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6 minute read
Summary
On this episode of Direct from the Expo, the Collab Collective’s Craig Durr speaks with Carles Farre, Division President of Hybrid Systems at HP, recorded live at ISE 2026. Their conversation focuses on HP’s platform-first approach to hybrid work, highlighting PolyOS 5.0, long-term device longevity through Microsoft Teams and MDEP, and a unified strategy that connects meeting rooms and personal workspaces.
Their discussion covers:
- Platform-First Hybrid Strategy: How PolyOS 5.0 underpins a future-ready, AI-driven experience across HP room and personal devices
- Longevity and Security: HP’s extended roadmap and deep integration with Microsoft Teams to ensure enterprise-grade security and manageability through 2032
- Simplifying IT Operations: A focus on easier deployment, scalable device management, and improved experiences for IT administrators
- Personal Workspace Ecosystem: New Poly headset launches with unified SKUs, AI noise cancelation, and designs tailored for both call centers and knowledge workers
End-to-End Hybrid Workflows: Enabling seamless transitions as workers move between home, office, desk, and meeting room - Immersive Collaboration: A look at HP Dimension in partnership with Google and its Beam technology, delivering a true 3D, presence-rich communication experience
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Transcript
Craig Durr: Everyone, this is Craig Durr, Chief Analyst and Founder of the Collab Collective. And I want to welcome you to an edition of Direct from the Expo live from ISE 2026. Today, I have a really special guest, Carles Farre, Division President, Hybrid Systems at HP.
Carles, how are you doing?
Carles Farre: Good. Good to see you.
Craig Durr: I know that this is a new group that you're taking the lead of, but you've been with HP for a long time. So before we really dive in, why don't you share with me what attracted you to the hybrid systems team?
Carles Farre: Yes, I’ve been with HP for more than 20 years, many different business units. I live in many different countries as well. What attracted me to hybrid is it’s a market and an industry full of innovation. Also, it has very interesting challenges to solve for our customers.
Craig Durr: I bet it really is. Today, we're dealing with so much taking place in hybrid work, and that's a great set up because you have solutions for the meeting rooms, you have solutions for the personal workspace, and you even have some great innovative solutions I want to ask you about in a moment. But first let's start in the beginning.
Let's talk about meeting rooms. So if I think about the video bars and the room solutions that you have, it's a very comprehensive portfolio. What is the strategy you want to talk about here at ISE 2026?
Carles Farre: The way we look at the video portfolio is first, having a foundation of a very broad set of devices that can cover all sorts of room sizes and use cases. Then, you need to have a very robust software platform that you can build features on top of AI-driven experiences.
As a matter of fact, we are introducing today the PolyOS 5.0, which becomes a new platform where we can refine our experiences. And very importantly, it becomes a platform that is future proof. We are certified for Android 13. We are going to be ready for 17. And with this strategy, we allow customers to be with us on the same platform and have longevity with the devices.
Craig Durr: That's part of your MDEP strategy, and HP’s done something really, really forward-looking. I haven't seen anyone else. You have published a roadmap that has a very long, broad commitment to MDEP. Why don't you tell me more about that?
Carles Farre: The strategy we tend to combine with our PolyOS 5.0 allows our customers to be on the same platform without having to renew the hardware, at least until 2032, which is six years of longevity. We do the combination of both. On one side, you have a very robust platform and on the other side, MDEP allows us to refine our strategies, our experiences with Microsoft Teams also to always be secure and be very easy to certify any new release.
Craig Durr: You've always had this really strong relationship with the Microsoft team. But what you're saying now is, a customer can buy a video solution now, and that solution is going to have the enterprise security management feature set all the way to 2032.
Carles Farre: Yes.
Craig Durr: That's fantastic. That's really, really innovative.
Carles Farre: And manageability is also an area where we are working a lot because as important as it is, the experience for the end user in the room, it is the deployment and the manageability of the solution. So you're going to see more and more that we make the deployment easy.
And we are launching platforms, as well, for the IT administrator. So it's very easy to manage our devices at scale.
