HP Europe boss on the future of cyber-threats to businesses | Boardroom Uncovered

Speaker A: I very much doubt these attacks are going to suddenly stop one day and there'll be a magic remedy. But, um, most importantly, any advice I'd give to anyone is our, ah, laptops and computing technology is the most secure end user computing technology on the planet.

Speaker B: Who inspires you?

Speaker A: One person, Barack Obama.

Speaker B: Okay. Um, because he buys hp. I have asked that question all year and I've never heard an answer quite like that. What is the future of AI in the workplace in the uk?

Speaker A: The ability to scan someone, uh, on an MRI and give instant outcomes. The ability to X ray someone and not wait four hours in reception to work out whether you've broken your wrist or not. You know, that software will be able to analyze that forensically.

Speaker B: We've seen big tech giants in the UK cut jobs over the last year, 18 months because of switching to AI. It's not all good news.

Speaker A: Well, you know, let's look at it in a different way.

Speaker B: Okay, look at it that way first, then we can look at it.

Speaker A: Okay, we'll look at it. We'll look at it your way. Everyone was poised at work at 11:59 thinking that, um, you know, the world would never be the same.

Speaker B: Hello and welcome to another edition of City AM's boardroom, uncovered, with me, John Robinson. My guest for this episode is the boss of HP in Northern Europe, Neil Sawyer. Sawyer is concerned the UK's AI strategy could be repeating the mistakes of the dot com boom and this country is at risk of inflating its own AI bubble. So what does he think should be done about it? Without any further delay, let's dive in. Well, Neil, thank you very much for coming on board of Uncovered. It's great to have you here.

Speaker A: Nice to meet you, Jon.

Speaker B: I suppose I want to start with this. Two things. First thing, this is your third stint at, ah, hp. What have they got on you to make you keep on coming back?

Speaker A: Well, ah, that's a good question. Um, I started at HP when I was still at university, in fact, so I did my placement year there. Uh, thankfully over the years they've got nothing on me. But, uh, you know, I love the culture, love the people, got lots of great friends there, so feel very comfortable in my surroundings.

Speaker B: That's very different. Like I answer, it is, but it's true. You won't get out what they've got on you later on in the episode. I think maybe the second thing is, surprisingly a large number of people when I've said, oh, Neil from HP is coming on the show, they've gone, oh, as in the Source. Now I didn't realise that HP had such a brand, um, rivalry with HP Source in the uk, but maybe you do.

Speaker A: Well it clearly is unique to the uk. Um, and um, yeah, so I've had that a few times over the years in fact, uh, including from some close relatives. And I still think they think I work for the HP Source company. I've never corrected them, uh, however. But um, yes, uh, that sometimes can be a bit of a misunderstanding. But um, I don't know how long HP Source has been around for.

Speaker B: Probably a bit longer than HP I think.

Speaker A: Well we're coming up for 90 years so uh, it could be a close run. Calls.

Speaker B: You've got a hot take when it comes to the UK's AI strategy, haven't you?

Speaker A: I've been involved in technology for a quarter of a century, um, from a work perspective and there's been so much change, uh, evolution in terms of how we use tech in the workplace and at home. That goes without saying. But we're really at a tipping point now in terms of the introduction of AI, in terms of many processes and things that we do at work and of course uh, at ah, home and we're all more familiar with it than we were even a year ago. And of course it's very important to build the infrastructure and make sure that we have a global place around the table, uh, within the uk. But of course building data centers and infrastructure and cloud environments, um, is one part of AI. But the other side of it for me, which I find really fascinating is how is the use of generative AI going to be used in the workplace in many different industries but also how will it be applied in the home? And you know, that's more than just building sheds and infrastructure, that's about the application of that uh, infrastructure and how it will be used in a day to day role or a specific industry like health or education.

Speaker B: So what's the UK getting wrong?

Speaker A: They're not getting anything wrong per se, but I think my observation is that there's a heavy uh, degree of focus understandably in terms of construction and um, making sure that we put jobs into tech. Uh, and I love that, I think, I really value it. But actually I think there needs to be more emphasis on how AI is going to make a difference in key industries and with workers, um, that carry out specific professions or rather than the emphasis around the cloud and building that infrastructure. There is a byproduct to that and I think that byproduct is the thing that will fuel the economy long term in terms of giving millions of jobs and thousands of opportunities to many different businesses uh, around the country.

