AI is rapidly infiltrating every aspect of our lives—ChatGPT helps us write our emails, self-driving taxis give us a ride home from the airport, and now we have AI-generated music winning Grammy Awards. Although the positive impact of AI on the world is undeniable, this often-misunderstood technology also contains tremendous potential for hype and hyperbole.
Everywhere anyone turn these days, we’re met with another product or service that is supposedly “AI powered” or “AI driven.” And networking is no different. The sad reality is that these terms have been so overused it’s now difficult to distinguish effectively true AI innovation from what we at Juniper call “AI washing.”
And look, I understand the marketing value that AI washing represents. When I worked at Mist Systems in the early days, before AIOps was everywhere, a big part of my job was making sure we used that magical acronym “AI” in all our content, wherever possible. It helped that Mist AI was real AI, and to be fair, it was one of our primary differentiators. But the value of the marketing strategy should not be underestimated.
At Juniper, Mist AI is still one of our primary differentiators. But today, my focus has shifted from using AI as a flashy marketing buzzword to helping customers’ IT teams cut through the AI noise and experience the tangible, quantifiable benefits of Juniper’s AI-Native Networking Platform.
So, let’s take a minute to break down the critical, functional differences between some of our AI-washed competitors and the simplicity, productivity, and performance that true AI-Native Networking can give you.
Separating AI fact from fiction
Not all AI is created equal. Some solutions carry the label without delivering real, actionable intelligence, existing only to drain your budget and disappoint your constituents. Other solutions represent a new world of exceptional networking experiences for users and operators alike, with up to (or sometimes more than) 90% fewer trouble tickets and 85% lower OpEx. But how do you know which? To separate AI hype from AI-Native reality, I would encourage you to ask yourself a few simple questions:
- Is the AI transparent? Does the vendor have explainable AI? And can they show you how the AI continuously improves over time? You can’t trust what you can’t see.
- Do they have good data? And how long have they been collecting that data? At its core, even the best AI application is just an empty shell of potential without the right data to fuel it.
- Does the vendor use its own AI? If your vendor doesn’t trust its AI solutions and use them internally, why should you? Hint: You shouldn’t. Spoiler alert: We do.
- Where’s the proof? Real AI is measured by outcomes, not marketing jargon. You can’t afford to be someone’s AI guinea pig. Look for battle-tested, proven solutions you can trust.
Building trust through transparency
Trust is the foundation of AI adoption for any enterprise, and that starts with full transparency. At Juniper, our explainable AI proudly displays the logic behind our AI models. We adhere to core innovation principles that make our AI inclusive, intentional, secure, and mission-driven. And we’re open about what data is collected, how it’s used, and how it’s secured.
Through closed-loop feedback and reinforced learning, our AI is constantly improving efficacy over time. With over 10 years of AI development and training, we’ve built deep domain expertise to determine what data matters most. And we’re one of the only vendors to offer a microservices cloud architecture for rapid processing and unprecedented insights.
Most importantly, we practice what we preach. Juniper is the ONLY networking vendor that actively uses its own AIOps in customer support. Read that last sentence again. Our customer success team relies daily on the same AI insights we provide to our customers. Since day one, our data science and customer success teams have worked together, uncovering common networking challenges and collaboratively developing AI tools that can rapidly detect and resolve issues without human intervention.
Getting comfortable with AI
Once trust in AI is established, the next step is cultivating comfort with its application. The more you experience AI delivering real-world results, the more you’re going to want to embrace the technology and depend on it to scale your efficiency, productivity, and value.
And let’s be super clear here, AI is only as valuable as the outcomes it delivers. A true AI-Native Networking solution should quantitatively reduce inefficiencies, boost productivity, and enhance user experiences. Many of our customers see Mist AI and Marvis as virtual extensions of their IT teams—they’ve grown to trust the technology to consistently catch issues that humans miss, providing deeper insights, making their IT operations more efficient, and identifying and resolving network issues before they impact user experiences.
- City of Parkland Florida, Halfords, UMass Amherst, and ServiceNow have all reported a 90% (or more) reduction in network-related trouble tickets
- CitizenM Hotels and the City of Philadelphia are able to efficiently manage expansive networks that deliver optimal performance with minimal IT staff
- Dartmouth College relies on Marvis to save time, prevent downtime, and elevate user experiences, as detailed in this blog post
Skepticism is healthy. That’s why we encourage customers to test and verify our AI for themselves. Learn from real-world use cases and start with a proof of concept. Validate the performance and functionality of your AI models in our Ops4AI Lab. After all, and as I said earlier, seeing is believing. Let us show you.
Looking forward: The future of networking is self-driving
The long-term vision for AI in networking isn’t just augmented IT with limited pockets of automation—it’s fully autonomous network management and optimization. And Juniper is leading this journey to a Self-Driving Network™. With over a decade of AI experience and the industry’s most advanced AI capabilities, we are well on our way to a fully self-detecting, self-healing, and self-configuring network. Ultimately, it will free your IT team of the network burden, allowing them to focus on more strategic initiatives.
Ready to cut through the AI noise and see what real AI-Native looks like for yourself? Join us at AI-Native NOW: Journey to the Self-Driving Network to experience the five stages of the journey that are required to achieve a fully autonomous network—and learn how Juniper is delivering real-world value for our industry-leading customers today.
