HP Reinventing the Future of Work through AI & Partnerships

The foundation of modern partnering has fundamentally shifted from the simple definition of a "channel" to the complexity of a cohesive "ecosystem". Meg Brennan recalls her early career in the nineties, where the channel was merely a sales route—a way to reach customers by selling physical, shrink-wrapped software. This transactional approach was based on the strongest distributors and resellers. Today, however, the concept is entirely different; a partner ecosystem is built around adding value. For a technology company like HP, this means relying on partners to add value in diverse ways, from selling products to designing software that works best on AI PCs. The modern ecosystem now includes ISV partnerships, MSPs, GSIs, and service partnerships, going far beyond the traditional reseller model. The core driving force behind this change is a dramatically increased focus on the end customer.

Understanding who the customer is and how to reach them is paramount, requiring vendors to ensure they are present everywhere the customer is researching solutions—not just on their own site, but also robustly represented on partner and retailer sites. The speed of change in go-to-market motions has accelerated rapidly over the last decade, necessitating a corresponding change in how a global company like HP coordinates content delivery and campaign execution. While HP is a channel-centric company where over 80% of business goes through partners, the process still requires designing the direct content first and then adapting it for the channel. The modern toolset, particularly with advancements in AI, enables content localization and distribution to occur much faster than ever before. A significant part of the hardware world has also adapted, especially on the supply chain side, which has become significantly more nimble due to lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent use of AI-driven analytics to manage complexities like tariffs and manufacturing locations. This increased agility in supply chain management is now translating into a faster, more responsive go-to-market approach at the front end as HP advances its vision for the future of work.

This shift toward an Artistry of ROI is necessary because the customer journey is no longer linear, and partnerships are about joint growth, not single-transaction attribution. The focus is on aligning with partners that will deliver growth in strategic areas. This requires HP to look across its broad market segments—consumers, SMB, mid-market, and enterprise—and its various delivery channels—retail, MSPs, and SIs—to prioritize where it can have the most impact. In areas of stability, the goal is to maintain course and capture organic growth. In emerging regions, such as the MSP space, there is a deliberate decision to "build the plane while we fly it" to gain momentum. This strategic prioritization is critical for effectively managing the vast complexity of HP's global partner ecosystem.

HP's strategy for driving the future of work is centered on the AI PC, which goes beyond a typical laptop by offering core features like superior battery life and the ability to run AI models locally. The ability to run AI locally is a significant value proposition for customers, offering enhanced privacy, security in secured environments like healthcare, and reduced cloud costs. Meg provided examples of its local application, such as an AI-powered camera that manages background blur and follows the user. To ensure this innovative technology succeeds in the market, HP strategically focused on winning the "hearts and minds" of its partners, recognizing them as essential influencers in this new technology space. This approach was immediately operationalized with the launch of the Amplify AI program.

A critical component of this enablement strategy is the AI Masterclass. This program was designed to educate partners on the fundamentals, such as what an LLM is and how AI works, effectively leveling up the entire industry together. The masterclass also provided partners with a sneak peek at HP's own roadmap and how the applications on the AI PC would add value to their customers. The response has been overwhelming, with tens of thousands of partners completing the masterclass, demonstrating their enthusiasm and commitment to selling the new technology. This partner-centric launch successfully positioned HP's solutions, where the value proposition is clear: even simple benefits, such as all-day battery life for frequent travelers, are a winning differentiator.

The conversation then extended to the evolution of software, which has undergone a complete transition from perpetual licenses in physical boxes to a cloud-based SaaS model, often featuring consumption-based billing. Meg used the analogy of a customer wanting to buy "a glass of wine at a time" rather than the whole case, emphasizing that modern models allow customers and partners to purchase and pay how they want. This software evolution necessitates that HP package hardware and software as a complete solution, known internally as "OneHP," to solve problems related to the future of work. The enablement for partners focuses first on understanding the customer problem the software solves—whether it is HP Wolf security or the observability software WXP—to ensure they can articulate its value to the customer. HP offers partners financial incentives and rebates to align with this "OneHP" vision, ultimately promoting a win-win scenario that grows the partner’s business by selling more than just a box.

The third central theme is the evolution of metrics, which Meg Brennan refers to as the "Artistry of ROI." In her early career, measurement was straightforward, focused only on how much a partner sold. This later evolved into the more intensive, transactional attribution model, which measures how much a partner initiates and attempts to tie every dollar of MDF investment to a specific deal. Today, Meg has shifted away from this highly intensive, transactional approach, recognizing that a customer journey involves 25 or more marketing interactions, making single-activity attribution less powerful and overly complex.

The contemporary approach, the Artistry of ROI, is more nuanced and strategic. It focuses on overall program effectiveness and the success of joint "plays". Instead of claiming "we caused that deal”, the focus is on whether HP's investments influenced growth in the areas targeted by a strategic play. The key is to review the joint business plan and assess whether the investments are yielding growth in the business with those specific partners. This strategic mindset is critical for prioritizing programs across HP's complex 4x4 market matrix, ensuring that the company focuses its investment where it can gain the most leverage and opportunity, such as the emerging MSP space or the federal system integrator market in Europe.

The Voice of the Partner heavily influences this strategic approach. HP relies on Partner Advisory Boards (PABs) and local advisory councils to bring direct feedback to its product leaders. The partners—often high-level executives—do not focus on granular product details, but on high-level business requirements, such as the need for multi-tenancy for MSPs or FedRAMP certification for Federal System Integrators (FSIs). Finally, the evolution of the team driving this strategy requires leaders who are curious about differentiating the company, are action-oriented (preferring execution over just talk), and, increasingly, have technical skills. The future operational employee will become more of an "agent manager" than an administrative worker, leveraging AI to automate tasks and enable frontline staff to focus on more valuable, partner-facing work.