{"id":850198,"date":"2025-05-22T04:12:29","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T09:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/22\/interview-rom-kosla-cio-hewlett-packard-enterprise\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T04:12:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T09:12:29","slug":"interview-rom-kosla-cio-hewlett-packard-enterprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/22\/interview-rom-kosla-cio-hewlett-packard-enterprise\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Rom Kosla, CIO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

When Rom Kosla, CIO at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)<\/a>, joined the technology giant in July 2023, the move represented a big shift in direction. Previously CIO at retailer Ahold Delhaize and CIO for enterprise solutions at PepsiCo, Kosla was a consumer specialist who wanted to apply his knowledge in a new sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cI liked the idea of working in a different industry,\u201d he says. \u201cI went from consumer products to retail grocery. Moving into the tech industry was a bit nerve-wracking because the concept of who the customers are is different. But since I grew up in IT, I figured I\u2019d have the ability to navigate my way through the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kosla had previously worked as a project manager for Nestl\u00e9 and spent time with the consultancy Deloitte. Now approaching two years with HPE, Kosla leads HPE\u2019s technology strategy and is responsible for how the company harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) and data<\/a>. He also oversees e-commerce, app development, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and security operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe role has exceeded my expectations,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen you\u2019re a CIO at a multinational, like when I was a divisional CIO at PepsiCo, you\u2019re in the back office. Whether it\u2019s strategy, transformation or customer engagement, the systems are the enablers of that back-office effort. At HPE, it\u2019s different because we are customer zero.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kosla says he prefers the term \u201ccustomer gold\u201d because he wants HPE to develop high-quality products. In addition to setting the internal digital strategy, he has an outward-facing role providing expert advice to customers. That part of his role reminds him of his time at Deloitte.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are opportunities to flex my prior experience and capabilities, and learn how to take our products, enable them, and share best practices,\u201d he says. \u201cHPE is like any other company. We use cloud systems and software-as-a-service products, including Salesforce and others. But underneath, we have HPE powering a lot of the capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/i>Optimising business processes<\/h2>\n

The press release announcing Kosla\u2019s appointment in 2023<\/a> said HPE believed his prior experiences in the digital front-end and running complex supply chains made him the perfect person to build on its digital transformation efforts. So, how has that vision panned out?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s been interesting is helping the business and IT team think about the end-to-end value stream,\u201d he says. \u201cThere was a lot of application-specific knowledge. The ability for processes to be optimised at an application layer versus the end-to-end value stream was only happening in certain spots.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kosla discovered the organisation had spent two years moving to a private cloud installation on the company\u2019s hardware and had consolidated 20-plus ERP systems under one SAP instance. With much of the transformation work complete, his focus turned to making the most of these assets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe opportunity was not to shepherd up transformation, it was taking the next step, which was optimising,\u201d says Kosla, explaining how he had boosted supply chain performance in his earlier roles. He\u2019s now applying that knowledge at HPE.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019ve been doing is slicing areas of opportunity,\u201d he says. \u201cWith the lead-to-quote process, for example, we have opportunities to optimise, depending on the type of business, such as the channel and distributors. We\u2019re asking things like, \u2018Can we get a quote out as quickly as possible, can we price it correctly, and can we rely less on human engagement?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

HPE announced a cost-reduction programme<\/a> in March to reduce structural operating costs. The programme is expected to be implemented through fiscal year 2026 and deliver gross savings of approximately $350m by fiscal year 2027, including through workforce reductions. The programme of work in IT will help the company move towards these targets.<\/p>\n

Kosla says optimisation in financials might mean closing books faster. In the supply chain, the optimisation might be about predicting the raw materials needed to create products. He takes a term from his time in the consumer-packaged goods sector \u2013 right to play, right to win \u2013 to explain how his approach helps the business look for value-generating opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, do we have the right to play, meaning do we have the skills? Where do we have the right to win, meaning do we have the funding, business resources and availability to deliver the results? We spend time focusing on which areas offer the right to play and the right to win.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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<\/i>Embracing emerging technologies<\/h2>\n

Kosla says data and AI play a key role in these optimisations. HPE uses third-party applications with built-in AI capabilities and has developed an internal chat solution called ChatHPE, a generative AI hub used for internal processes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are lots of conversations around how we unlock the benefits of AI in the company,\u201d he says. Professionals across the company use Microsoft Copilot in their day-to-day roles to boost productivity. Developers, meanwhile, use GitHub Copilot.<\/p>\n

Finally, there\u2019s ChatHPE, which Kosla says is used according to the functional use case. HPE started developing the platform about 18 months ago. A pipeline of use cases has now been developed, including helping legal teams to review contracts, boosting customer service in operations, re-using campaign elements in marketing and improving analytics in finance.<\/p>\n

