What are HPE’s technological differentiators, financial performance, and the challenges it faces?
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a defining theme in the networking sector. Vendors are racing to deliver automation, proactive management, and self-healing capabilities through AI-driven platforms. Against this backdrop, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is repositioning itself following its acquisition of Juniper Networks. The combined portfolio, anchored in Juniper’s Mist AI and HPE Aruba Networking, now represents HPE’s most ambitious attempt yet to challenge Cisco’s market leadership.
This article assesses where HPE stands today in the AI networking race — its technological differentiators, financial performance, the challenges it faces, and the broader industry context shaping the competitive landscape.
From merger turbulence to product integration
HPE’s $14 billion bid for Juniper, announced in early 2024, was one of the largest deals in networking in recent years. The process was far from smooth: the U.S. Department of Justice initially sued to block the merger on antitrust grounds, arguing that a tie-up between the second and third-largest WLAN vendors could harm competition. By mid-2025, regulators relented on the condition that HPE divest certain WLAN assets and auction a license to Juniper’s Mist AIOps source code.
Despite these complications, HPE unveiled an integrated roadmap. The company recently introduced new autonomous capabilities under the Juniper Mist platform, packaged within the GreenLake Intelligence suite. These enhancements are pitched as a way to move network operations toward true “agentic AI,” with proactive remediation and self-driving functionality across wired, wireless, and data center domains.
Mist AI and the Marvis assistant
At the center of this strategy lies Mist AI, a cloud-native automation and analytics platform that Juniper acquired in 2019. Mist’s strength lies in its ability to turn raw network telemetry into actionable insights through machine learning. Its virtual network assistant, Marvis, has been consistently praised for its conversational troubleshooting capabilities.
Recent updates extend Marvis beyond wireless into wired and data center networks. Features such as autonomous remediation, a Large Experience Model (LEM) trained on application data, and Marvis Minis — digital replicas that simulate network conditions — are designed to reduce downtime and speed problem resolution. Juniper’s Chief Network Strategist Neil McRae argues that Mist was conceived as an “AI controller” for the enterprise, shifting the burden of troubleshooting away from customers and onto the infrastructure itself.
Aruba Networking and portfolio overlap
The integration of Juniper into HPE is not without complexity. HPE already had a strong networking arm through Aruba, which it acquired in 2015. Aruba Networking Central also offers AI-based monitoring, anomaly detection, and event-driven automation.
The overlap between Aruba’s tools and Mist’s Marvis has raised questions about long-term product rationalization.
For now, HPE is presenting this as a complementary story: Mist brings a deep AI-native approach, while Aruba provides a mature base in campus and edge networking. Executives insist that the combined entity can span everything from enterprise to cloud to service provider markets, leveraging AI for consistency across domains. Still, customer clarity will depend on how HPE manages branding and integration in the coming years.
Market pressures and financial realities
Earlier this year, Juniper’s earnings underscored the sector’s volatility, with revenues dropping 16% year-on-year and operating margin shrinking significantly. Slowdowns in customer spending, tied to macroeconomic uncertainty, weighed heavily on results. The one bright spot was Mist AI, where orders continued to grow at double-digit rates.
In contrast, HPE as a whole delivered a strong Q3 2025, achieving record revenue of $8.4 billion and expanding profitability across key segments. CEO Antonio Neri highlighted that demand for HPE’s hybrid cloud and AI-driven solutions remains robust, with GreenLake continuing to scale. Networking, boosted by the Juniper acquisition, is increasingly central to this growth story. These results suggest that while challenges remain in certain product lines, HPE’s broader diversification and focus on AI-enabled services are paying off.
The company’s pitch is that doubling its networking revenues through the Juniper acquisition will help offset volatility in its legacy businesses. The bet is that AI-driven automation will be a core requirement as enterprises and service providers adapt to hybrid cloud, IoT, and remote work demands.
The AI skills gap and industry dependence
Beyond product strategy, HPE faces the same structural headwinds as its competitors. The telecom and enterprise networking sectors are grappling with a significant skills gap. As large language model (LLM)-based interfaces simplify operations, the depth of in-house knowledge within operators and enterprises is eroding. Estimates suggest that in-house skills may have fallen from 80% in 2000 to closer to 40% in 2025, as more expertise is outsourced to vendors.
For vendors like HPE, this creates both an opportunity and a risk. On one hand, AI tools such as Marvis become indispensable for customers who no longer retain deep institutional knowledge. On the other hand, it makes operators and enterprises increasingly dependent on their suppliers — intensifying scrutiny from regulators and raising questions about long-term resilience.
Competitive landscape
Cisco remains the clear leader, with roughly 40% of the WLAN market compared to HPE-Juniper’s 30%. However, the addition of Mist AI significantly enhances HPE’s ability to compete in the high-growth segment of AI-driven operations. Aruba and Juniper together also position HPE more strongly against cloud-first challengers and hyperscalers moving into enterprise networking.
Conclusion: A defining moment for HPE
HPE’s move to acquire Juniper was as much a defensive play as it was an offensive one. By combining Mist AI with Aruba, HPE has created a portfolio that can credibly contest Cisco’s leadership and offer customers a vision of AI-native networking. The recent upgrades to Marvis and the GreenLake Intelligence suite mark important progress toward self-driving networks.
The company’s record Q3 2025 results underscore that AI-driven networking and hybrid cloud remain growth engines, even as certain segments face cyclical pressure. Yet challenges remain. Product overlap, financial volatility, and the industry-wide talent shortage will test HPE’s ability to execute. Moreover, customer trust in AI systems will be shaped not only by technological capabilities but also by transparency, interoperability, and long-term support.
In the AI networking race, HPE has secured a stronger starting position than ever before. The next phase will depend on how effectively it integrates Juniper, aligns its portfolio, and convinces enterprises and operators that its vision of autonomous, AI-driven networking is both achievable and sustainable.