Speaker B: So is the UK focusing on building data centers too much then? Do you think the speed needs to be brought down a peck or two?

Speaker A: Absolutely not. I mean I think that actually in many ways we've got some catching up to do compared to other countries within Europe and of course the United States. And one very important word that uh, seems to be more important than ever before is sovereignty. So making sure that the infrastructure is there and it can be retained, uh, within the premises of the United Kingdom is really, really important. And we need to make sure we accelerate that investment because that is absolute required for the infrastructure moving forwards. But we need to make sure we pivot as well and talk about how uh, the use cases of AI will change industries and improve outcomes for uh, people that are using the nhs, improve productivity and of course provide jobs for the future. They just won't be simply put in the cloud, that will be a fundamental part of it. But the devices themselves and the applications will form part of the future economy, that's for sure.

Speaker B: Is the UK too far behind other countries, other European countries, the US to be able to catch up and actually win this race?

Speaker A: No, not at all. Because, I mean we saw only a few weeks ago the government's investment, um, that uh, has seen an extraordinary amount of money going into the infrastructure through ah, the likes of Nvidia, ah, you've seen the investments from Microsoft and Google. The amazing thing about the British economy is the quality of technical knowledge and IT resource that is renowned around the world. So being able to marry that resource, uh, and that knowledge that we are the subject matter experts of AI and cybersecurity globally and marrying that uh, up with having the right infrastructure just provides an amazing platform for us moving forwards as a country, but also as a contributor to the global economy.

Speaker B: It's a positive narrative that doesn't really get talked about that much. There's a lot of negativity around the moment with the economy and things like that, but that strength that Britain has and has always had to some degree in terms of tech doesn't really get talked about as much as maybe it should be.

Speaker A: Well, I'd agree with that. I mean I'll give you some very good examples. Uh, HP's first, first ever research and development labs outside of America was in Bristol, England. Um, that was our cyber security labs. They're still there today and we've expanded that out into Cambridge. You know, speaking of Cambridge which uh, has you know, such an amazing uh, uh knowledge and center of expertise around uh, the development of microprocessors and um, and everything that goes into technology uh today every single form of technology there is intellectual properties and mindsets, uh, minds that are in Cambridge that will last the test of time in terms of any global uh, competitive market or economy. And I think the other areas of course as it becomes more important is defence security as well. And we are a global um, knowledge base for you know, all of the complex technical requirements that go into the defence sector. So we should be really, really proud as a country um, and as a technology sector of what we have to offer on a global stage.

Speaker B: Seems that 2025 has been the year of the cyber attack. Household names, British icons, M and S, Harrods, Co op, Jaguar, Land Rover to name just a few, have all been hit with major cyber incidents this year. From HP's point of view, what are you doing to help shore up your defenses that are used by so many companies across the country?

Speaker A: Yeah, well it's a great point. A big part of what we do is um, corporate technology. Many people uh, hopefully listening to this podcast are uh, uh, HP ah tech users. But um, needless to say that cyber security has been around for many, many decades. As I mentioned, it's a big part of HP's propos both in the home and from a corporate perspective. Uh we've invested very, very heavily in terms of our own infrastructure and our own proposition. Uh that's why our uh, end user compute, uh, our laptops and computing technology is the most secure end user computing technology on the planet. Uh, that's because of the BIOS level security that we offer all of our corporate uh, customers. So it goes for well beyond the software layer right into the component security as well. And that's really important because of course um, cyber attacks are more sophisticated than they've ever been before and if I marry the conversation around AI, well these threats are always going to be there. But we work very closely with our clients to make sure that we provide the most secure end user compute, um, ah, framework that we can do. Um, and um, yeah you know we also look at it from a supply chain perspective as well. Um, many of our clients operate in sensitive environments and um, they want to be assured that from the point of production and shipment through to the point of delivery and activation then you know, those devices have not been tampered with and we have those uh, competencies in all of our technology today. So we're working very Hard, um, alongside our uh, partners, including Microsoft, who uh, of course feature significantly, particularly in the corporate space as well as the home user space as well.

Speaker B: These cyber attacks have been going on for years. Absolutely correct. It's not the case that they've just started up this year, but there seems to be more sophisticated attacks that have got through the defences. Why do you think that is this year?

