AI starts with the network: an HPE Discover 2026 preview with Jeremiah Jenson

Robert Dutt: Hello and welcome to In The Channel from ChannelBuzz.ca, bringing news and information to the Canadian IT channel community for the last sixteen years. I’m Robert Dutt, editor of ChannelBuzz.ca and your host for the show.

HPE Discover 2026 opens this morning in Las Vegas, running from June 15 to 18 at the Venetian Convention and Expo Center, and if you’re on the ground in Vegas today you’re probably settling in to the Partner Growth Summit as you’re listening to this.

The headline theme this year is “architecting AI, starting with the network.” HPE’s Antonio Neri takes the main stage tomorrow morning with that framing, and it’s a deliberate point of view. The network isn’t the last thing you figure out when you’re deploying AI – in HPE’s view, it’s the foundation. That’s worth unpacking.

Joining me today is Jeremiah Jenson, vice president of North America Channel at HPE, who oversees partner strategy across the United States and Canada. I chatted with Jeremiah ahead of the show, so nothing embargoed is in here – none of the announcements are really covered. We’ll get to those in future episodes. This one is about setting the stage: who’s there, what the big themes are, how the week flows, and what Canadian partners following along from home should be paying attention to.

Let’s get right into it – my chat with Jeremiah Jenson.

Jeremiah, thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it.

Jeremiah Jenson: Yeah, thanks Robert.

Robert Dutt: So for listeners who may not know you, can you give us a quick rundown of your role at HPE, and especially what that means in the context of an event like Discover this week?

Jeremiah Jenson: Yeah, well, I lead HPE’s channel strategy across North America – both the United States and Canada – and that gives me a very close, direct view into what partners care about heading into Discover. My role is really to understand what partners care about and how to help them grow. I have responsibility across the full portfolio of Hewlett Packard Enterprise – compute, our hybrid IT business, all the associated software components, the networking business, and the services pieces as well. I really like to help connect our strategy to partners for ultimate delivery to customers.

Robert Dutt: Let’s start with the event itself. It’s your flagship event, and it’s a big one. What does the scale look like, and particularly from where you’re sitting and what you’re responsible for, what kind of partner presence are you expecting – both in general and on the Canadian side? Do you have a sense of what the Canadian contingent looks like, both on-site in Vegas and watching virtually?

Jeremiah Jenson: Yeah, I mean, it’s our flagship event and it’s always a major moment for the partner ecosystem across our portfolio, which includes networking, cloud, and AI. Massive event – and I would just say, first off, we’re oversubscribed. Demand for the event has been unlike anything we’ve ever seen. I have a fair bit of tenure with HPE and there is just a tremendous amount of interest, and I think that stems from the themes we’re bringing forward at Discover – helping not only our customers but partners shape and plan for the upcoming months. It’s a big moment for the HPE ecosystem.

Canadian partners play a huge role. They’re a huge part of North America, a huge part of the market. Canada is a differentiated market, and I think they’re paying quite a bit of attention to this event because it helps them shape where they want to focus next – where do they want to make that next investment, what is the next opportunity for them to help serve their customers.

Robert Dutt: I don’t want to get ahead of any of the announcements to come, but Antonio Neri’s keynote on Tuesday is publicly framed as “architecting AI starts with your network” – and that feels like a pretty deliberate point of view. It’s not just saying AI is everywhere, it’s saying the network is where AI actually gets built, actually runs, actually lives. What’s driving that framing from HPE’s perspective, and how does it translate into what channel partners are being asked to bring to their customers?

Jeremiah Jenson: AI is a huge opportunity – it’s part of every conversation, it’s part of everyday life at this point. And what we’re seeing is that customers need the right foundation in place to move from interest to real outcomes. Now is the time to build that underlying foundation, and AI success really depends on the quality, security, and intelligence of the underlying infrastructure – and in particular, the networking. Whether that’s networking for AI or AI for networking, for partners that creates a bigger opportunity to lead conversations around readiness, security, and performance.

Robert Dutt: How have you seen that conversation around AI with partners evolve since the last time HPE brought partners together for Discover?

