Hardware & Compute

HPE Puts Networking at the Center of AI at Discover 2026

CEO Antonio Neri outlined the company’s “agentic enterprise” vision as HPE deepens Juniper integration and expands AI infrastructure portfolio.

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HPE's CEO announced at the company's Discover conference that networking should be treated as the foundation of AI infrastructure, rather than a secondary component. This positioning reflects HPE's rationale for acquiring Juniper Networks for a significant sum, based on the belief that networking has not advanced as quickly as computing components like GPUs and represents a major frontier for innovation as cloud and AI reshape infrastructure needs. HPE is integrating Juniper's networking products, including switches designed for AI training and inference, into its broader AI infrastructure offerings and data center systems. Industry analysts viewed the announcements as a clear statement that HPE now considers itself a networking company with networking as a core part of its AI strategy.

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