After several months without significant developments, Oracle is back with a much-anticipated update to its Cloud EPM platform. Version 26.04, deployed in April 2026, marks a turning point with a rich set of innovations combining artificial intelligence, automation and an improved user experience.
These Oracle EPM updates for April 2026 confirm a clear trajectory: making EPM an increasingly intelligent, connected and decision-oriented platform.
A clear acceleration around artificial intelligence
One of the key highlights of this update is the enhanced integration of artificial intelligence. Oracle is notably expanding access to GenAI across all OC1 regions, demonstrating a strong commitment to democratising these capabilities.
Even more significantly, the introduction of new REST APIs dedicated to interactions with AI agents opens the door to new use cases. It is now possible to:
- generate AI-oriented application summaries
- extract large volumes of data in JSON
- use forms programmatically
These developments lay the foundations for EPM that can interact with intelligent agents, rather than solely with human users.
Increased automation and openness
Beyond AI, Oracle is enhancing the automation capabilities of its platform. Improvements to APIs, EPM Automate and workflows enable EPM to be better integrated into broader ecosystems.
For example:
- pipeline tasks now support custom variables
- Data Integration roles are now configurable
- migration and environment management processes gain flexibility
These developments address a key priority for finance departments: industrialising and strengthening the reliability of processes while reducing technical dependencies.
Technical advances to support performance
The update also delivers several important technical optimisations.
On the Essbase side, improved block analysis makes it possible to identify near-zero data, which often causes performance degradation. For Groovy, a major engine update is planned for May 2026, with stricter validation rules.
In addition, capabilities for copying data, comments and attachments through Groovy simplify the automation of many use cases.
Narrative Reporting and enhanced performance management
Developments in Narrative Reporting confirm Oracle's intention to bring data and storytelling closer together.
New features include:
- integration of images from Oracle Analytics Cloud into reports
- improved AI-powered automated text generation capabilities
- more flexible management of machine learning models
These features enable finance teams to produce more dynamic and contextualised analyses, supporting better decision-making.
Enhanced integration with the ERP ecosystem
Another notable advance is the general availability of the integration between Predictive Cash Forecasting and Oracle's ERP Cloud.
Businesses can now:
- automatically connect their cash management data
- analyse variances between forecasts and actuals
- access more granular levels of detail through drill-through
A further step towards a unified view of financial performance.
Key points to watch out for
As is often the case with major updates, certain developments require particular attention.
Oracle notably announces that generative AI capabilities will be limited to up-to-date environments from July 2026. In addition, certain metadata constraints (reserved names, uniqueness) may affect existing processes.
Thorough environment testing therefore remains strongly recommended.
A key milestone in the evolution of EPM
With these Oracle EPM updates for April 2026, Oracle is taking a further step in the transformation of performance management tools.
Between the growing power of AI, openness through APIs and the continuous improvement of business use cases, the platform is clearly moving towards a more intelligent, automated and integrated model.
For finance departments, the challenge will now be to leverage these innovations to move beyond traditional reporting and strengthen their strategic role within the business.
source: Paul Lewis
