Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Azul Appoints Kenny Johnston as Chief Product Officer

Azul announced the appointment of Kenny Johnston as its chief product officer. Johnston brings experience building agentic AI-powered observability and DevOps platforms and will lead product strategy for Azul’s AI-first Java platform, covering performance, security, cost and developer productivity. His prior roles include chief product and technology officer at Luciq, senior director of product management at GitLab, and director of product management at Rackspace. Azul’s platform portfolio referenced includes Azul Prime, Azul Core, Azul Intelligence Cloud and the Payara products added after Azul’s December 2025 acquisition of Payara. Scott Sellers, co-founder and CEO of Azul, commented on Johnston’s fit to lead the company’s AI-first roadmap.

Morgan Stanley Upgrades HPE on Strong Hardware Demand

Morgan Stanley upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), citing sustained strong spending on computer hardware and a boom in AI data centers that supports a longer infrastructure upcycle. The broker lowered HPE's price target to $69 from $71 while arguing enterprises are accelerating purchases of PCs, servers and storage to lock in prices amid rising memory and storage costs — a trend Morgan Stanley calls part of a multi-year 'Chipflation' headwind. The note from analyst Erik Woodring aligns with broader Wall Street optimism: of 23 analysts covering Hewlett Packard, 14 rate the stock a buy or strong buy, and shares have surged materially over recent periods.

NetApp CMO: AI Failures Are Data Problems

Gabie Boko, NetApp’s chief marketing officer and juror on The Drum B2B Awards Effectiveness jury, argues that most AI disappointment in B2B marketing stems from poor data foundations rather than model flaws. Boko, who joined NetApp in 2022 and has more than 25 years’ experience at firms including HPE, SAP and Sage, says marketers should prioritise governed, accessible, trustworthy data and cyber resilience over visible front-end tools. She emphasises that human judgment—knowing which patterns matter to customers—remains the differentiator when tools are widely available. Boko also recommends balancing brand-building with commercial performance and encourages B2B marketers to develop a distinctive voice and technical curiosity to work effectively with data and engineering teams.