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\"Rom\n <\/p>\n

\u201cWe spend time focusing on which areas offer the right to play and the right to win\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rom Kosla,<\/em> Hewlett Packard Enterprise<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe have a significant amount of governance internally,\u201d says Kosla, referring to ChatHPE, which is powered by Azure and OpenAI<\/a> technology. \u201cWhen I started, there wasn\u2019t an internal HPE AI engine. We had to tell the teams not to use the standard tools because any data that you feed into them is ultimately extracted. So, we had to create our platform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Embracing AI isn\u2019t Kosla\u2019s only concern. Stabilisation is a big part of what he needs to achieve during the next 12 months. He returns to HPE\u2019s two major transformation initiatives \u2013 the shift to private cloud and the consolidation of ERP platforms \u2013 suggesting that the dual roll-out and management of these initiatives created a significant number of incidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I look back at PepsiCo, we had about 300,000 employees and about 600,000 tickets, which means two tickets per person per year. I said to the executive committee at HPE, \u2018We have 60,000 employees, and we have a couple of million tickets\u2019, which is an insane number. The goal was to bring that number down by about 85%,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, our system uptime is 99% across our quoting and financial systems. That availability allows our business to do more than focus on internal IT. They can focus on the customer. Stabilisation means the business isn\u2019t constantly thinking about IT systems, because it\u2019s a challenge to execute every day when systems are going down because of issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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<\/i>Creating value<\/h2>\n

Kosla says the long-term aim from an IT perspective is to align the technology organisation with business outcomes. In financials, for example, he wants to produce the data analytics the business needs across the supply chain and operational processes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have embedded teams that work together to look at how we enable data, like our chat capabilities, into some of the activities,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019ll consider how we reduce friction, especially the manual steps. They\u2019ll also consider planning, from raw materials to the manufacturing and delivery of products. That work involves partnering with the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

The key to success for the IT team is to help the business unlock value quicker. \u201cI would say that\u2019s the biggest part for us,\u201d says Kosla. \u201cWe don\u2019t even like to use the word speed \u2013 we say velocity, because velocity equals direction, and that\u2019s crucial for us. I think the business is happy with what we\u2019ve been able to achieve, but it\u2019s still not fast enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being able to deliver results at pace will rely on new levels of flexibility. Rather than being wedded to a 12-month plan that maps out a series of deliverables, Kosla wants his team to work more in the moment. Prior experiences from the consumer sector give him a good sense of what excellence looks like in this area.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t need to go back to the top, go through an annual planning review, go back down, and then have the teams twiddling their thumbs while they wait for the OK,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is that teams are constantly working on what\u2019s achievable during a sprint window. Many companies take that approach; I\u2019ve done it in my prior working life. I know what can happen, and I think flexibility will drive value creation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kosla says some of the value will come from HPE\u2019s in-house developed technologies. \u201cOne of the things that makes this role fun is that there\u2019s a significant amount of innovation the company is doing,\u201d he says, pointing to important technologies, such as Morpheus VM Essentials virtualisation software, the observability platform OpsRamp, and Aruba Networking Access Points.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m proud of is that we now show up to customers with comparability,\u201d he says, talking about the advisory part of his role. \u201cWe can say, \u2018Look, we use both products, because in some cases, it\u2019s a migration over time.\u2019 So, for example, when a customer asks about our observability approach, we can compare our technology with other providers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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<\/i>Blurring the lines<\/h2>\n

Kosla reflects on his career and ponders the future of the CIO role<\/a>, suggesting responsibilities will vary considerably according to sector. \u201cDigital leaders still maintain IT systems in some industries,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the rest of the business is now much more aware of technology. The blurring of lines between business and IT means it\u2019s tougher to differentiate between the two areas. I think we\u2019ll see more convergence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kosla says a growing desire to contain costs often creates a close relationship between IT and finance leaders. Once again, he expects further developments in that partnership. He also anticipates that cyber will remain at the forefront of digital leaders\u2019 priority lists.<\/p>\n

More generally, he believes all IT professionals are becoming more focused on business priorities. \u201cI think the blurring will continue to create interesting results, especially in technology companies,\u201d he says. \u201cWe want to do things differently.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Alejandro Mayoral<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Rom Kosla, CIO at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), joined the technology giant in July 2023, the move represented a big shift in direction. Previously CIO at retailer Ahold Delhaize and CIO for enterprise solutions at PepsiCo, Kosla was a consumer specialist who wanted to apply his knowledge in a new sector. \u201cI liked the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":850199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22316,144085,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-850198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-interview","8":"category-kosla","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/850199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}