- HPE rolled out a series of new Mist features
- Its data center dashboard is getting integrated access to the Marvis AI Assistant
- It is also expanding autonomous actions for those that want to lean in
Less than two months after wrapping its acquisition of Juniper Networks, HPE has come out of the gate with key updates to Juniper’s Mist AI platform. As you might expect, there’s a lot of talk about generative AI, LLMs and agents, but the AI features themselves aren’t the end goal.
“For us, agentic is a catalyst to get from [level] 4 to 5 [automation],” Jeff Aaron, VP of networking product & solution marketing at HPE, told Fierce. “It’s not the be all, end all for us, it’s just another tool in the toolbox that helps you get to self-driving [networks].”
New features on the table include a generalized large experience model (LEM) with digital twin capabilities that pulls in API data as well as network data from wired, wireless and WAN assets to predict and troubleshoot issues. HPE is also making its Marvis AI Assistant available directly through its data center dashboard, and it is rolling out an expanded suite of “self-driving” actions that can tackle port misconfigurations, capacity issues and non-compliant hardware alerts without human intervention.
“The journey to self-driving is all about outcomes,” Aaron said. “So, ultimately, we want to get to a stage where there’s zero trouble tickets that come in. There’s zero truck rolls. There’s faster time to deploy. You’re spending less time on mundane tasks and [focusing] more on strategic things.”
Asked where companies are along the autonomous adoption curve, Aaron said it tracks pretty closely to how long the customers have been on the Mist platform. Those who have used it longer and are more comfortable with it tend to use the self-driving functions more. Those that have only just started using it are more cautious.
"If you’re fully in, you can go as autonomous as we’re capable of. If you're not fully in, you don't have to go autonomous at all," he said. "We just want to make it super simple for folks to get the benefits of self-driving at their own pace."
What about the AI brain drain?
Concerns have recently arisen that using AI for certain tasks can have a negative impact on humans’ cognitive abilities. That is, it can make humans worse at certain tasks. Think muscle atrophy – if you don’t use it, you lose it.
So Fierce asked Aaron, is that something to be worried about when it comes to network engineers? No, he said, noting HPE intentionally deploys “explainable AI,” which shows what decisions were taken, why and what was done to fix it. That way, the knowledge remains visible rather than being obfuscated by the system.
All of that said, it's important for workers to understand how to use AI. The only problem? There's still quite a bit of a skills gap. Read more about that here.
AI in telecom isn’t tomorrow’s problem — it’s today’s imperative. If you’re waiting for it to catch up, you’re already behind. Join Fierce Network, Supermicro and Nvidia for an exclusive Accelerating AI Solutions for Telecom event at the Dallas Cowboys HQ. Click here to check your eligibility and register today.