For HP’s Helena Herrero, The MENA Stands At A Tipping Point For Artificial Intelligence—But The Real Differentiator Won’t Be The Technology Itself

Helena Herrero is the Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Southern and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa at HP Inc., and from the vantage point that this position at the global technology leader offers her, she believes that the world at large is in the midst of what she calls a tipping point.

Artificial intelligence (AI), she points out in an interview with Inc. Arabia, is driving a transformation that is unlike anything that she—or anyone in the technology industry, really—has previously experienced. According to Herrero, “AI will permeate every aspect of our lives,” with its deployment set to succeed in some cases, and, in others, become learning experiences.

But such mixed outcomes are part of the process, Herrero argues—the speed of change can be destabilizing, but she insists that it should not create fears that would slow down its development. “The pace is frenetic,” she says. “The impact of AI on the world is such that we must look at all the advantages and opportunities it will generate."

Herrero spoke to Inc. Arabia in February during a visit to the UAE for an event HP hosted in Dubai for its partners and customers in the country and beyond. The region, as a whole, is a strategic market for HP, with the company having made several key investments across the MENA in recent years. For instance, Herrero revealed that the UAE will soon host one of HP’s Customer Welcome Centers, thus becoming part of a select global network of hubs that showcase the company’s latest innovations through personalized demonstrations and immersive technology engagements.

Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, HP has already set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Riyadh, and it’s also built a Center of Excellence in Dhahran that’s focused on AI research and development (R&D). Egypt, another key market for HP in the region, saw the company open a new office in Cairo last year in alignment with the country’s Vision 2030 strategy. According to Herrero, HP’s investments in the MENA are not simply a response to market opportunity; they also reflect the company’s belief that the region is in the midst of real, tangible change, particularly as AI begins to reshape its industries at scale. “When you’re in the MEA, you can really feel the transformation,” she says. “And that’s fundamental, because for a technology company like HP, that’s exactly where we want to be. We want to contribute to the transformation of the region through technology.”

Helena Herrero speaking at an HP event in Dubai. 

But what is taking shape across the MENA now is more than incremental progress, Herrero argues—the region also has a real chance to emerge as a global frontrunner in AI. After all, governments across the MENA have embedded AI into their long-term national strategies, and they are backing those ambitions with significant capital commitments. At the same time, the region’s young, digitally native population is accelerating AI adoption, while its relative lack of legacy systems is allowing for faster AI experimentation and deployment.

Taken together, these conditions position the region to lead in what Herrero calls “the new era of AI.” But such an opportunity comes with obligations of its own. Indeed, Herrero points out that the current speed of AI deployment risks creating societal divides if it is not matched with an equal commitment to capability-building. “At the end of the day, the technology is not what is going to make a difference,” she notes. “What is going to make a difference is how you use it.”

From Herrero’s perspective, that same principle shapes HP’s approach to AI—the company has made it a point to embed the technology into its personal computers (PCs) and information technology (IT) tools in ways that are always practical and aligned with realworld needs. Consider, for instance, the HP EliteBoard G1a Next Gen AI PC, which was unveiled at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the US. As the world’s first full AI PC built into a keyboard, the device reflects HP’s push toward compact, AI-enabled systems tailored for hybrid work environments, while ensuring both uncompromising computing and enterprise grade security.

Another case in point is HP’s Workforce Experience Platform (WXP), an AIpowered solution aligned with the company’s mission to lead “the future of work.” Designed as a unified system for managing the digital employee experience across device fleets, collaboration tools, and IT environments, WXP’s AI models learn from telemetry data drawn from 48 million endpoints (it processes 1.9TB of new data daily) and is thus able to deliver actionable insights, streamline decisions, and empower workforces “like never before.”

A selection of HP's portfolio of devices.

And while these are just two examples, they are indicative of a broader shift in how HP is thinking about AI, wherein it’s not being seen simply as a standalone capability, but as infrastructure embedded into everyday workflows. However, as Herrero points out, the real transformation will result not from the tools themselves, but in how organizations adapt around them. “I think what we try to do is to help people to use technology to get outcomes—whatever the outcomes,” she says. “Whether in a hospital, a call center, or a manufacturing facility, the goal is to make use of it in the most frictionless way in order to become more productive.”

Underlying such an approach, Herrero adds, is HP’s focus on experience, wherein people feel empowered, and not intimidated, by the technology that they use. After all, there is no question that AI has generated anxiety in some quarters of the world’s population, and addressing that unease will require deliberate effort. “Being inclusive, and not letting people fall behind, is all about education,” Herrero declares. “And that is a responsbility to be carried by all of us—by individuals, by corporations, and by governments.”

According to her, this is especially important given that the stakes will only grow as AI becomes more deeply embedded in everyday life. AI, Herrero predicts, is going to function like infrastructure akin to the internet or electricity, and in such a world, distinctly human attributes like creativity, critical thinking, and care will end up becoming the most valuable assets of the workforce of the future.“We need to start thinking about the work we do in a new way,” Herrero concludes. “This requires a different mindset. That, I think, is the way to approach the road ahead.”

This article first appeared in Inc. Arabia's February 2026 edition. To read the full issue online, click here.

Pictured in the lead image is Helena Herrero, the Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Southern and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa at HP Inc.. Image courtesy HP. Inc.