Chief Commercial Officer, HP Inc.
HP Amplify Partner Conference 2024: Featuring HP's Dave McQuarrie | HP
"There is a tidal wave of opportunity." Dave McQuarrie on how AI is transforming the future of the hybrid world. #HPAmplify ...
About David Mcquarrie
Dave McQuarrie, HP’s Chief Commercial Officer, appeared at the HP Amplify partner conference in Las Vegas in December 2024, where he discussed growth opportunities for partners. He described small and medium businesses as a “massive group of customers with an even more massive spend” that are underserved by internal IT, and said the AI PC is a “game-changer” for them if they can capitalize on it. McQuarrie emphasized a shift from selling devices to selling outcomes and experiences, such as “compute instead of the computer” and “the room instead of the camera.” He also highlighted the importance of partners embracing change and engaging in a “proactive dialogue about capability gaps” to succeed. In earlier interviews from September 2024, McQuarrie described AI as a “tidal wave of opportunity” and compared generative AI to the “advent of electricity” in its transformative potential. He stated that “companies and people who use AI are going to replace companies and people who don’t,” and stressed the need for education about AI because the technology is “so new and rapidly evolving.” McQuarrie also discussed leadership qualities, citing humility, a focus on team advancement over personal ambition, and the discipline of focusing on what one can control as important traits. He noted that HP’s acquisition of Poly gives the company an “unbeatable and unmatched portfolio” for hybrid work experiences, and that the company is committed to deploying its assets to benefit communities and the planet.
Transcript (20 segments)
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Interviewer0:00
Well, thanks for joining me here. Great to be here. You've had a pretty busy day here for me. When I spend this much time around Amplify, you know, I think about the ecosystem that you have grown, but I also think it's important to unlock growth within this ecosystem. So when you think about your partners and partners that are here, what are the things you feel like is important to do to unlock growth right now?
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David Mcquarrie0:25
Kind of growth is going to come at us. The question isn't how do we unlock it, it's how do we make sure we capture it, and that we capture the most that we can. Obviously the theme of this event and many others has been AI, so the AI PC and all of the ability AI will have to change the way devices work and we encounter them and they serve us. Probably the biggest. And then there's a whole ton of other both innovation but also relationship building and just, you know, blocking and tackling as they say in the US that we got to get after. But right now there is a tailwind or this tidal wave perhaps of opportunity that's coming at us based on the new tech.
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Interviewer0:57
Well, you mentioned the tidal wave, right? And you know, we hear people say AI but not really define it, but you all are working actually on it and being one of the leaders in it, especially across all your systems. So you think about the biggest opportunity in AI, where's your mind go right now when I ask you that?
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David Mcquarrie1:15
I guess over the next 18 months, 24 months, we're talking AI PC is the biggest. But again, that's like asking where's the biggest opportunity for electricity or the internet, right? The answer is everything. Our internal operations are being transformed, they will be further transformed by it. All of our products, the PC we've talked about today, but print both has and will continue to have, Poly has and will expand. All of our services are going to depend on AI. So it's going to become part of the furniture everywhere. And right now, AI PC, but it's going to be everywhere for a long time.
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Interviewer1:47
No, I appreciate you focusing on that because it's not the short term, it's the long term you just mentioned, right? So how do we sustain that growth? Because you know it's coming, you just told me, like, Ryan, don't worry about the beginning part, we're going to get there. So how do we stay long term to be able to grow that?
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David Mcquarrie2:06
Well, the first thing for us to do is make sure that everybody understands, because at the moment the conversation's pretty high level, right? AI, AI PC. Alex has a nice way of framing: why AI, why an AI PC, and then why the HP AI PC. So the first is to help everybody, our employees, our partners, and our customers understand how to use it, more importantly why to use it. Because this is not going to come for free. It's going to have change involved, it's going to have cost involved, it's going to have learning and a cycle. So everybody has to understand it, just as again we had to understand the possibilities of the internet or, if you go far enough back, all the other disruptive technological innovation. Once we get to that, then it's just about imagining the use. And you heard folks on stage here this week say we aren't even scratching the surface of how to apply this yet. So as we continue to apply it either to new fields or to new use cases, it's going to unlock further opportunity. So part of this is about making sure we all understand, and a part of it is about being curious over and over and over again for how we can keep applying this phenomenal thing.
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Interviewer3:07
Why do you think that's still continued to be a challenge? My education. Because I think we see, I can see in your voice, very honest, like you're so excited what's next, but you can't go next until you actually everyone's on the same playing field.
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David Mcquarrie3:22
I think part of the reason education is important is this is so new. And you know, we saw Jensen on stage earlier today, an incredibly successful leader, well renowned in the industry, and now, you know, a celebrity, dare I say. But he's been at this for 31 years. For the first X years, very few people understood. This has been being developed for a long time, not AI generative AI, but specifically the technology that sits underneath it. But it's exploded onto the scene, and so people are having to catch up. That's the reason that education is so important. Everyone is now having to get on board to something that a tiny handful of people thus far had been deep in. We're all going to have to get deep in it. This is the mobile phone of our decade. And if we don't know how to use it, we won't harness the power of it. In our consumer lives, that means that we won't be enriched. In our business lives, it means we won't get maximum productivity. And I like the expression somebody said on stage today: our workers are not going to get employed, our employees are not going to get replaced by AI. Our companies are not going to get put out of business by AI. Companies and people who use AI are going to replace companies and people who don't. And that is a really powerful reminder that we better embrace this, because it can make us better, it can enrich our lives, but it's also something that can impair.
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Interviewer4:37
That's a great analogy. And when I think about AI as you say that, I'm thinking about we're sitting here in Vegas right now, people making all-in bets right now outside. Not saying you made any all bets last night, but when you think about all in those big bets, I know you mentioned AI, but what else is there that you're making bold bets on in the future right now?
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David Mcquarrie4:55
For us, hybrid and the collaborative capabilities of the portfolio are pretty important. The world changed as we know it just under four years ago, and it is not going back to the way that it was. Yes, we've seen some trend back into the office, but the hybrid world we have inhabited is here for the duration. And so that second area, again affected by, improved by AI, but entirely discreet, is the hybrid world. How do we make individuals more satisfied? How does the experience improve? And how do we make them productive wherever they are? That capability, it's the reason that we acquired Poly. It gives us an unbeatable and unmatched portfolio that no matter how you are engaging technology in your workday, predominantly your workday, you're going to be engaging it through an HP capable or an HP device. So how we collaborate, how you become effective, satisfied at hybrid or during and living a hybrid world, is an enormous opportunity. It's underpinned by AI. I can't put a number on it, but it's pretty big too.
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Interviewer5:53
No, I love it because I got to do some gaming over there. I got to try to do a one-stop shop, right? I mean, that's kind of what like seeing it spinning here. So you got to tell me what's top of mind. Are you ready?
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David Mcquarrie6:06
Sure. The future of AI is unlimited.
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Interviewer6:10
When I say the word amplify, what pops up?
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David Mcquarrie6:12
HP.
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Interviewer6:18
Oh, okay. We can't... I see where you're doing. I know it's... Oh, you got to give me another one. Give me another one.
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David Mcquarrie6:24
Another one for amplify?
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Interviewer6:26
Yeah, another one.
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David Mcquarrie6:28
I can't take that mystic. I love it, I love it.
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Interviewer6:30
And then when you think of the future of work, is it house to rut?
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David Mcquarrie6:35
I got what I want. I'm good. I'm good.