Jeremiah Jenson: If anything, the AI opportunity has accelerated. In years past there may have been questions about where AI would ultimately land, what the impact would ultimately be. And I think the thing that has changed – or maybe the right word is accelerated – is that AI isn’t a future opportunity anymore, it is a current opportunity. It is happening now, and now is the time to talk to your customers about the business outcome they intend to drive with AI. And that has just accelerated, whether that’s in networking as we discussed, whether it’s in some of our storage capabilities that we’ve brought to market, or generalized compute or high-performance compute. The opportunity has done nothing but accelerate.

Robert Dutt: Partners are kicking off the week with the Partner Growth Summit today – later in the day on Monday – before the main conference even starts, and the general session theme is “The Power of One.” What’s the thinking behind having that dedicated partner day, and what does it mean in terms of how you’re trying to communicate with the channel right now?

Jeremiah Jenson: I love Partner Growth Summit because, first, it speaks to how sincere we are about partnerships – partners are part of our DNA, they’re part of who we are and how we go to market. The Power of One theme is really the emphasis on one portfolio, one program, and one integrated experience through Partner Ready Vantage. It’s a signal about where we’re going – with a portfolio of our size and a channel of our size, we’re on a constant quest for simplification. Partner Growth Summit is really a dedicated moment for partners to focus on what HPE’s strategy means to them, how they can implement that strategy within their business, and it’s about making HPE easier to work with, more profitable to grow with, and more efficient to operate within.

Robert Dutt: Certainly the idea of having a partner conference attached to a big customer-centric event like Discover is common practice across the industry. But it’s interesting that instead of “partner summit,” “partner conference,” or “partner day” – the names you see elsewhere – it seems quite intentional to have the word “growth” in Partner Growth Summit. Can you speak to that decision?

Jeremiah Jenson: Absolutely. Partners are powering our growth – they’re part and parcel to who we are, and how and where we’re growing. While dedicated partner days might in some cases be fairly standard, ours is very deliberate. We start with the partner strategy, from there into the broader company strategy, and then into deeper technical and customer conversations. From my standpoint, that growth element starts with the partner – painting the areas of strategic growth and strategic investment, where we are going together as one, in the markets that we want to help take advantage of.

Robert Dutt: Walk us through how the week actually plays out for someone on the ground here in Vegas. We start off Monday with the Partner Growth Summit, the main conference runs Tuesday through Thursday – what’s the rhythm and shape of the week, and what should people be watching for as it unfolds?

Jeremiah Jenson: So the week starts with Partner Growth Summit on Monday – that starts with the partner strategy, how we’re simplifying and consolidating our programs, driving efficiency, and presenting real growth opportunities, and that’s directly linked to the following days. That goes right into the broader company strategy: CEO keynote Tuesday, CTO general session Wednesday. Then the showcase and one-on-one meetings throughout. What you see is that move from partner strategy to broader company strategy and then into deeper technical and customer conversations with individual bespoke meetings throughout.

The other piece I’d highlight is that customers and partners have the opportunity to follow along remotely, so the key there is to focus on the themes, the keynotes, and the signals around where HPE is investing. And it all wraps up Wednesday night – for those who are at least in Vegas – at Allegiant Stadium. A big celebration night with our customers, our partners, and the broader HPE ecosystem, with Steve Aoki and Imagine Dragons headlining that evening. A big send-off for everyone.

Robert Dutt: Pulling back the lens to Canada specifically – you’re running North America Channel. What can you tell me about what the conversation with Canadian partners looks like heading into this show? Where is the Canadian partner community with HPE right now, and is there anything distinctive about what they should be watching for this week at Discover?

Jeremiah Jenson: It’s a great question, because the Canadian channel partner ecosystem is one that is distinct and unique, but also very deliberate and focused on customer outcomes. I always really appreciate that about that market.