Speaker A: Well, I, I don't know the exact answer. Um, you know, because I, you know, I'm not um, you know, privy to, to all of the reasons why, you know, one attack has happened over another. But um, you know, I think that, you know, there are many organizations out there that have very complex IT systems. Um, and you know, some of those IT systems are outsourced, um, some of them speak to each other and oftentimes you can have a company's IT systems that's talking to the IT systems of an entirely separate company. So there's always vulnerabilities that you've got to manage uh, as a company. And um, everyone works very hard to make sure that um, data and information, particularly public information and private information, is secured as best as possible. But um, look, it goes without saying that I, I very much doubt these attacks are going to suddenly stop one day and there'll be a magic remedy. But um, most importantly, any advice I'd give to anyone, uh, is to make sure that um, you're ahead of the game rather than reacting to something that happens. And oftentimes we can see that playing out in the public eye.

Speaker B: Well, they're not going to stop anytime soon. Are they going to increase?

Speaker A: Well, I think all of the um, the facts around AI and uh, producing attacks and um, adjusting those attacks, um, are likely to carry more variables. People will react, um, very, very quickly, um, make adjustments, um, so that the reality is that of course we're likely to see an increase, um, the population increases. Um, there are more people connected for work and at home than ever before and people generally have more access to connected devices. So I think there's a case of inevitability and the point that we need to make sure that we are more focused than we ever have been on the security of people and businesses in our country.

Speaker B: Okay, Neil, got some quick fire questions for you. Now, are you ready?

Speaker A: Um, well, it depends what they are.

Speaker B: What was your first job?

Speaker A: First job? Ah, I qualified as a chef actually when I left school. So, um, yes, went to catering school and worked in a number of different bars and restaurants around Rutland where I grew up.

Speaker B: Yeah, I was wondering we were going to get Rutlands in the podcast from Uppingham. Of course, we'll grow up a bit in Rutlands in Uppingham. Uh, we can just take the rest of the pods and just talk about Rutlands, I think. But we should move on because this is a quick podcast.

Speaker A: I love Rutland. So, uh, and I know you share the same passion.

Speaker B: Absolutely. Um, who inspires you?

Speaker A: One person. Barack Obama.

Speaker B: Okay. Um, because he buys hp.

Speaker A: Um, I haven't checked with him recently. Um, but, uh, you know, he makes a lot of sense, uh, you know, speaks a lot of sense, and, you know, generally brings people together, um, in how he comes across. I was watching a couple of videos with him last week, so, uh, yes, he's the first person that springs to mind.

Speaker B: You can't use Barack Obama for the next question, but if you had to appoint a celebrity to your board, who would it be and why?

Speaker A: Very good question. Um, uh, can I be slightly, uh, out there?

Speaker B: Of course you're out there. As much as you want.

Speaker A: I would invite Chris Martin from Coldplay.

Speaker B: Okay. Big Coldplay fan.

Speaker A: Yes, of course. But again, somebody that unites people, um, you know, has an opinion on the world, but, um, you know, has a global connection, and, um, you know, also is a great entertainer. So I thought that would be good to have.

Speaker B: On any board, you say you're nice people. If you put a camera on a couple of people, you might be having an affair at one of your concerts.

Speaker A: Quite possibly. But I'll never be in that position, so, um, I'm safe.

Speaker B: What's the best thing about your job?

Speaker A: Uh, people. Uh. Um, I'm very lucky to have made some great friends over the years, um, both within my company, but also externally. We're an industry that's built on relationships, and, um, I've definitely thrived in that world.

Speaker B: And if you're a prime minister for the day, Neil, what would you do?

Speaker A: Goodness. Uh, lots of things, of course. Um, you know, world peace and, you know, bringing people out of poverty is very important.

Speaker B: Easy stuff.

Speaker A: Easy stuff, yes. Uh, but if it was just for the day, I would ban wheelie bags. Why? Okay, I.

Speaker B: This.

Speaker A: I need to explain this.

Speaker B: You really do need to explain this.

Speaker A: Um, on aircraft, um, then one of the things that delays a lot of flights is just the intensity of wheelie bags that turn up on a plane. And therefore, if everyone just bought a regular bag and put it in the hold, there wouldn't ever be any delays of planes. So I just think if we ban the wheelie bag, then the World will just work a lot more efficiently from a transport perspective.

