically live in a zoo — with seven cats, three dogs and other creatures. Life outside of what might be called work, which in my advocacy role is in fact pleasure, is a great enjoyment.

Thank you, Jayson Hanes, for volunteering to be an Oracle Academy Ambassador.