American IT major HP Inc has appointed former GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley as its next chief executive, ending a nine-month search for a permanent leader and bringing an outsider from the pharmaceutical and consumer goods industries to the top of the US computer maker.
Walmsley, who led British drugmaker GSK from 2017 until December 2025 and has served on Microsoft’s board since 2019, will take up the role on January 4, 2027.
She will succeed Bruce Broussard, who has been HP’s interim chief executive since February. Broussard will become chair of the board on the same date, replacing Chip Bergh, who has held the position since 2017.
The board appointed Broussard while it conducted a global search.
HP said the board unanimously selected Walmsley after a comprehensive search, citing her leadership across industries, strategic thinking and record of guiding large organisations through change.
Broussard said she had the experience to bring HP’s businesses and capabilities together as artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes work and technology.
Walmsley said she was joining at an important moment for the company and would focus on harnessing AI to create new sources of growth. Her appointment is notable because she has not previously led a technology hardware business.
The board is betting that her experience in managing global brands, research-led businesses and complex transformations can be applied to a company facing pressure in both its personal computer and printing operations.
Walmsley joined GSK in 2010 from L’Oreal, where she spent 17 years in marketing and general management roles. She became chief executive of GSK Consumer Healthcare in 2015 and took over as group chief executive in April 2017.
During her tenure, GSK sharpened its focus on specialty medicines and vaccines, strengthened its research and development pipeline and separated its consumer healthcare business, which became Haleon in 2022.
She left GSK at the end of 2025, with Luke Miels succeeding her as chief executive in January 2026.
The challenge at HP is immediate. A global shortage of memory chips, fuelled by demand from AI data centres, has pushed up prices and squeezed manufacturers.
HP has warned that industry-wide PC unit volumes could decline by mid-single digits in 2027 and has not provided a fiscal 2027 financial outlook, Reuters reported.
HP’s latest reported results show the mixed picture Walmsley will inherit. In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, revenue rose 12.5% year on year to USD 15.7 billion.
Personal Systems revenue, which includes PCs, increased 18% to USD 11.8 billion, helped by demand for commercial machines and higher-priced products, including AI PCs.
But unit volumes in the segment fell 16%, indicating that revenue growth was being driven by product mix and pricing rather than higher shipments.
Printing revenue fell 2% to USD 3.9 billion, while operating margin in the business was 18.1%.
HP reported third-quarter net earnings of USD 660 million, down 13% from a year earlier, although non-GAAP earnings per share rose 10.7% to 83 cents.
The company raised its full-year earnings and free cash flow forecasts, but flagged supply constraints and rising memory and storage costs as risks.
HP said in November 2025 that it expected to reduce its global workforce by about 4,000 to 6,000 employees by fiscal 2028, with pre-tax charges of around USD 650 million.
The plan reflects the pressure on established PC and printer businesses to lower costs while investing in new products and services.
The choice reflects HP’s need for a leader able to manage a portfolio spanning consumer devices, commercial computing, peripherals and services.
Its printer business remains an important source of cash and profit, but faces structural pressure as customers reduce paper use and shift workflows online. Balancing investment across these businesses will be a central task for Walmsley.
Walmsley’s experience at GSK could prove useful in managing research investment, global supply chains, regulation and brand portfolios. However, she will need to build credibility with hardware customers, channel partners and suppliers, while making decisions on pricing and product development in a market where manufacturing scale and component procurement are critical.
Investors will now look for Walmsley to set out her priorities after taking office.
The appointment gives HP a chief executive with a strong record in corporate transformation, but the test will be whether she can translate that experience into a turnaround in a highly competitive technology market.
Quick facts on Emma Walmsley
- Walmsley was born in Barrow-in-Furness, in northwestern England.
- She is the daughter of former Royal Navy officer Robert Walmsley, who later served as the UK’s chief of defence procurement.
- Walmsley, who attended St Swithun’s School in Winchester and studied classics and modern languages at Oxford University, spent 17 years at L’Oreal, holding marketing and management positions in London, Paris, New York and Shanghai.
- After marketing and management positions, Walmsley became general manager of L’Oreal’s consumer products business in China, overseeing brands including L’Oreal Paris, Maybelline and Garnier.
- Walmsley joined GSK in 2010 and became chief executive in April 2017, the first woman to lead the British drugmaker.
- Walmsley also played a pivotal role in the formation of the spin-off of GSK’s consumer healthcare arm, now Haleon, and pushed to bolster its medicines and vaccines business.
- She also steered the GSK through headwinds such as the COVID pandemic, Unilever’s failed bid to buy its consumer assets and pressures from activist shareholders Elliott and Bluebell.
- Walmsley parted ways with GSK at the end of 2025 after nearly nine years as CEO.
- Walmsley has been on Microsoft’s board for seven years.
- She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2020 for services to the pharmaceutical industry and business.
Image Courtesy: Microsoft