HP Taps Former GSK Chief Emma Walmsley as Next CEO

Hardware titan HP has selected Emma Walmsley as its incoming chief executive officer, concluding a leadership transition following a unanimous board vote. Walmsley is scheduled to formally take over the position on January 4, 2027, according to reporting by GamesBeat.

Walmsley brings high-profile enterprise experience to the role, having served as CEO of pharmaceutical giant GSK and spent seven years on Microsoft's board of directors. She takes over the top post from Bruce Broussard, who has steered the hardware and computing company as interim CEO since February 2026.

The leadership shift will also reshape the company's boardroom. Broussard will transition to the role of board chair on January 4, 2027, succeeding Chip Bergh. Broussard initially stepped into the interim chief executive role after previous leader Enrique Lores departed HP in early 2026 to take over as CEO of PayPal.

In a statement shared with GamesBeat, Broussard highlighted Walmsley's track record in managing global organizations through structural shifts. "HP has tremendous potential at an important inflection point in technology, and we need a leader who can build on our innovation heritage and strengths to boldly shape the company’s future," Broussard said, pointing to the growth opportunities surrounding edge AI compute.

Walmsley noted that her strategy will center on modernizing workplace computing and capitalising on emerging computational tools. "We will focus on harnessing the power of the AI era and putting HP’s creativity and innovation to work to unlock new sources of growth and deliver lasting value for our customers, shareholders, partners and people," she said in a statement.

For the entertainment and digital production sectors, HP remains a core supplier of workstation hardware, display tech, and remote collaboration infrastructure. As Hollywood Tomorrow notes, enterprise hardware providers are racing to embed AI capabilities directly into creator workstations, making long-term executive direction crucial as studios upgrade their virtual production and VFX pipelines.