Speaker B: I have asked that question all year and I've never heard an answer quite like that.

Speaker A: Well, I slight suspected that there might be a couple of quick fire questions and I thought well, how can I make sure that I um, mix it up a little bit?

Speaker B: I mean fair play. Okay, well what about you know, your Prime Minister for the day but it's going to be the budget the next day. What would you order Rachel Reeves to put in that red box?

Speaker A: Well I think uh, a lot of our ah, big retail partners talk about um, you know, just making it fair in terms of you know, employment contracts and you know, the taxation, uh, accessibility to run a business, uh, with the flexibility that's needed in particularly bricks and mortar retail where there's a lot of changes to market conditions, consumer confidence. And I think having spoken to a few of our major um, retailers they definitely want to make sure that there's flexibility in terms of how they can operate and um, that will make them more nimble, it will deliver better prices to their customers. So if from an economic point of view that would be definitely something I push for alongside the wheelie bags.

Speaker B: The two priorities of the day.

Speaker A: Yes. Yeah, well you only gave me one. So if the day was a bit longer than normal then we'd definitely get two in.

Speaker B: Of course it's not just tech and AI that you're involved in as a company. You've got the printing elements as well. How was that doing? It just seems that printing seems to be declining year on year and AI and tech is rising. Is that correct?

Speaker A: Um, well the answer around print is that we are multidisciplined. So um, we are one out of two households in the country use hp, uh, technology from a printing point of view. Um, there are many more printers in the United Kingdom and around the world post Covid because it was a big part of printing homework and working from home. And it's our job to make sure that um, people are given reasons to print, um, whether it be for educational purposes. We see ah, an uptick in mail order and online business which produces shipping labels. We've got gig economies where we need to make sure that people are printing documentation that goes with shipments of goods. So there's loads of things that print um, is still uh, very uh, or businesses and industries are still very dependent on when it comes to print. But also we're very diverse in terms of our printing outputs. You know we've got office printing technology, um, we've got packaging and um, label printing technology and you know we've got uh, digital printing which prints very bespoke and personalized uh, content as well. So you know we are um, very well covered in terms of the many different types of print outputs that you see. The other bit that HP also does is that um, um we're very focused around meeting room technology and collaboration. So we acquired a business called Polly a few years ago that's incorporated now into hp. So everything that we do from a digital collaboration perspective um, is a big feature of what we do as a business at hp but also how we serve our clients both at home and um, also in the workplace.

Speaker B: I want to get back to AI. What is the future of AI in the workplace in the uk?

Speaker A: Good question. I'll give you some real life answers um, because I'm not going to sort of talk into the theory of it, um because I think listeners would prefer how to use it properly rather than the theory of it all. But you know, at HP we call it the future of work strategy. Um, and um, you know we firmly believe that um, you know, the coupling of data center and cloud, uh, provision which we spoke about earlier, will be married with the on device AI capability. So that is making sure that you can process stuff at your desk or on the move as well as querying data, uh, center, large language, uh, models. So to give this into practice then if I take the nhs, um, everyone has a strong feeling towards um, healthcare in this country. But um, we have a growing population and an aging population and therefore there's always going to be the need to process things faster, cure illnesses, recognize um, problems quicker and um, if you take uh, a lot of the advanced computing that will be installed in PCs and laptops in hospitals, then the ability to scan someone, uh, on an MRI and give instant outcomes, the ability to X ray someone and not wait four hours in reception to work out whether you've broken your wrist or not. That software will be able to analyze that forensically and at pace to process people faster. The other thing interestingly is um, a little bit about me personally. I've got three kids, ah, two of them uh, are neurologically diverse, ah, and therefore we handle different educational requirements for them. And I think that if you take education and schools, the pressures on schools, then by having personal AI, uh, support assistance on devices, that's going to help facilitate teaching staff in the classroom and give a greater level of attention and care to all pupils in classrooms is all goodness. Now there's a lot of people that work in the city Here, uh, that will be listening. Um, the ability to process complex spreadsheets, analytical data, coming up with summaries, even simple things like asking your trusty Excel spreadsheets to produce um, a, uh, graphical representation in PowerPoint, all used to be very labor intensive. And actually through Microsoft Copilot and these facilities, it helps process um, basic functions faster I think. Of course everyone loves receiving lots of emails all day, every day. Ah, we all do.

