HP Names Emma Walmsley CEO as Bruce Broussard Prepares to Succeed Chip Bergh as Board Chair

HP Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously appointed Emma Walmsley as Chief Executive Officer, effective January 4, 2027. She will succeed Bruce Broussard, who has served as Interim Chief Executive Officer since February 2026. On the same date, Broussard is set to become Chair of the Board, succeeding Chip Bergh, according to HP's announcement.

Leadership Changes Take Effect in January

The moves consolidate two leadership transitions into a single date. Walmsley takes over as CEO from Broussard, who has run HP on an interim basis since February 2026. Broussard then shifts into the Chair role, taking over from Bergh, who has served as Chair of HP's Board since 2017 and as a director since 2015. HP said Bergh will continue as Chair until Broussard assumes the role on January 4, 2027.

Walmsley's Background

Walmsley joins HP after nearly nine years as Chief Executive Officer of GSK, the biopharmaceutical company, where she served from April 2017 through December 2025. According to HP, she led a significant transformation of GSK during that period and delivered what the company described as a step-change in its operating performance. HP said she sharpened GSK's strategic focus on specialty medicines and vaccines, reinvigorated its research and development pipeline, and strengthened the balance sheet following the separation of its consumer healthcare business, while also enhancing the company's leadership bench and succession pipeline.

Before becoming GSK's Group CEO, Walmsley joined the company in 2010 and became CEO of GSK Consumer Healthcare in 2015. Earlier in her career, she spent 17 years at L'Oréal building and leading major global consumer businesses. HP also noted that Walmsley has been a member of Microsoft's Board of Directors for seven years.

Strategic Priorities Signaled by Walmsley

In HP's announcement, Walmsley pointed to artificial intelligence as a central theme for her tenure. She said the company would 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 value for customers, shareholders, partners and employees.

Broussard, in the same release, said Walmsley has the experience and skills to bring HP's businesses, capabilities and people together to capture opportunities as AI moves to the edge, transforming how people work and live in a more connected world. Outgoing Chair Bergh said Walmsley stood out in what HP described as a comprehensive global search, citing the strength of her leadership experience across multiple industries, the clarity of her strategic thinking, and her ability to translate customer insights into growth. Bergh also characterized her approach as people-first, saying it aligns and inspires high-performing teams around clear priorities, strong execution and lasting value creation.

Interpretation: Taken together, these statements suggest HP's board views Walmsley's cross-industry turnaround experience at GSK, particularly her work reshaping a large organization's strategic focus and R&D pipeline, as directly relevant to the AI-driven shift HP says it is navigating in its own hardware and edge-computing businesses. This is our reading of the stated rationale rather than a claim made explicitly by HP.

Broussard's Path to Board Chair, and Bergh's Exit

Broussard's move from Interim CEO to Chair is framed by HP as a continuity measure. Broussard credited Bergh with providing strong leadership as Chair for the past nine years, saying Bergh helped guide HP through significant change while maintaining a sharp focus on governance, capital allocation and value creation. Bergh, for his part, said handing the Chair role to Broussard would provide important continuity and valuable guidance to Walmsley and the Board during the transition and in the years ahead.

HP's release does not state a specific reason for Bergh stepping down from the Chair role beyond the leadership transition itself, and the company did not attribute the change to any performance or governance issue. The announcement frames the sequence as a planned handoff: Bergh remains Chair until Broussard takes over on the same date Walmsley becomes CEO.

Bottom Line

HP is executing a coordinated leadership change at both the CEO and Chair level, set to take effect January 4, 2027. Emma Walmsley arrives after nearly nine years as CEO of GSK, along with earlier experience at L'Oréal and seven years on Microsoft's board, while Bruce Broussard transitions from interim chief executive to board chair, succeeding Chip Bergh. HP's own statements frame the changes around positioning the company for the AI era, though the company has not detailed specific operational targets or timelines beyond the leadership statements themselves.