# David Hughes

> David Hughes is the founder and former CTO and CEO of Silver Peak, the enterprise networking company acquired by HPE in 2020. An electrical engineer educated at the University of Auckland and University of Wollongong, he previously worked at BNR Japan, StrataCom, Cisco and BlueLeaf Networks. He now leads SASE and security at HPE Networking.

- **Role:** Senior Vice President and General Manager, SASE & Security at HPE Networking
- **Organizations:** Silver Peak Systems, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Aruba Networks, Benchmark Capital, BlueLeaf Networks, Cisco Systems, StrataCom, BNR Japan / Northern Telecom Japan
- **From:** Auckland, New Zealand
- **Nationality:** New Zealander
- **Education:** BE in Electrical Engineering, University of Auckland, PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wollongong
- **Known for:** Founded Silver Peak in 2004 and led its expansion from WAN optimization into SD-WAN., Led Silver Peak through the acquisition agreed with HPE at an announced transaction value of $925 million in 2020., Credited with more than 50 patents in an author biography, covering data acceleration, routing, packet switching, control and scheduling algorithms.

## Career timeline

- **—** — Worked as an engineer at BNR Japan / Northern Telecom Japan before joining StrataCom.
- **1996** — StrataCom, where Hughes was an engineering contributor, was acquired by Cisco.
- **1996-2000** — Held system architecture and product management roles at Cisco.
- **2000-2002** — Vice president and general manager at BlueLeaf Networks.
- **Before 2004** — Spent a year as entrepreneur in residence at Benchmark Capital.
- **2004** — Founded Silver Peak and served as CTO.
- **2005** — Silver Peak launched its NX WAN optimization appliance family in September.
- **2013** — Became Silver Peak CEO, succeeding Rick Tinsley.
- **2015** — Silver Peak launched EdgeConnect in June.
- **2020** — HPE completed the Silver Peak acquisition on September 21; Hughes led the WAN business within Aruba.
- **2022** — Publicly identified as Aruba’s chief product and technology officer.
- **2026** — HPE identified Hughes as SVP and GM of SASE and security.

## Achievements

- Founded Silver Peak in 2004 and led its expansion from WAN optimization into SD-WAN.
- Led Silver Peak through the acquisition agreed with HPE at an announced transaction value of $925 million in 2020.
- Credited with more than 50 patents in an author biography, covering data acceleration, routing, packet switching, control and scheduling algorithms.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Participated as SVP and GM of SASE and security in HPE Networking Investor Day on September 30, discussing network-based threat detection, enforcement and autonomous protection.
- **2026-08** — Listed among HPE’s security leaders for Black Hat 2026.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hughes-42751636

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/david-hughes
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25