Speaker B: That's the job, isn't it? You answer m emails.

Speaker A: Well, it is the job. Sometimes I do joke about that, but it's an important feature in every office worker's um, day to day responsibilities. And I think just by having those AI software tools on your device, processing that information, drafting stuff up based on your behaviors and how you've written stuff in the past, that's going to save 10, 20, 30% of your time. And um, you know, everyone will welcome that because it means you can do more things, proactively, engage with clients more and um, have more time to think about the future.

Speaker B: See that's that positive. You just listed quite a few positive elements of AI being integrated into the workplace. But the other side of it is job losses. You know, we've seen big tech giants in the UK and obviously UK headquarter companies as well, cut jobs over the last year, 18 months because of switching to AI. It's not all good news.

Speaker A: Well, uh, you know, let's look at it in a different way.

Speaker B: Okay, why don't we look at it that way first, then we can look at it.

Speaker A: Okay, we'll look at it your way. Um, ah, but you know, this is the point that I was making earlier is that if everything's centered around cloud and infrastructure and building, then there needs to be a greater emphasis on creating jobs and using AI and creating those jobs, um, those businesses, uh, for the future. And the more we invest in the technology outcome side as opposed to um, uh, looking at the technology input side which is the infrastructure. If we invest more as a nation into the outcomes, you'll create more jobs, more businesses, more prosperity. So there'll be more vacancies out there, there'll be new businesses, there'll be new use cases that need to be applied, there will be industries that need a greater level of protection and all of these skills are applicable and transferable easily. So you know, I do feel that um, you know, when we look at things in a traditional sense, then of course there's an element of summarizing it with gloom. But let's look at the next 10, 20 and 30 years. Because that's what we also have to do as an industry is make sure we equip people who are children today and make sure that we're building career paths for them tomorrow. And I think AI does play a huge feature in that. And by the way, I think AI will make um, the workplace more accessible to a lot of people as well. So um, I think there's more positives than there are economic negatives to it.

Speaker B: When you started in tech a few decades ago, do you ever think you'd be sitting here talking about AI in the way that you have been? I mean you started on sort of Microsoft 98 or something.

Speaker A: 98? Uh, yeah, it probably was around 90. No, I think we've gone through 2000. So uh, we'd passed um, the great date which was the first of January, uh, 2000, which of course um, uh, everyone was poised at work at 11:59 thinking that um, the world would never be the same. And look it, you know, it's changed a lot over that time.

Speaker B: It's an awful, almost unrecognisable the level of tech in a workplace.

Speaker A: Yeah. And you know, look, I started in a world where uh, WI fi was uh, a rarity and you could often flip uh, the keyboard of your laptop and a 2 CD ROM was ah, sat underneath the keyboard and it had a pop out mouse. So might have to explain to the

Speaker B: younger listeners what a CD ROM on a mouse is.

Speaker A: Yes, well, or a floppy disk. So um, even a few of those were knocking around, around. But um, you know the, the industry has changed a great deal. Um, but I think the one thing that hasn't changed is um, authenticity. Um, that's probably more of a value than, than has ever been before. Uh, integrity matters because it lasts a long time. Um and you know it's an invaluable currency really. And um, and I think importantly evolution, you know, keeping up with the times and adapting you know, your business uh, to you know, the technological advances that are there. Um, I'm, I was watching uh, or reading in the newspaper yesterday that um, you know the workplace now is seeing a rampant adoption of AI tools in the office and you know, corporate environments. And workers are not waiting around for their employers to make decisions around uh, AI solutions. Workers are looking at how to make themselves more efficient and improve their productivity. So it's more important than ever before that um, businesses embrace AI and um, make sure that they deliver the best outcomes for their people.

Speaker B: I think there's a solid drinking game in how many times we've mentioned the word AI in this episode.

Speaker A: Well, goodness, I mean, we never mentioned it 12, 18 months ago. It was something that sprang up very, very quickly. And, um, of course, a big topic of conversation. But for me, it's a technology input, um, and our job as an industry, but as enterprise, it's about making sure we use it to get better outcomes.

Speaker B: Neil, thank you very much for coming on.

Speaker A: Thank you.

Speaker B: It.