Discover is both a strategy event – in terms of where are we investing, what are the strategic areas and customer opportunities – and a business event: where is demand moving, how are those themes translating into opportunity and profitability? Some of the areas I’d draw their attention to: certainly networking, and in particular data center networking – there’s a huge opportunity there with what’s happening around networking for AI. I’d also call their attention to our cloud offerings and sovereign cloud offerings, which are particularly important for a lot of Canadian businesses and Canadian partners. We’re seeing a tremendous amount of opportunity around sovereign cloud, whether that’s in the Canadian public sector or some of the other businesses we historically serve or are targeting in Canada. They’re very focused on the deliberate opportunity with their customers, and the real question is how do we translate those strategic areas into real business, real profitability, and real growth.

Robert Dutt: It’s interesting – it sounds like you’re describing the Canadian channel as sort of ahead of the curve, if anything, on selling on outcomes. That’s obviously been a focus for more than a year now. Sometimes I think the Canadian market writ large gets painted with a brush of being a little conservative in terms of adopting technology, and maybe that focus on outcomes is a way of managing that – getting through to customers who don’t necessarily want to be first out of the gate, but want something that’s proven and ready to go.

Jeremiah Jenson: Yeah, for me, I wouldn’t use the word “conservative.” I would use the word “intentional.” The Canadian partners I do business with are very exciting and forward-thinking, but intentional. They’re close with their customers – they have a level of customer intimacy that I’m often impressed with – and they’re very focused on where they can add value and help customers accomplish their business goals. So conservative is not a word I would use. They’re just very forward-thinking and intentional.

Robert Dutt: Last one – sort of a two-header, one from your perspective and one from a partner perspective. You’ve covered some of this, but just to narrow it down: if I’m a Canadian partner heading to Vegas or following along online, what’s the one thing you’d make sure you walk away from Discover this week understanding? And from your perspective, what does a successful week look like for you?

Jeremiah Jenson: If I’m a partner about to watch Discover – either in person or following along online – I would challenge yourself to personalize it: where’s the next growth opportunity for me? Hewlett Packard Enterprise offers such a huge portfolio, so the question is, what is the next opportunity I can take to my customer or customer base? I’ll point out a couple of very strategic areas: data center networking, and how we’re bringing that strong networking portfolio together; our cloud offerings, hybrid cloud software, and storage; and what we’re doing in AI, where we’re seeing massive acceleration. Pick one, and challenge yourself personally – where can I invest in myself that will help me produce a better customer outcome for the customers I serve? Pick one and be really deliberate about how you can understand that more deeply.

And for me – what does success look like coming away from this year? I want clarity of message to be impressed upon the entire North America Channel, and probably most importantly, the Canadian channel. How do we make this real for Canadian partners in their differentiated market? Clarity of message, and making sure we all walk away with the same mission, one goal, and one very clear definition of success.

Robert Dutt: Big goals for a big week. Good luck – I hope it’s a very successful Discover for you.

Jeremiah Jenson: Thanks so much for the opportunity. I’m looking forward to seeing everybody in Las Vegas.

Robert Dutt: There you have it – Jeremiah Jenson from HPE. I’d like to thank Jeremiah for his time.

Just a heads up – this is part one. We’ll be back later this week with another conversation, as Jeremiah and I are going to talk a little bit after the Partner Growth Summit’s main stage so we can get a look at the specific partner program announcements coming out of Discover. Keep an ear out for that, and of course we’ll have the news breakdown tomorrow morning on The Buzz as well.

Thanks as always for listening. A couple of things I want to leave you with from this conversation. First: the “networking for AI – or AI for the network” framing. The argument HPE is making is that the network is the enabling layer for everything your customers are trying to do with AI. That’s a positioning opportunity worth thinking about in your own customer conversations, wherever you sit in the stack. Second: Jeremiah’s challenge to partners watching or attending Discover this week – don’t try to absorb everything. Pick one area, whether that’s data center networking, cloud and hybrid cloud storage, or AI acceleration, and go deep on it. That’s how you turn a week of announcements into something you can actually bring back to your business. I thought that was good advice for following any big vendor event.

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Until next time, I’m Robert Dutt for ChannelBuzz.ca, and I’ll see you in the channel.