- HPE says integration with Juniper is progressing quickly, with no disruption to customers and accelerating product innovation
- The combined company is pushing hard on “AI for networks” and “networks for AI,” with self-driving networking as the end goal
- Liquid cooling and full-stack AI infrastructure are emerging as key differentiators for HPE in the AI era
MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2026, BARCELONA — As HPE continues to integrate Juniper Networks into its networking business, Fierce Network sat down with Rami Rahim, EVP, president and GM of Networking at HPE, at Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona, to find out how the combined organization is moving ahead while maintaining customer continuity.
“It’s a lot of work,” Rahim said, adding that he was mentally prepared for the scope of the integration. “That being said, it’s very rewarding work, because we’ve made so much progress.”
Rahim said the company has already aligned teams, articulated a unified strategy and delivered new products since the deal closed. “We have not dropped the ball…in terms of our execution and supporting our customers,” he said. “We’ve announced and started to ship amazing products since the close.”
According to Rahim, cultural alignment between HPE and Juniper has been a major factor in the speed of integration. “The cultural alignment…was very high,” he said. “And if culture is similar, everything else becomes easier.”
AI for networks meets networks for AI
A central theme of HPE’s networking roadmap is the dual focus on using AI to operate networks and building networks optimized for AI workloads.
“When I look at the AI opportunity in our industry, there are two threads to it,” Rahim said. “AI for networks and networks for AI.”
On the operations side, Rahim argued that HPE and Juniper have a significant lead due to years of real-world deployment data. “We were the first to build and offer an identical framework, AIOps, to create a truly self-driving network,” he said. “We’ve been learning from real deployments of the largest, most complex networks around the world for 10 years now.”
That experience, he added, allows the company to go beyond basic network uptime metrics. “Understanding not just whether a network is up, but whether a network is actually performing and delivering an amazing experience,” is the real differentiator.
Product innovation and 'better together' strategy
Rahim pointed to several recent and upcoming products as proof that innovation has not slowed during integration. One example is Juniper’s MX301 platform, which launched on schedule despite the merger.
“The demand for it has been exceptional,” he said, calling it a proof point that the company “did not skip a beat.”
More significantly, HPE is beginning to blend capabilities across Juniper Mist and Aruba Central. “We’ve already started to introduce into the market capabilities of one platform onto the other,” Rahim said, describing the move as a way to accelerate innovation while ensuring investment protection for customers.
“All points [lead] the same direction, which is the self-driving network,” he added.
Liquid cooling emerges as a competitive edge
One area where HPE believes it has an “unfair advantage” is liquid cooling, driven by decades of experience in supercomputing.
“HPE has been in the supercomputing space for years and years,” Rahim said. “Supercomputers have actually required liquid cooling for a long time.”
That expertise is now being applied to next-generation networking gear, including data center switches designed for AI workloads. “The expertise HPE has built over the years in liquid cooling turns out to be remarkably valuable for us as we’re building the next generation of network infrastructure,” he said.
Rahim noted that fully liquid-cooled networking equipment is especially challenging due to pluggable components like optics. “Figuring out a way to reliably cool pluggable optics is no small feat,” he said. “But we figured out a great solution.”
What’s next for HPE networking
Looking ahead, Rahim said customer stability remains the top priority. “Priority number one is zero disruption for our customers,” he said. “We will not let the integration interfere with supporting our customers.”
At the same time, he expects customers to see faster innovation and broader portfolio integration as HPE positions itself as a full-stack AI infrastructure provider. “We have all the building blocks we need to execute on our strategy,” Rahim said.
Read all of our coverage from Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona here.