Technology Now

The best piece of technology is often the one you don’t even notice. When it works, everything runs smoothly and the tech itself vanishes – but how we achieve this is changing dramatically with the power of AI.

This week on the show, we’re following up our ‘Self-Driving Networks 1-0-1’ episode with a ‘Self-Driving Networks 1-0-2’: what do these networks look like in practice? Sunalini Sankhavaram, VP Product Management, HPE Networking, joins host Michael Bird to discuss:

• How machine learning works to help networks anticipate demand and respond accordingly
• Why proactive prevention is replacing traditional troubleshooting
• How self driving networks can isolate and treat threats before they have a chance to cause damage

🎧 Listen for a front-line view of where enterprise technology is headed. 

Technology Now is HPE’s flagship, award-winning podcast that brings enterprise innovation to life – featuring real conversations with leaders, customers, and experts on how AI, cloud, and networking are shaping the future of business. Join hosts Michael Bird and Sam Jarrell each Thursday for a new episode on how technology drives real change for companies and consumers, and why everyone should be invested in the conversation.

This episode is available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and wherever you get your podcasts.

About Sunalini:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunalini/

Self-driving networks 1-0-1:
https://hpe.lnk.to/selfdriving

As AI demand continues to grow, so does the public scrutiny of the data centres that provide it. 

With more data centres being built to meet that demand, running these facilities efficiently has never been more important. Communities are also increasingly asking what impact this infrastructure will have on local resources, while misinformation and conflicting claims around the topic can make it difficult to separate fact from fiction.

This week on Technology Now, Andrew DesRochers, Principal Technologist for Sustainable Transformation at HPE, joins the show to discuss: 

• The importance that geography has on the efficiency of data centres
• How cooling techniques are evolving to meet AI demands
• Why it’s necessary for IT companies to foster a transparent relationship with the public
• What the next generation of data centres might look like

🎧 Listen for a front-line view of where enterprise technology is headed.

Technology Now is HPE’s flagship, award-winning podcast that brings enterprise innovation to life – featuring real conversations with leaders, customers, and experts on how AI, cloud, and networking are shaping the future of business. Join hosts Michael Bird and Sam Jarrell each Thursday for a new episode on how technology drives real change for companies and consumers, and why everyone should be invested in the conversation.

This episode is available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and wherever you get your podcasts.

About Andrew:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewdesrochers/

What if AI could do more than just help employees and instead assist with the running of an entire organisation?

As businesses move beyond chatbots and start to integrate AI into their day to day working, a new type of organisation is appearing: the agentic enterprise. This week, Technology Now explores this new form of enterprise with Suparna Bhattacharya, HPE Fellow, AI Research Lab at HPE Labs to find out:

• How agentic AI goes beyond automation and individual productivity
• The importance of teaching AI not just how to do tasks, but the principles it should follow 
• What role humans play in an agentic enterprise 
• What an agentic operating system is, and why they could be a game changer

🎧 Listen for a front-line view of where enterprise technology is headed.

Technology Now is HPE’s flagship, award-winning podcast that brings enterprise innovation to life - featuring real conversations with leaders, customers, and experts on how AI, cloud, and networking are shaping the future of business. Join hosts Michael Bird and Sam Jarrell each Thursday for a new episode on how technology drives real change for companies and consumers, and why everyone should be invested in the conversation.

This episode is available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and wherever you get your podcasts.

About Suparna:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/suparna-bhattacharya-5a7798b/

HPE Labs miniseries on Technology Now, celebrating 60 years of innovation:

Episode 1 – Sixty years of innovation: how would we use a quantum computer? | Masoud Mohseni | https://hpe.lnk.to/quantumcomputer

Episode 2 – Is encryption enough to protect our data? | Nigel Edwards | https://hpe.lnk.to/encryption

Episode 3 – Chatbots, agents & LLMs: the future of AI where bigger isn’t always better | Kirk Bresniker | https://hpe.lnk.to/llm

Episode 4 – How to power AI: smarter cooling and the future of energy | Cullen Bash | https://hpe.lnk.to/powering-AI

Episode 5 – AI agents, superpowers and human judgement: the rise of agentic enterprise | Suparna Bhattacharya | https://hpe.lnk.to/agentic-enterprise

Creating effective AI models takes more than just huge amounts of compute. It requires the high-performance networks needed to connect increasingly powerful GPU clusters and move vast amounts of data. With the speed of AI adoption showing no signs of slowing, our entire infrastructure is having to change to keep up, but can the AI being trained also be used to increase the efficiency of the networks supporting it?

