Antonio Neri
When the human mind is in concert with AI, there is nothing we cannot achieve together
As a statement of intent that can’t be faulted for its ambition, even if the rhetoric might be dismissed as another example of the out-of-control AI hype cycle. But Antonio Neri, CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, wasn’t about to pull any punches as he addressed investors at this week’s HPE Discover event in Las Vegas.
Name-checking the pioneering work of Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard more than eight decades ago, Neri talked up the AI revolution, staked a claim to leadership in the field, and added for good measure:
Everything we have accomplished has led us to this moment today!
That’s another variant of a party line that is cropping up across multiple vendors, of course, but it’s one that Neri set out to justify, arguing that the company has been actively addressing current AI concerns for many years. He said:
We are all deeply aware of the transformative power of AI, but AI is hard, it is complicated, and it comes even with full of risks. It is tempting to rush in with AI. No one wants to get left behind. Yet, innovation at any cost is very dangerous. Examples of what can go wrong happen every day. We now question everything we see and hear, and cyber threats are everywhere. In fact, a recent HP survey of 2,500 IT leaders across industry found that 94% say that AI has increased their enterprise security risks.
Enterprises must be purpose-driven, he insisted:
We need AI that we can trust. That’s why in 2019, Hewlett-Packard Labs established five key AI ethics principles. The first is privacy. Second, AI must be human-focused. Third, AI must also be inclusive, ensuring access for everyone. Fourth, AI must be responsible. And last, AI must be robust and continuously quality-tested. At HPE, we are stewards of AI, upholding our principles with unwavering integrity.
Use cases
Neri pitched that HPE is using AI to change lives for the better, citing an interesting customer exemplar to back up his claim. Noting that it’s currently predicted that by the end of this decade, some 78 million people around the globe will be affected by dementia, he pointed to a study by DZNE, a leading research institution that is using Swarm Learning to pursue its work. He explained:
Swarm Learning is an AI technique developed by HPE and is designed to keep AI training results private. It enables hospital research institutions to keep their patient data secure, while privately sharing the learnings and insights with other teams around the world. Swarm Learning is a revolutionary shift from sharing AI training learnings and insights without sharing an individual’s private data.
Whether it’s from Osaka to Oakland and Helsinki to Cambridge, MIT and Stanford, Swarm Learning is leveraged in the memory-centric computing of HPE’s AI systems to accelerate early detection, prevention and ultimately the cure of dementia and other devastating diseases. That is why DZNE established a Swarm Learning center to bring together the biggest minds around the world to combat dementia. This is AI at scale working across borders and institutions to build a better future for all.
Neri also turned to the agricultural sector for another use case example, this time US farming co-operative Land O’Lakes, saying:
Land O’Lakes wanted to bridge the gap between technology and its farm operations, bringing WiFi to rural communities that lacked access. HPE Aruba Networking went above and beyond to address the digital divide, empowering farmers with applications that could help them in the daily operations, but also in their personal lives. Now, by gathering more secure data from silos to soil, Land O’Lakes can utilize AI to anticipate crop yields. The data is protected and belongs solely to the farmers in the field. Together, we are laying the foundation for AI, revolutionizing the agricultural industry and empowering farmers with the data and innovation they need to thrive.
Those are practical real world examples of AI in action, he argued – and just the start, as he concluded with a rallying cry:
Bring us your biggest, boldest ambition, and we will bring it to life. As we stand on the cusp of an AI revolution, our ambition knows no bounds. It drives us to reach for the stars, to solve the unsolvable, and to transform ideas into reality.
But that rhetoric was complemented by a note of pragmatism/sales pitch – delete as applicable – when he said:
Ambition alone is not enough. It requires a catalyst, a force to amplify and accelerate it forward. Technology is that catalyst serving as the bridge between aspiration and achievement. For more than 80 years, HP has been at the forefront of innovation. And today, our more than 60,000 team members around the world are laser focused on helping you realize your biggest dreams. Let us embrace this amazing technology, not just as a tool, but as a force that unlocks our human ambition.
My take
The net of all of this to me is that you’ve got to embrace this technology.
And there was a lot of technology on show during Neri’s presentation and more to come, not least via the firm’s new partnership with NVIDIA to “to accelerate the generative AI industrial revolution”. At the heart of Nvidia AI Computing by HPE is is HPE Private Cloud AI, pitched as a “first of its kind turnkey, private cloud AI solution”. The expanded alliance will also see additional support for Nvidia’s latest GPUs, CPUs and Superchips, including HPE Cray XD670 which supports eight NVIDIA H200 NVL Tensor Core GPUs and is targeted at LLM builders. HPE Private Cloud AI is expected to be generally available in the Fall.
This was a content-filled keynote address by Neri – and one that made good use of the opportunity to impress afforded by the setting of the Sphere in Las Vegas. This was the first corporate buyout of the edifice as a conference venue. It certainly won’t be the last.
