HP appoints former GSK CEO Emma Walmsley as chief executive
Walmsley will take over on Jan. 4, 2027. Bruce Broussard will become board chair after serving as HP's interim chief executive since February.
HP appointed former GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley as its next CEO, effective Jan. 4, 2027, bringing a leader with experience in global consumer businesses and corporate transformation to the technology company.
Walmsley will succeed Bruce Broussard, who has served as interim CEO since February and will become chair of HP's board. The appointment ends HP's search for a permanent chief executive, although the company has not announced a new strategic plan.
The leadership handoff
Broussard will succeed Chip Bergh as board chair on Jan. 4, 2027. Bergh will remain chair until then, providing continuity during the transition.
HP said its board unanimously appointed Walmsley following a comprehensive global search.
The company announcement says Walmsley led pharmaceutical company GSK from April 2017 through December 2025. She joined GSK in 2010 and became chief executive of its consumer-healthcare business in 2015.
During her leadership of GSK, Walmsley oversaw changes to the company's business portfolio, including the separation of its consumer-healthcare operations.
Earlier, she spent 17 years at L'Oréal building and managing global consumer businesses. She also served on Microsoft's board for seven years.
Her background combines consumer products, global operations and technology governance. However, leading HP's personal-computing and printing businesses presents different operational challenges from those she faced at GSK.
What HP says it needs
Broussard said HP has "tremendous potential at an important inflection point in technology" and needs a leader who can build on its innovation heritage and strengths.
HP's board emphasized Walmsley's experience managing large organizations and guiding businesses through significant change.
Walmsley called HP "an iconic company with a defining role in shaping the future of work on a global scale." She said she was excited to join the company and work with its team.
Both executives highlighted opportunities associated with artificial intelligence, including its increasing use in devices and workplace technology.
Those statements indicate broad areas of interest, not a detailed operating strategy.
HP's appointment announcement does not establish a new financial target, disclose a turnaround plan or announce changes to the company's earnings guidance.
It also does not establish whether Walmsley intends to reorganize HP's existing businesses or make major changes to its product portfolio.
Why the transition matters
HP has been operating under an interim chief executive since Enrique Lores left in February.
The company's leadership transition release announced Broussard's appointment while the board began searching for a permanent successor.
The accompanying SEC filing confirms that Lores departed effective at the end of Feb. 2, 2026, and Broussard became interim CEO on Feb. 3.
Broussard's move to chair will preserve continuity at board level while placing day-to-day executive leadership under Walmsley.
That structure may help the incoming CEO navigate the company's existing priorities, although the announcement does not specify how responsibilities will be divided during the handoff.
The central questions concern execution.
HP already operates across personal systems, printing, services and AI-enabled devices. Walmsley will need to determine which priorities to retain, accelerate or change after taking office.
Her experience with corporate transformation may inform those decisions. It does not, by itself, establish that HP plans a restructuring or a major shift in strategy.
What settles it
Walmsley's first public strategic plan and HP's subsequent financial guidance after she takes office will provide evidence of whether the appointment changes the company's direction.
Investors, employees and business partners will be watching for clearer priorities across personal computing, printing, services and AI-enabled devices, along with any changes to management responsibilities or investment plans.
For now, the confirmed development is a leadership transition with a two-month period between the Nov. 4, 2026, announcement and Walmsley's Jan. 4, 2027, start date.
The appointment identifies who will lead HP next. The company's subsequent decisions will show whether that leadership change also marks a change in strategy.