Taking a Chance

You started your career at HP in 1995, you took a job in Amsterdam as a call agent where you provided customer support to HP. And now you run the whole thing. You’re CEO of HP Enterprise. Did you know you wanted to be CEO someday? And if so, how did you strategically position yourself for that?

Well, there was an event in my life that dictated a move to Amsterdam, because I met this girl. And that was the reason why I moved to Amsterdam.

That’s the way it always happens.

That’s probably the way it always happens. By then, I was already 27-years-old, and then came this opportunity to join HP in the call center to support customers on the phone. And I remember vividly when I joined the company, I had to interview and I passed with flying colors, obviously, my Italian/Spanish skills, also my technical skills, but I failed the English test.
And this is going to come back later, because it is all about giving people chances. And that’s what the hiring manager did at the time. You know, we’re still good friends today. You know, he was a British Jamaican manager in a call center. And he said, “Listen, he speaks perfect Italian, Spanish, he knows all the products, we will teach him English.

Wow!

If it was not for him, I would not be here.

So you tell the story. So incredible. So was that one pivotal moment when there was a hiring manager who said, give him a chance, we’ll teach him English.

Well, there are many pivotal moments in my life in many ways, but definitely that was one. And along the way, there have been other pivotal moments inside the company that gave me the opportunity to be who I am today by learning, again, hands-on experience by working the best and brightest minds inside the company, who created multi-billion-dollar businesses, franchises that are well known today in the market. But at the same time, you have to take risks, and you need to be ambitious, and also be at the right place at the right time. So, I guess a combination of things propelled me to be who I am today, but never forget the one and one important thing, which is all about the people.