AI-driven networking is moving from theory to deployment and Huawei South Africa is leaning into that future. A key part of that is its Xinghe portfolio – a suite of AI-driven solutions designed to secure and optimise enterprise networks – showcased at IP Club 2026. The event drew more than 450 customers, partners and industry stakeholders.
This shift is driven by growing pressure from increasingly sophisticated, AI-driven cyber threats. As these threats evolve, traditional security models are falling short. Companies now need systems that can monitor, diagnose and respond in real-time.
At the event, Huawei unpacked how it is addressing this through its AI Campus approach, which combines existing network infrastructure with AI-driven tools such as iMaster NCE and NetMaster. Together, these systems detect threats automatically while improving network performance and security.
Under the theme of all-domain secure networking in the AI era, the event focused on how businesses are adapting to increasingly complex, AI-driven threats.
In his opening speech, Kui Zheng, CEO of Huawei Enterprise South Africa, highlighted how Huawei is responding to these shifts by focusing on secure and future-ready network solutions. “Everywhere we look, people are using AI. AI makes our business faster, smarter, and better. But, as network and IT leaders, we know the truth: AI also brings new dangers.”
One of the biggest cybersecurity threats, Zheng explained, is ransomware. And the drive behind these crimes is financial gain.
Expanding on this, Yanjun Yu, Senior Principal Architect at the AnShi Lab, Edison Research Center, who travelled from Canada, pointed to how cybercrime has evolved into a structured economy. “Nowadays, most cybercrimes are driven by financial gain. Organised cybercriminals operate like thriving businesses. They offer many different types of services, for example, malware as a service and ransomware as a service.”
He pointed to recent high-profile ransomware incidents in South Africa, adding, “All these attacks cause major severe service disruption, or data breaches, or both. […] The damage is significant.”
To address these new challenges, Huawei positions its Xinghe portfolio as a comprehensive suite of AI-driven solutions that support more intelligent, future-ready networks.
Huawei Xinghe AI Unified SASE Solution
Traditional network architectures were built around a single central system, but companies have since adopted hybrid work models. Businesses now operate across diverse cloud and remote environments. This makes security harder to enforce and systems easier to exploit.
Huawei’s Galaxy AI Fusion SASE solution uses an “AI vs. AI” approach to fight fire with fire. It uses AI to detect and respond to cyber threats powered by AI. The system connects everything in a business and protects it without slowing operations down or relying too heavily on human intervention.
Han Wu, Product Manager at Huawei Southern Africa ICT Marketing & Solution Sales Dept, said the rise of AI is making an already complex security environment even harder to manage. With multi-cloud systems and a remote workforce, the traditional perimeter model is losing relevance fast.
Han explained that “the traditional defence method of focusing on the data and data centres can no longer meet the needs of the traditional and frequent service success.” She said in this new environment, Huawei is using AI to build an all-scenario intelligent protection system for customers.
Used across sectors including government, transport, finance and education, it has been proven to reduce risk, cut complexity and maintain consistent security across remote users and data centres.
Xinghe portfolio overview
Huawei positioned its approach as spanning multiple layers of enterprise infrastructure, from campus networks to WAN and data centre environments.
- AI Campus: Builds secure and intelligent campus networks using AI to improve user experience and integration across environments.
- Intelligent WAN: Provides a secure and intelligent network foundation that connects distributed environments, with built-in automation and security to support performance and reliability at scale.
- AI Fabric: Supports always-on data centre networks with enhanced automation and intelligent operations to improve reliability and performance.
- Unified SASE: Delivers AI-powered, end-to-end security across networks, addressing evolving cyber threats through more adaptive and integrated protection.
ALSO READ: Huawei showcases AI-ready data infrastructure at IT Day 2026 in South Africa
Huawei positioned its approach as spanning multiple layers of enterprise infrastructure, from campus networks to WAN and data centre environments.
The event also emphasised the importance of collaboration across South Africa’s ICT ecosystem by demonstrating how AI-driven networks work in real-world environments.
Alongside the keynote presentations, the event featured insights from Vumatel and Business Connexion.
Huawei is working with Business Connexion (BCX) as its primary implementation partner to bring this solution to local enterprises and public sectors. Through this partnership, integrated cloud and cybersecurity services can now be tailored to the region.
BCX sits behind much of South Africa’s digital infrastructure – from elections and pharmacies to fuel stations and ATMs. Therefore, security is critical. Lucky Sibanyoni, Sales Business Development Executive at BCX, put it simply: “We are here to solve customer pain points.”
Through its partnership with Huawei, BCX is upgrading legacy systems with newer, AI-supported infrastructure. These systems reduce downtime, improve performance, and give teams clearer visibility across complex environments. The result is more stable, consistent services for the businesses that rely on them.
Vumatel is dealing with a different kind of pressure as more users stream in 4K or connect multiple devices at once. In response, the company is working with Huawei on an AI-first approach aimed at resolving issues before they impact customers.
Mohsen Jalayer, Executive of Active Network at Vumatel, said, “We don’t want to be reactive. We want to be proactive.”
With Huawei’s Xinghe AI solution, systems can now handle much of the setup, maintenance and fault resolution with less manual intervention.
With initiatives such as the IP Club, Huawei supports South Africa’s digital transformation across the country’s most vital sectors, including education, healthcare, and enterprise. These initiatives focus on skills development and innovation, while helping organisations strengthen and modernise their networks.
Huawei is also pushing to grow its IP Club community, which now spans more than 120 countries and 8,800 members globally. In South Africa, recruitment is geared towards bringing more engineers and network professionals into hands-on programmes and technical exchanges built around learning and collaboration.
The direction is clear: a stronger focus on AI-driven networking and more secure, adaptive systems.
About Huawei
Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. With integrated solutions across four key domains – telecom networks, IT, smart devices, and cloud services – we are committed to bringing digital to every person, home and organisation for a fully connected, intelligent world.
Huawei’s end-to-end portfolio of products, solutions and services is both competitive and secure. Through open collaboration with ecosystem partners, we create lasting value for our customers, working to empower people, enrich home life, and inspire innovation in organisations of all shapes and sizes.
At Huawei, innovation focuses on customer needs. We invest heavily in basic research, concentrating on technological breakthroughs that drive the world forward. By December 31, 2024, Huawei had 208,000 employees, 54.1% of which were R&D employees. In 2024, our total R&D spending reached CNY179.7 billion, representing 20.8% of our total revenue. We operate in more than 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people worldwide. In 2024, through the efforts of all employees, the company achieved an estimated annual sales revenue of CNY862.1 billion, aligned with forecasts. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees.