This week, Technology Now revisits the concepts of networks for AI and AI for networking, to see how much has changed in the last six months. Praveen Jain, SVP & GM Data Center and AI Networking, HPE, joins the show to explain:

• The difference between a traditional data center and one optimized for AI
• How to maximize the efficiency of expensive GPUs
• Why infrastructure is becoming self-healing
• The vision of an autonomous data center in the future

🎧 Listen for an insider's view of the infrastructure powering the AI revolution.

Technology Now is HPE’s flagship, award-winning podcast that brings enterprise innovation to life - featuring real conversations with leaders, customers, and experts on how AI, cloud, and networking are shaping the future of business. Join hosts Michael Bird and Sam Jarrell each Thursday for a new episode on how technology drives real change for companies and consumers, and why everyone should be invested in the conversation.

This episode is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

About Praveen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/praveen-jain-24b633/

As AI adoption continues to accelerate, how can organisations maintain control of their data, infrastructure, and AI strategy?

Sovereign AI is rapidly moving from planning and discussions to practical implementation, making it more important than ever for IT decision-makers to understand what it is and how it works.

So, what does it take to deploy sovereign AI effectively while maintaining control, meeting compliance requirements, and protecting valuable data? This week, Technology Now is joined by Trish Damkroger, SVP & GM, HPC & AI, to find out:

• What sovereign AI looks like in 2026, and how it can be achieved
• The five imperatives that organisations must consider when implementing sovereign AI
• Why an effective AI strategy must come before decisions are made

🎧 Listen for a front-line view of where enterprise technology is headed.

Technology Now is HPE’s flagship, award-winning podcast that brings enterprise innovation to life - featuring real conversations with leaders, customers, and experts on how AI, cloud, and networking are shaping the future of business. Join hosts Michael Bird and Sam Jarrell each Thursday for a new episode on how technology drives real change for companies and consumers, and why everyone should be invested in the conversation.

This episode is available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and wherever you get your podcasts.

About Trish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishdamkroger/

AI is transforming the technology industry, but it’s also transforming how we think about energy.
 
As AI models continue to grow, data centres continue to pop up, and agentic AI becomes part of everyday life, our tech infrastructure is consuming more energy than ever before. So how do we power the next generation of AI? In this penultimate episode of our HPE Labs miniseries celebrating 60 years of innovation, Technology Now is joined by Cullen Bash, Deputy Director of HPE Labs, to discuss:

• Why energy is becoming a strategic concern for CIOs and CEOs
• How the increasing demand for compute in data centres is reshaping how we think about energy
• Why innovation in electricity generation is as vital as making infrastructure more efficient
• How AI could help solve the very problems it is creating

🎧 Listen for a front-line view of where enterprise technology is headed.
 
Technology Now is HPE’s flagship, award-winning podcast that brings enterprise innovation to life - featuring real conversations with leaders, customers, and experts on how AI, cloud, and networking are shaping the future of business. Join hosts Michael Bird and Sam Jarrell each Thursday for a new episode on how technology drives real change for companies and consumers, and why everyone should be invested in the conversation.
 
This episode is available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and wherever you get your podcasts.

About Cullen:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cullen-bash/

HPE Labs miniseries on Technology Now, celebrating 60 years of innovation:

Episode 1 – Sixty years of innovation: how would we use a quantum computer? | Masoud Mohseni | https://hpe.lnk.to/quantumcomputer

Episode 2 – Is encryption enough to protect our data? | Nigel Edwards | https://hpe.lnk.to/encryption

Episode 3 – Chatbots, agents & LLMs: the future of AI where bigger isn’t always better | Kirk Bresniker | https://hpe.lnk.to/llm

Episode 4 – How to power AI: smarter cooling and the future of energy | Cullen Bash | https://hpe.lnk.to/powering-AI

Episode 5 – AI agents, superpowers and human judgement: the rise of agentic enterprise | Suparna Bhattacharya | https://hpe.lnk.to/agentic-enterprise

What does it take to deliver one of the world’s most complex sporting events?

In 2026, the Winter Olympics faced a challenge unlike any previous games: delivering secure, resilient, and effective connectivity over the most geographically distributed games in history. With venues spread across hundreds of kilometres, organisers built a network supported by more than 1,600km of fibre optics and AI-driven technologies to keep critical infrastructure running smoothly. To find out more about how this was possible, Technology Now is joined by Giuseppe Civale, Director of ICT Infrastructure and Venue Technologies, to discuss:

• The unique challenge presented by venues spread across hundreds of kilometres
• The infrastructure built to support the games, and what happens to it now the games are over
• How AI was used to help keep the network safe and secure
• How the technology developed for Milano Cortina could influence future global sporting events

🎧 Listen for a front-line view of where enterprise technology is headed.

Technology Now is HPE’s flagship, award winning, podcast that brings enterprise innovation to life - featuring real conversations with leaders, customers, and experts on how AI, cloud, and networking are shaping the future of business. Join hosts Michael Bird and Sam Jarrell each Thursday for a new episode on how technology drives real change for companies and consumers, and why everyone should be invested in the conversation.