Craig Durr: It's fantastic. I'm looking forward to learning more about that. Why don't we go ahead and pivot to the personal workspaces? So what I love about this is that HP's got a wonderful portfolio, everything from webcams to displays to docking stations. And I think even having something innovative about headsets. Why don't you talk to me about what you guys are doing within the personal workspace?
Carles Farre: Sure. First, the vision, what we call the system around the desk, is to manage it as an ecosystem. What I mean by that is we are making the experience of discovery, connectivity, and usage more seamless so that all belong to the same ecosystem. When it comes specifically to headsets, we are doing a big launch of our corporate portfolio here at ISE.
So our Poly Mission 400, 600, and 800 are going to be launched, going to be live. Why is it so exciting? Number one, because we are combining all the AI noise canceling capabilities. Number two, we are doing the SKU mapping that is much more simple. There are no more Teams and a Zoom SKU. Everything is smartly combined into one set of SKUs.
And then we have different devices for different use cases, from call center to knowledge worker. And we give this flexibility to them.
Craig Durr: So you're even combining that call center experience and knowledge worker into a single portfolio. That's going to make it really, really easy for those enterprise decision makers especially, who have to deal with this going forward.
Let's be honest, we're talking about meeting rooms and personal workspaces separately, but it's really part of the combined strategy. How are you guys positioning this strategy about these two solutions, these two portfolios, working together?
Carles Farre: More from a hybrid solutions standpoint, we look at the knowledge worker and we follow them throughout the day. Think of any of us or any knowledge worker in a company, they’re going to be at home first, going through some sort of commute, being in the office, working on their own, then in the meeting room, and then back home.
So we are going to enable those experiences that are in different workplaces and places and in between. The transitions are going to be as important as it is when you are in a single place. Therefore, our portfolio and our experiences have to follow the workers throughout the day and enable those experiences.
Craig Durr: I love it. The transition moments are so important, right? It speaks to the hybrid systems, the whole hybrid work experience we're having right now. But you know something? It also is a great segue to talk about the fact that you have some other great innovative products that even go beyond that, and you have a partnership that you're working with Google. Tell me about HP Dimension and Google Beam.
Carles Farre: Yes, I want to take you to the origin that you know very well. One thing we have found is that we have this hybrid world where we all live. It's more difficult to be connected. So the sense of true connectivity and presence is not easy to replicate when you are in a phone call or in a video. So HP Dimension with Google Beam is a fully 3D immersive experience, which you only see and you only believe when you really experience it. It's truly something very different that makes you be in the moment with a person and can have very impactful communication.
Craig Durr: You know, I love the connection that takes place, and you guys actually have it on the floor right now in partnership with Google. So people can actually experience it here, right?
Carles Farre: Yes, we have it here. So you can join and have the experience today and the other days of this week. But also we are enabling the experience in different customer experience centers around the globe so people can experience it.
Craig Durr: One my favorite things about that demo is when the person from the far end holds up that apple, and you have a chance just to feel and you want to go and grab that apple itself. It's fantastic.
So what do you want to have people take away? You've got a lot going on here between meeting rooms, personal workspaces, your innovative products. What is your key strategy or message to take place around ISE?
Carles Farre: Several things. First, the concept of platform and software experiences. Think more and more about HP as a platform provider with a very robust set of devices that then we can build software experiences on top of. Second, our focus on improving and simplifying the experience for both end users and IT decision makers. Last, this seeks for which are the new experiences like HP Dimension that really unlock creativity and unlock collaboration and communication.
Craig Durr: That’s great. It's a lot to take in. So if people are here right now, where should they go? Or if they're not here, what should they do?
Carles Farre: Well, we have the HP booth. We really invite you to be with us during these three days. And if not, come to the HP.com web page or any of our representatives.
Craig Durr: That's awesome. Well, Carles, thank you so much. This is a fantastic introduction. I look forward to going down there and seeing these experiences myself.
Hey, everyone. This is Craig Durr with the Collab Collective. Again, we are here Direct from the Expo live from ISE 2026. Stay tuned as we bring you some more exciting updates and strategy insights from people that we meet along the way. Take care.
