HPE Unleash AI
What is HPE Unleash AI?
HPE Unleash AI is the partner program Hewlett Packard Enterprise runs for independent software vendors whose products work with HPE Private Cloud AI. Partners go through an onboarding process that includes validation testing, and customers get a curated list of use cases to run on their own HPE infrastructure. Katonic AI is a partner in the program.
What the program is for
HPE Private Cloud AI is a private AI system that HPE co-engineered with NVIDIA. It gives an enterprise the hardware and the base software to run AI on its own premises. It does not, by itself, give a bank a loan review agent or a police service a transcription tool. That is the gap the Unleash AI program fills.
The program gathers software companies whose products run with Private Cloud AI, so a customer who has bought the system can find something useful to run on it without assembling the stack alone.
The name causes some confusion. Unleash AI is not a product you buy and not a feature of Private Cloud AI. It is a list of partners and the process HPE uses to admit them.
Why HPE runs it
Infrastructure is bought for what it will do. A buyer comparing private AI systems asks what will run on each one, how soon, and who stands behind it. A hardware maker cannot write every application, so it needs software partners, and it needs a way to tell customers which ones it has checked.
For HPE's own sellers the program answers a practical question: when a customer asks "what do I do with this", there is a named partner and a described use case to point to.
How it works
- A software vendor applies and goes through HPE's onboarding, which HPE says includes validation testing.
- HPE lists the partner and its use cases for HPE sellers and customers.
- A customer picks a use case and runs the partner's software on HPE infrastructure it owns.
- The customer buys the partner's software from the partner or through HPE's channel, depending on the arrangement in that country.
HPE has said the program grew by 26 partners in one expansion and covers more than 75 use cases. Those are HPE's own published figures, and the list keeps changing.
Who is in it
Partners that HPE and trade press have named publicly include AI21 Labs, Aible, CrewAI, CrowdStrike, Dataiku, deepset, Kamiwaza and ProHawk. The current list is on HPE's own Unleash AI page.
The partners do different jobs, and it helps to sort them by layer before comparing them.
| Layer | What partners at this layer provide |
|---|---|
| Models | Language and other models to run on the system |
| Security and governance | Protection for data, models and agent behaviour |
| Data and analytics | Tools to prepare, manage and analyse data |
| Agent platforms | A place to build, run and govern AI agents |
| Vision and industry applications | Finished applications for a specific job |
What the program does not tell you
A place on the list means a vendor has been through HPE's process. It does not tell you whether that vendor fits your case. Two partners at the same layer can differ in the things that matter most to a regulated buyer.
How to judge a partner
- Where does data go? Ask whether any prompt, document or log leaves your premises in normal operation.
- Does it run disconnected? Ask what stops working with no internet connection.
- Whose models does it use? Ask whether it uses the models your system serves or needs its own.
- How is use controlled? Ask how access, budgets and audit work across departments.
- What do staff actually see? Ask to watch a non-technical person complete a task.
- Who supports it? Ask who you call, in which time zone, and what HPE's role is.
Where Katonic AI fits
Katonic AI is a partner in the program, at the agent platform layer. Katonic is a platform for building, running and governing AI agents on infrastructure the customer owns. On HPE Private Cloud AI, Katonic connects to the models the system serves and adds the layer where business teams build agents, IT governs them and staff use them.
HPE has published one Katonic use case as a solution brief, "Coding Agent on Your Own GPU". Katonic has submitted ten use cases to the program, each with its own page:
- Member fund assistant for pension trustees
- Back-office agent workflows with approval gates
- Air-gapped police interview transcription
- AI coding agent on your own GPU
- Token factory for Group IT
- White-label AI service for MSPs and telcos
- Shared GPU platform for government ministries
- Citizen tax assistant
- Case officer copilot with approval
- Moving agent pilots to production
Read next
- Ten use cases Katonic runs on HPE →
- Katonic AI on HPE →
- HPE Private Cloud AI or HPE GPU servers? →
- HPE solution brief (hpe.com) →
- HPE Unleash AI page (hpe.com) →
Questions and answers
Is HPE Unleash AI a product?
No. It is a partner program. The product is HPE Private Cloud AI, and Unleash AI is the group of software partners whose products work with it.
Do I need HPE Private Cloud AI to use a partner's software?
The program is built around HPE Private Cloud AI. Some partners, Katonic among them, also run on HPE GPU servers that a customer has built into its own estate.
Is Katonic AI part of HPE Unleash AI?
Yes. Katonic AI is a partner in the program, and HPE has published a Katonic use case as a solution brief.
Does being in the program mean a partner suits my organisation?
No. It means the partner has been through HPE's onboarding. Whether it fits depends on where your data must stay, whether you need disconnected operation and who will use it.
Where is the current list of partners?
On HPE's Unleash AI page. The list changes as HPE adds partners, so check it directly.