This episode is available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and wherever you get your podcasts.

About Giuseppe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giuseppecivale/
About HPE & Milano-Cortina: https://www.hpe.com/it/it/networking/milano-cortina-olympics-ai-network-en.html
Sources:
https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Documents/News/2026/06/IOC-Milano-Cortina-2026-Audience-Insights-Report.pdf

What do AI adoption, cyber resilience, and the great VM reset have in common? They’re all trends which are colliding to reshape the world of enterprise technology.
 
As organisations prepare for a future powered by intelligent systems, infrastructure, security and virtualisation are becoming increasingly connected strategic priorities. This week, Technology Now explores how these changes are reshaping enterprise technology, as Patrick Osborne, SVP Hybrid Cloud and Office of the CTO, joins the show to discuss:

• The economic and technological impacts of the great VM reset
• Why hybrid systems are essential to succeed in the world of AI
• The role of sovereignty and governance in AI adoption
• What the agentic enterprise could mean for infrastructure and operations

🎧 Listen for a front-line view of where enterprise technology is headed.
 
Technology Now is HPE’s flagship, award-winning podcast that brings enterprise innovation to life - featuring real conversations with leaders, customers, and experts on how AI, cloud, and networking are shaping the future of business. Join hosts Michael Bird and Sam Jarrell each Thursday for a new episode on how technology drives real change for companies and consumers, and why everyone should be invested in the conversation.
 
This episode is available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and wherever you get your podcasts.

About Patrick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricklosborne

What do you do when you create an AI that can find security vulnerabilities in almost everything? 

As AI exposes vulnerabilities hidden deep within critical systems, organisations face a new challenge: staying ahead of threats that can now be discovered at machine speed.

This week, Technology Now explores the changing cyber security landscape as AI transforms how vulnerabilities are found, fixed, and exploited, forcing organisations to rethink how they manage risk. Jon Green, CTO HPE Networking, joins us to help explain:

•  How AI can be used to pen test new software before release
• How AI could fundamentally change the way organisations patch and upgrade technology
•  Why critical infrastructure is particularly vulnerable to these types of attacks
• Whether we could be heading towards a future where software is completely vulnerability free

🎧 Listen for a front-line view of where enterprise technology is headed.

Technology Now is HPE’s flagship, award-winning, podcast that brings enterprise innovation to life - featuring real conversations with leaders, customers, and experts on how AI, cloud, and networking are shaping the future of business. Join hosts Michael Bird and Sam Jarrell each Thursday for a new episode on how technology drives real change for companies and consumers, and why everyone should be invested in the conversation.

This episode is available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and wherever you get your podcasts.

About Jon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jongreen4/

In 2022, a watershed moment changed the course of our relationship with AI forever, forcing us to reassess what ‘artificial intelligence’ means and its place in our world. Four years later, with generative AI and LLMs now mainstream in our lives, we must ask the question: what comes next?

This week, as part of our mini-series celebrating 60 years of innovation with HPE Labs, Technology Now is joined by Kirk Bresniker, Chief Architect at HPE Labs to look to the future and discuss:

• Why AI is more than just a language model
• The issues with ever-increasing model sizes, and why specialised “expert models” could become the norm
• What the differences are between large language models and energy-based models
• How agentic AI and orchestration could enable the next generation of AI systems 

🎧 Listen for a front-line view of where enterprise technology is headed.

Technology Now is HPE’s flagship, award-winning, podcast that brings enterprise innovation to life - featuring real conversations with leaders, customers, and experts on how AI, cloud, and networking are shaping the future of business. Join hosts Michael Bird and Sam Jarrell each Thursday for a new episode on how technology drives real change for companies and consumers, and why everyone should be invested in the conversation.

This episode is available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and wherever you get your podcasts.

About Kirk:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirkbresniker/

HPE Labs miniseries on Technology Now, celebrating 60 years of innovation:

Episode 1 – Sixty years of innovation: how would we use a quantum computer? | Masoud Mohseni | https://hpe.lnk.to/quantumcomputer

Episode 2 – Is encryption enough to protect our data? | Nigel Edwards | https://hpe.lnk.to/encryption

Episode 3 – Chatbots, agents & LLMs: the future of AI where bigger isn’t always better | Kirk Bresniker | https://hpe.lnk.to/llm

Episode 4 – How to power AI: smarter cooling and the future of energy | Cullen Bash | https://hpe.lnk.to/powering-AI

Episode 5 – AI agents, superpowers and human judgement: the rise of agentic enterprise | Suparna Bhattacharya | https://hpe.lnk.to/agentic-enterprise